Okay, it's 2010. Time to get serious about your health and lose weight for the last time. Do you really want to find yourself in January 2011 heavier than is healthy for you?

If you don't, then you will need to tell yourself, every morning and every time you're tempted to eat something you shouldn't, that it matters. Yes, it matters if you eat something you haven't planned: having an extra potato chip, finishing the crumbs left in the bag of cookies, eating off your kids' plates, or going beyond your limit at a party or restaurant. It matters if you grab food on the run instead of sitting down and enjoying it properly, if you skip exercising, if you substitute a higher calorie meal because you didn't make the time to go to the supermarket. EVERY TIME MATTERS. Every time you eat something you shouldn't, you strengthen your giving in muscle, your tendency to give in--which makes it likely that the next time, you'll give in and the time after that, and the time after that. Every time you stick to your plan, though, you strengthen your resistance muscle, your tendency to resist food you hadn't planned to eat--which makes it more likely that the next time, you'll resist and the time after that, and the time after that.