Have you aspired to great things in your life? Of course you have! Whether it was that college degree, mastering a foreign language, creating a happy family, growing a beautiful garden, or founding a successful company, you’ve surely achieved important goals. Was acquiring a healthy, sleek physique one of them? If that’s on your A-list, read on:

Ambition

Any worthy endeavor starts with hope and a vision, including getting trim and fit. This seems like an elusive dream for many, and yet it’s far more attainable than other goals you’ve surely tackled. The key is putting this objective front and center, and there’s no time like the present. Why? Because you deserve it. For your health, well-being and happiness─cultivate your ambition in this vital area.

Appetite

A good appetite is a natural, healthy physiological reaction. What’s not healthy is losing all sense of your natural hunger and allowing yourself to be triggered by other signals when you don’t need food. This is a common plight for emotional eaters, which we cover here. A major key to maintaining a healthy weight is simply eating when you’re hungry─ideally small meals every few hours─and stopping well before you’re stuffed. You’ll be amazed by the difference this makes.

Awareness

Tuning into your natural appetite may call for fresh awareness. Many people overeat because they simply aren’t paying attention. They’re watching TV, knocking back cocktails while noshing, working─even driving! Here’s another lesson from the French. For them, mealtime is a treasured daily opportunity to savor good food with loved ones. This approach is nourishing on multiple levels, feeding both body and spirit, and helps take mindless eating out of the equation.

Application

With any successful endeavor, we must apply ourselves, using the best tools we have. Weight loss is no exception. Chances are, you already know what to do. It’s all about meals rich in lean protein─starting with your morning shake─and colorful fresh produce, taking your daily multi-vitamin/mineral formula and health-boosting fish oil, working out 3-5 times per week, and keeping refined carbs, processed meats, fried food, desserts and alcohol within narrow bounds.

Assiduity

Assiduity is defined as persistent application or diligence. Few things worth having come easily. Consider personal relationships. They don’t flourish without caring attention, awareness and the desire to create and maintain a positive, healthy situation. Your connection with your body is the same. So, treat yourself with the loving diligence you offer your loved ones─every day, every meal, every snack. You deserve it!

Just think of the pride you’ll take in your healthy, trim body on a daily basis. Strong, fit, vibrant and naturally energized. Do those words define you? If not, could they? Line up your “A’s” and go for it!