To help you get on the right track with one of your new resolutions, here's some tips on becoming slim, trim and healthy.

Ok, three things are needed to become slim.

Exercise, Healthy Eating and Consistency

Exercise

This means engaging in exercise for at least four times a week, at least half an hour both for toning up and for fitness.

Healthy Eating

This means eating more fruit, vegetables and cutting down on sugary/fatty/alcoholic substances.

Consistency

This means consistently making time to eat healthily and exercise extensively without resorting back to the old ways.

So, most of this is not news to you I'm sure but despite that, you may have found that you've 'tried' many times before to stick to a paticular diet or exercise regime but consistency was where things got messy. Well, heres some ideas on how to ensure that things stay consistent.

Get your goal clear from the start... put it in writing. Set yourself a target weight , target date and imagine specifically how you're going to look. When you have this in writing it means that you can refer back to it regularly.

Write down all the benefits of being the new weight and all the pain that comes from NOT getting your ideal weight. Be aware of any disadvantages that may come with getting to your exact weight. Ensure that this is understood and handled effectively. Write it in detail. Why is it worth doing?

Write down what needs to happen in order for you to be at your ideal weight. What specifically do you need to do? What do you need to be eating? How do you need to be exercising? Write down what changes you can make in your lifestyle to ensure that you maximise your ability to lose weight. (eg. walking to work or for lunch etc..). Make it hard for yourself to eat unhealthily and easy to eat well. (eg. have a fruit bowl handy and buy no junk food in weekly shopping)

Set the exercise regime in your monthly planner/diary. Set aside at least 1 hour a day, 4 days a week for exercise purposes. (Include aerobic exercise as well as toning and muscle exercises (sit ups etc..). 5 minutes should be a review of all you've written down. 5 minutes for stretching. 30 minutes for exercise and 20 minutes for shower, change etc.. Reward yourself for keeping up with things every week and then every second week. Your reward must be something nothing to do with food. It could be a visit to the cinema or tickets to a concert for example. The reward must not become too regular. Research shows that after a while, intermittent and unpredictable rewards work best.

Think about how you represent the foods that are good for you and then how you represent foods you like. Change the qualities of the images. (for example, take the qualities of the pictures of each and swap them over) When you change the way you imagine foods, it effects how you feel about them.

Think how wonderful you'll feel when you are at your ideal weight. Feel the pride, strength, happiness. Imagine it vividly and anchor it. (associate it with a certain movement or sound so that when you make that movement or hear that sound the feeling comes back). You can use this to trigger the feelings in the future when you need to.