Are you ready to make a change in your life but need to find your weight loss motivation? These four simple rules will help you maintain your desire for change. They will provide a framework for success that will carry you throughout your weight loss journey.

Measure progress — Do you know your personal numbers? Do you know your weight, your measurements, your cholesterol levels and blood pressure? If not, let’s start here. Know your weight, but never weigh more than once a week. Ask your doctor to perform lab work and record your information for comparison purposes.

It is also important that you know your measurements. Be as precise as possible and record the measurements for your upper arms, hips, chest, waist, and thighs. Repeat this process every 2-4 weeks and compare your results. A loss of even a fraction of an inch is something to celebrate!

Keeping a log — The next rule we’re going to discuss may be the most important one of all. Keep a journal! Recording your personal numbers as well as the food you eat and the activity your perform will have a huge payoff.

Use the journal to record interesting weight loss facts that you come across. Record your emotions during the weight loss process. The journal enables you to discover patterns in your behavior and offers encouragement when your motivation wanes.

Researching — The third most important rule for losing weight involves research. You must educate yourself so that you have the tools you need to maintain your results. Learn what foods the USDA Food Pyramid recommends. Train yourself to recognize proper portion sizes. Read articles on weight-related topics.

When you do your research, you’ll come across many interesting facts that you’ll want to keep. Your journal is the perfect spot for you to have them easily accessible. You’ll be surprised at how much your weight loss motivation is boosted when you read a new perspective on old information.

Envision the future — The final rule that we’re going to share with you now is that you must have a vision. You probably already have a weight loss goal in mind, but your motivation and ultimate success depend on much more than that! You must regularly visualize the process.

Each day, spend time reflecting on exactly what it will take for you to reach your goal. How will you have to behave? What will you have to eat? How will you deal with temptation? It’s all in the details.

If you follow these four simple rules your motivation will remain high throughout your journey. You will have a system in place to fall back on when you feel weak. You will notice and celebrate your small successes and understand that they accumulate into a huge payoff!