These 10 steps guide you to making change in your daily routine to help you become the thinner version of yourself. Today I will share tip #1. (Check back for all 10 Tips - One will be released each week)

Weight loss is much more than just eating less or exercising more. There are thousands of options to lose weight. Meal planning, dieting and weight loss programs, special workout programs….the list goes on. Why are there so many? Do they all work? If they all work, why are there so many options?

The truth is all of these programs work! But they only work when you do. I’ve put together these simple yet powerful steps to help anyone looking to take off and keep off those unwanted pounds.

I have dedicated over a decade of my life to helping people take control of their life through nutrition. I now want to share with you 10 simply powerful steps that when are applied to anyone’s life create lasting change. The first step in the process of losing weight and keeping it off is taking responsibility for where you are now and where you want to go!

As you read through and apply these 10 steps, make sure to take notes on what stands out to you. There is a reason they resonate with you and by allowing your subconscious mind to focus on those areas, you can strengthen your resolve on both a conscious and a subconscious level ensuring you get the results you want. For now take a seat and read through step 1 then take action immediately to let your body and mind know it is time for change.

Step 1: Take Responsibility! The simple act of accepting responsibility for where you are and then making the decision to do something about it has tremendous power. Blaming genetics, an injury or anything else takes the power for change away from us and gives it to whatever the excuse is. As long as you give your power to change away, on a subconscious level you are programing yourself to stay where you are until something else changes rather than you change. Over the last 8 years I have helped thousands of individuals just like you lose weight. What I have found is that those who take responsibility for where they are and where they want to go tend to not only take off the weight faster but keep if off longer if not permanently. When I ask them how they did it while their friend who followed the same plan could not, they simply reply they took responsibility and understood that the real change doesn’t happen in their body only, but in their mind also!

Action Step – Take a piece of paper and draw a line down the middle of the page. Now label the Left Column with – What behaviors am I responsible for that have led to me gaining weight in the past: On the right hand side of the page Label it – I now accept responsibility for my weight loss by:( )

Now take about 10 minutes and write down all of ways you have been responsible for your weight gain. The secret here is to not make excuses such as “I am big boned” or “My genetics are at fault”. While there may be some truth to those statements, they ultimately will not lead to any change and focusing on them only limits your ability to change; and you don’t want that! You want change. So perhaps writing something along the lines “I eat ice cream and chips or other unhealthy food while watching TV” Now this is something you can change. You can take responsibility for and change! Another might be “I eat out all the time at fast food places”. Again, something you can change.

Once you finish writing all the things you NOW take responsibility for, start writing on the other side of the page the positive changes you NOW take responsibility for to aid you in losing weight. Something like “I will pack a lunch every day instead of eating out”. Or “I will stop eating at 7 PM each night”. Here is a good one “I will walk on the treadmill each night while I watch my favorite tv shows” – Now that would lead to massive change……not eating junk and exercising?

Finally, flip over the page and on the back write all the things you now expect to have in your life due to the new changes you have NOW decided to make and what your life will look like after you achieve your goal.

Make sure to take this step. It is crucial that you see how responsible you are for your past AND your future. I often encourage my clients to sign and date the bottom of the page as to create a contract with themselves to follow through.