Proper exercise and a well-balanced diet are essential to weight loss, but according to Dr. Phillip McGraw, you also need the right perspective. "Losing weight doesn't start with diet or exercise. It starts with believing that you deserve to be healthy. If you believe you deserve better, you will create better for yourself," he says in an article on The Huffington Post.

Next, you need to develop a more positive outlook. Instead of looking at your role models and thinking that you’ll never like them, you should look at them and think, "Now, it’s my turn."

"You've got to abandon all your negative beliefs about yourself and replace them with positive ones. You have to identify and embrace what it is that you are good at, as well as the qualities, traits, and characteristics that make you a worthwhile human being."

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