Once you've taken steps to deal with the negative thoughts and ideas that have held you back in the past and hampered your weight loss, there are things you can do that will help you along the road.

Be good to yourself

Not just a range of healthier foods from a well-known store! Self-indulgence is a very human thing. We all love to feel cosseted and pampered occasionally. If you've always rewarded yourself with food, think about substituting a massage, a long soak in the bath, a movie, a new book or something non-calorific as a treat. Have a hair cut, or a new colour. Buy some make-up! (Sorry, chaps...unless that's your bag!)

Accept that it's okay to indulge yourself, and that you are deserving of nice things. Everyone needs to have something that helps them to feel good. It could be anything at all, really. The choice is yours!

Accept failure, and own your mistakes; BUT don't beat yourself up over them

It is human to slip up. So you splurged? Big deal. It's one splurge. Look at the why, and take steps to mitigate against it happening again. Doesn't mean you're a bad person, or a failure. (Yes, I know, I already said that. It is worth saying again!)

One slip does not mean you are out of control. You allow yourself to lose control, whether you realise it or not. The choice is yours; only you can do this, it is no one else's responsibility but yours. Take stock, then move on.

Look for the good, and don't be discouraged by the bad

Scales stuck on one weight? Measure yourself! Use the weight tracker to record not just your weight but also your measurements. You will often see a difference in your vital statistics when the scales don't move for a couple of weeks. What I've discovered is that my body likes to catch up with itself. I will have a few weeks of steady losses with a couple of decent-sized drops, then gain as much as three and a half pounds. I haven't fallen off the wagon or cheated or failed to plan and track; I can have had a spot-on week and it still happen (and not just because it's that time of the month, either, I lost 4.5 pounds the last time!)

I can guarantee you that within two weeks, that gain will have gone.

Take a long-term view

Even more important when you have a lot of weight to lose (and I still have a long way to go.) Don't look at the weekly picture; look at the month-on-month changes. I keep an Excel spreadsheet of my weekly losses and my monthly measurements. This allows me to see all at once how I'm doing over the longer term. When I have a gain and feel discouraged, I look back and see that this happens every 7-8 weeks or so. That's how I know that that gain will very soon turn into a loss. It's no big deal; the weight is still coming off, my measurements are changing. It's just One of Those Things That Happens.

Remember, too, that eating well and exercising is not 'for right now'. It's for life. This is what you have to do; this is what most slim people do! (Okay, some people can gorge on rubbish, never exercise and still be 7 stone soaking wet - they are Not Normal!)

This is why you have to learn to enjoy eating well and being more active. Find an activity you really like, anything that gets your heart and lungs going. Dancing, running, swimming, cycling, walking, kayaking, rowing, rock-climbing, aerobics, spinning, Zumba...try them all and see what works for you.

Enjoy the journey!

(You knew I was going to have to say that at some point, right?) Make losing weight and becoming more healthy FUN! It's life, Jim, but not as you knew it. 'Nothing tastes as good as being slim(mer)'. If you're miserable, you are never going to stick to anything because it makes you feel miserable. Resent it, and you will fail. You have to learn to love the changes that you're making to lose weight and keep it off.