Free The Glycemic Index Diet for Dummies by Meri Raffetto

one strong internal reason for losing weight — and that reason drives their vision.
    Turning your vision into an affirmation
    Changing your vision into a positive affirmation adds even more power to your mindset. A positive affirmation is a statement that highlights your strengths, talents, and skills.
    Powerful visions can keep you motivated

    Ann is a client of mine who has a fairly hectic life: full-time working mother of two children and primary bread winner in her family (on a 100-percent-commisision job, no less). Health-wise, she has high cholesterol, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, and is always struggling to lose 20 pounds. Life simply gets in the way, causing her food choices to become less conscious and her exercise to decline.

    Ann always wanted to lose weight, but she consistently focused on the number on the scale or the size of her clothes rather than an internal reason. Consequently, she'd do great for a few weeks and then slide back into her old habits when challenges arose. That was the pattern until Ann set a vision to do a major hike/climb with her husband, who often took these trips with his male friends. Ann felt like she missed out on seeing some amazing things simply because the climb seemed too physically challenging for her.

    Instead of focusing on losing weight, Ann began to focus on training for her trip, which made for a big shift in her motivation. Ann became very lean and muscular and lowered her cholesterol to normal limits. He vision also helped her find ways around her various obstacles. Instead of running through a fast-food restaurant while taking the kids to their various sports, she found quick meals they could eat before getting in the car. Instead of skipping breakfast in the morning, she brought all the fixings to work so she could make it there. She even began to wake up at 5:30 a.m. to get in her exercise because there was no other time of day that she could do it. The moral of Ann's story? When you have a powerful vision, it helps you stay motivated and enables you to find solutions for the obstacles that come up in daily life.

    When creating your affirmation, make sure it's in the present tense. There are two reasons for this:
    Your natural thoughts, positive or negative, occur in the present tense. For example, "I struggle with exercise," "I love eating salads," "I enjoy cooking new foods."

    By taking the first steps, you're presently making changes, not making them way off in the future. You're actively changing your life right now.

    Focusing on the present helps make your affirmation more powerful. Take a look at this example to see what I mean:

I'm able to change my old habits. I'm willing and able to focus my diet on low-glycemic foods and create change that helps me lose weight, lower my blood pressure, and build my endurance and energy. I'm motivated to join my family's annual backpacking trip feeling comfortable, fit, and energetic.

    Write down your vision using affirmative statements and keep that inner picture of what you're working toward around you at all times. Make several copies and keep one near your computer, your calendar, your refrigerator, and/or in your wallet. You may also benefit by reading your affirmation each night before bed or first thing in the morning.
    Using positive language
    No matter how positive your mindset about following the glycemic index diet, it's still possible for negative thoughts to creep in because you're going to experience some challenges along the way. Having some doubt and hesitation is natural, but don't let that sway you from your internal reasons for wanting to lose weight. Pay attention to your language and try to keep it as positive as possible.
    Changing a negative statement into a positive one helps you come up with solutions instead of staying stuck. For instance, perhaps you're having difficulties giving up rice at meals, but you also enjoy some of the new recipes you've tried. Your language may become negative along the