As we come up on another New Year, millions of people are once again giving thought to losing weight as one of their New Year's resolutions. If you or someone that you know are thinking about weight loss as a New Year's resolution, I would ask you to first stop and ask yourself this:

What is going to be different this year than all of the other years?

Most people who try to lose weight at the start of a new year have tried to do it many times in the past, and I submit to you that an effective weight loss program for the new year needs to start with losing the mental baggage first!

The specific details of how to lose weight have been known for decades, yet people still seem to think that the answer to long-term weight loss lies in a new diet, a special exercise program, or in some magical cream, pill, or quality time with a cosmetic surgeon.

The bottom line, however, is that excess bodyfat is not a condition in and of itself, but rather the result of faulty mental programming, and the faulty habits that come about as a result of that programming.

Yes, there are physical and genetic characteristics that affect someone's physical appearance, but there are very few physical or genetic conditions that can actually keep someone from a high level of physical fitness if they truly want to be healthy.

The reason why most people can't lose weight or keep the weight off over the long-term is because they either don't truly believe that it is possible for them, they don't truly believe that they are worthy of that level of physical grace, or, they are just plain too lazy to do what it takes.

Each of those circumstances can be rectified on the inside, however. The diet or exercise programs that assist with the actual weight loss will then just become conditions of that proper mental programming.

If you truly want to lose weight as part of your New Year's resolutions this year, put down the diet books, don't even buy the latest copy of your favorite fitness magazine, and certainly don't go to your doctor asking for a prescription weight loss drug. Instead ask yourself these types of questions:

• Do I truly believe that it is possible for ME to lose the weight? Don't ask yourself if people in general can lose weight, ask yourself if you truly believe that YOU can lose the weight.
• Do I truly believe that I can be as pretty/sexy/slim/hot/attractive as I want to be? Again, you need to be brutally honest with yourself. Lying to yourself about what you truly believe is possible will just set you up to be having this same conversation at this same time next year.
• Do I truly believe that I am worthy of the type of attention or lifestyle that will come about as a result of me losing the weight? Think about the average celebrity. Yes, they have the looks, the fame, and the fortune, but they also can't even walk into a 7-11 to buy a cup of coffee without it being a media frenzy. Are you prepared to live the actual lifestyle of someone who is healthy and in great shape?

These types of questions are just examples, and you have probably already begun to think of similar questions that apply to your own lifestyle. Don't push those questions away as irrelevant while you instead go looking for the next "miracle weight loss cure".

Your ability to lose weight in the New Year is all in your head. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a straight-up liar; I don't care how many credentials they have behind their name, or how many testimonials they have on their website.

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