Obstacle: Just when you think you're making progress, losing weight and getting stronger, for some reason you pick up Vogue and unconsciously start comparing yourself to celebrities and models. Or, a lunch with a petite friend discourages you by making you think you have a really long way to go before looking like her.

Overcome it: Okay, get a Post-It, or any little square piece of paper you can tape to the fridge or bathroom mirror. On it, draw a circle about as big around as a coffee cup. Inside of the circle, write the word judgment. Then, starting at the upper left of the circle, draw a line diagonally through the word, connecting at the bottom right side of the circle. In other words, no judgment. Yes, you're being judgmental when you compare yourself to the Vogue models, and it's not fair to you because you probably have very little in common with them.

The key word here is compare, and you may also find yourself doing it while chatting with friends -- "Oh, so-and-so's body is better than such-and-such's." Judgmental thinking keeps us all down, girls. Better to keep it real by leaving it at, "She has a cute figure." I call it 'just dealing with the facts.' We're all so different, is there really any fair way to compare? All it does is reinforce a negative self-concept, and drain the motivation from our goals.

More Tips:

• Remember, your body is unique, so your accomplishments will be different from someone with a different body type or metabolism. Setting realistic goals for you is very important to mind, body and spirit.
  
  
• I can't stress it enough: Practice appreciation instead of comparison. Stopping the judgmental girl-talk will really help silence it in your internal dialogue.
  
  
• Every day, take some time at bedtime and upon waking to tell yourself about the good things you've accomplished, and the great things about your body and life.

Obstacle: So, someone brought home a great big slice of cheesecake that was left over from a party, and it called to you from the refrigerator until you could stand it no longer and decided to finally put it out of its misery. You ate it, and now you feel terrible. Not only did you "fall off the wagon," you threw gasoline on the wagon and set it afire as you pushed it over a cliff?