More to dropping weight than eating right

When it comes to dropping the pounds, some local experts say it's not only about physical activity and eating right. There's also a mental aspect to hitting your goal weight.

Jane Peabody, interim coordinator of physical and wellness education at Arizona Western College, said she's battled with her weight for 30 years.

And 60 pounds later, she said the decision to lose weight all starts with yourself. "It has to be your and yours alone. You have to be ready to make it happen."

After trying "diet after diet," Peabody said, "weight loss is a lot of self-talk."

Danielle Hering, a local therapist with 15 years of experience, including clients who want to lose weight, said someone's willpower only works as long as they're thinking about it.

"Our behavior is determined by our emotions," Hering said.

That means if someone has been comforting themselves with food, for example, when they're bored, lonely, sad or angry, if something triggers those feelings again, then they're going to go right back to the food.

The key is to recognize what triggers that behavior, said Hering, and deal with that emotion. "And let food be just what you do to nourish your body, not something to numb yourself or distract yourself from the emotion."

After identifying the emotions, Peabody said, people need to do something to resolve it, whether that involves talking with someone else, talking with a person about how they feel or maybe forgiving and letting go of something.

It's also helpful to substitute it with a healthy resolution such as exercise - but just don't replace it and not deal with the emotion, she said.

In addition, Peabody said to remember not to completely deny yourself some of the foods you love.

"If I want to have a cookie, I can have a cookie - I just can't have 10 cookies. You can have those things when you're losing weight, you just have to learn how to manage them."

And what will help you stick with it?

Hering said she has her clients visualize what they want to look like when they're thin. That way a person can see themselves, what they're wearing, how they feel, she said.

"And visualize that image as often as possible."

She said you can help trick your mind because the subconscious doesn't know the difference between fantasy and reality.

"People believe that exercise and eating healthy will cause weight loss, but if they haven't started to think like a thin person, then the body will go back."