Even though we know about dangers of being overweight and out of shape, many of us are still are putting off the things we need to do to get healthier – eat better and exercise. There are many experts who claim to know why this is, but my personal opinion is that the whole problem is caused by a wrong point of view. Anyone who changes this fundamental point of view will find it easy and satisfying to get up off the couch, exercise and eat good food.

This wrong point of view is about trying to lose weight. In theory we all think we want to lose weight, but in reality human beings don’t like to lose anything! Our whole psychology is about gaining, more, and improving. Would you ever, in a million years, strive to make less money! NO! Do you want fewer friends? Be honest, do you really want a smaller piece of cake?

So what makes us think that, fundamentally, we want to lose weight? We don’t. Thinking about losing weight only makes us want to do one thing – eat! Anyone who pays attention to his or her inner world for a few days will notice that this is true. Every time the thought about losing weight enters your mind, you will find that you are really thinking about food.

So let’s change that point of view and see what happens. Refuse to allow yourself to think about losing weight. Instead replace those self-defeating thoughts with a positive gain. Instead of thinking about losing weight think about gaining muscle, getting more breath, getting more flexibility, getting more time outside, having more fun, doing things for yourself, enjoying life more. None of those thoughts will have anything to do with food, and every one of those thoughts will lead towards a positive action.

It’s easy to use this psychology to gain a healthier attitude towards the food we eat. If your idea of a diet is a list of all the things you cannot eat, then you are doomed to failure. Every time you think that you should not eat cake – what you are doing is thinking about cake. The more you think this thought, the harder it will be to stay away from the cake because that is all you are thinking.

Turn this thing around and start thinking, "How can I eat more vegetables and lean mean?" Start searching for all the delicious ways you can to cook vegetables. Put a lot of time and energy into finding and selecting good raw fruit.f you do this, you will rarely have time to think about or crave cake. If you slip back into old habits and start eating a bunch of junk food again, it’s easy to come back to the positive attitude. You never have to beat yourself up about falling off your diet, you just consciously remember to turn your attitude around, and get excited about healthy food again.

I can tell you about the miracle of changing this attitude in myself. When I see junk food, it hardly looks like food to me. It doesn’t taste all that good when I do eat it, and I never have any problems with cravings.

I don’t want any one to measure my percent of body fat. That sounds like a self-defeating proposition to me. I’m pretty stubborn, and I’ll only go in for those tests if they tell me my percent of health and fitness. I don’t want to think of how many calories I consume a day, and how many minutes of exercise I get. I want my Health Index to be all about my good attitudes that lead me naturally towards a healthy and fit life.

Here are the questions I would ask to establish a Fitness Index. If you answer No to any of these questions, you can easily see that turning the No into a Yes would be a matter of adding something to your life, rather than losing.

1. Do you like to exercise?

2. Do you have a favorite exercise?

3. Is it fun to exercise with other people?

4. Do you like that glow on your skin when you’ve been sweating?

5. Do you love to feel strong and healthy?

6. Would you like to have more fun each week?

7. Can you think of ten great ways to cook vegetable stir fry?

8. Do you know how to pick a great watermelon?

9. Do you enjoy yogurt for a snack?

10. Do you like to get compliments?