While diet and exercise are key to losing weight, there's one element I think is just as important -- yet people never seem to want to hear about it. Call it mind, call it motivation, call it self-awareness or mindfulness -- no matter what you call it, thinking isn't sexy in the weight loss world.

Taking control of your life by becoming aware of how your brain/mind works -- and aware of why you do the things you do -- can make losing weight and getting fit much less of a struggle.

The reason why people don't want to hear about this is because it's easier -- and safer -- to believe they're not losing weight for some other reason, like too many carbs or not knowing THE secret to weight loss.

But when you come right down it, the most likely reason why you go for that piece of chocolate cake is because you're being "mindless" and letting your baser instincts take control. The reason is all in your head, so to speak.

Have you ever heard that your outer surroundings are a direct reflection of what's going on inside of you? In many ways this is true - when you feel overwhelmed, stressed and confused, you may not devote the same amount of effort to keeping your home and work space clean and orderly. You may not devote much time and attention to taking good care of yourself, either.

It can also work the other way. Disorganized, chaotic surroundings make you feel weighed down, fatigued and unmotivated.

Taking the time to organize, clean and harmonize your surroundings can do wonders for your state of mind and body. You'll feel clear, energized and eager to move forward on your goals - that includes weight loss goals as well as other goals.

Here are a few ways you can get more organized -- and drop those pounds:

  If you're a woman, like it or not, menopause is heading your way. You can't stop menopause from occurring - it's a fact of life that your body is going to experience some changes as you age. One of those changes is a postmenopausal weight gain.

In our mid-forties and fifties, it's so easy to blame that additional luggage around the midsection that spills out over the tops of our jeans (muffin tops, anyone?) on postmenopause.

But the fact is that while postmenopause does indeed cause some weight gain, that weight gain is only a few slight pounds that could easily be taken off within a few weeks.

Sometimes you have the best intentions during a three day holiday week-end. You swear you'll eat well, even when you're offered the most succulent barbecue meals -- and swear even more that you'll exercise instead of sleeping in AND avoid alcohol. (Go you!) But there you are Tuesday morning: feeling guilty, slightly ill and bloated from all the over-eating.

Now what you do? The way I see it, you've got only one choice: get back on track as quickly as possible! Here are four ways to get back on track with you weight loss plan after a long holiday week-end.

  So it seems recent studies are suggesting that sitting too much could offset any benefits of exercise. More study needs to be done, but some scientists are proposing that every hour of sitting upped the rate of metabolic syndrome by 26%, while 30 minutes of exercise dropped the rate of metabolic syndrome by that much -- thereby canceling out the effect of the exercise.

In some ways, this doesn't surprise me at all. The human body isn't made for sitting at a desk, in front of a computer for hours on end. Yet that's what I do. And I bet you do, too. Now, it doesn't mean that you need to be jogging and lifting weights all day, but you need to avoid sitting for long periods of time during the day.

Here are some ways you can get up off your duff, at work and at home:

It's not only your diet and exercise routine that helps you to lose weight. While your cardio program does burn a lot of calories, making other small changes to your lifestyle adds up to a big difference. Check out these little things that burn more calories:

If you're the type of person who's been caught in a cycle of gaining and losing weight, you may be going about things all wrong. One of the most common ways for people to lose weight is to go on a diet. People suddenly try to change all of their bad habits. For some, that's just what they need. But for a lot of people, the change is too drastic and the call of their old lifestyle becomes too strong, leading to failure yet again.

If you have trouble with drastic changes to your diet, the best way to lose weight and be successful at it is to take things one step at a time. When you change just one small thing into a healthier habit, you find that you don't feel so deprived -- and you're more likely to stick with it. Here are some examples of small steps that you can take to lose weight:

Yup, I'll say that dreaded E-word out loud: E-X-E-R-C-I-S-E. But as much as you moan and complain about it, if you're looking for a way to boost the effects of your diet, you can't find anything better than -- *gulp* -- exercise.

Yes, this does take work and it isn't always easy. But if you add even a little exercise to your diet program you'll find that you exponentially increase your success. Here are a few tips for adding exercise into your day.

Do you subscribe to the philosophy that resolutions are made to be broken, or do you believe the New Year’s holiday is an opportunity for change?

Before bodybuilding became popular, a different muscle building routine, called isometric exercises, were all the rage. These exercises are static, meaning you apply pressure and the hold it. For instance, you could push your arms up against the wall and hold it. While these exercises aren't as popular as they used to be, they do provide some benefits: