Losing Weight is My Biggest New Year's Resolution for 2010; Here Are Five Things that Will Help Me Reach My Goal

Like so many other years, my biggest New Year's Resolution is to lose weight. But this time I am prepared with some ways to actually accomplish this resolution. I have discovered 5 ways to lose weight and cross this goal off of my New Year's Resolution list from now on.

The first thing I have discovered that helps me lose weight is a way to have my chocolate and eat it too! I love chocolate, but when it is in the form of cookies, cake or ice cream, there are usually too many calories for too little chocolate flavor. But I discovered that chocolate chips - the kind you get for baking - have only 70 calories for 33 chocolate chips. This is no more than a small apple. If I get chocolate hungry, I can eat the chips slowly, one by one. They will last a long time and I'll get that chocolate flavor I crave, but with few calories.

The second thing I am doing in order to lose weight and keep my New Year's Resolution once and for all is called the Three Bite Rule. This is simple, but really is effective. If I am at a party or a restaurant and there is a rich dessert or something I really want to taste, I take just three, slow bites and savor each one thoroughly. I usually find that I am completely satisfied and won't need to eat the rest of the dessert.

The third thing that helps me stop eating, and lose weight, is chewing gum. After I have had a healthy, nutritious meal, or three bites of a treat, I chew some sugar free gum. I have heard that it takes about 20 minutes after you eat before you feel full and satisfied; that's just about the length of time flavor lasts in a stick of gum. By the time the flavor is gone, I'm not hungry any more.

The fourth thing that really helps me lose weight is to keep moving. I have discovered that I don't even need a gym membership, good weather or an exercise buddy to keep to my New Year's plan. For a small investment, I have accumulated a wide variety of exercise tapes that are fun and effective, can be done in my living room and have built-in exercise buddies to keep me motivated. Whether it is Leslie Sansone for walking and jogging, Richard Simmons for dancing and partying, Margaret Richards for toning, tightening and building bone and muscle, or any of the myriads of other tapes for exercise and fitness, I have what I need to stay healthy, have fun and lose weight in the New Year without getting bored.

The fifth thing that motivates me to keep my New Year's resolution and lose weight is the grandchildren I hope to have one day. I want to be healthy and active enough to play with them; losing weight and getting fit now will not only help me keep my New Year's resolution, but it will give me a chance to enjoy my family for many years to come.

This isn't the first year that I have made a New Year's resolution to lose weight. But by following these five tips, I hope to make it the last!