We have come a long way. This chapter is designed to lay out your path in one place. Hopefully, it will serve as a reference as well as a device to keep you on track. (See your doctor before you start your quest and keep him or her in the loop.)

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First, you need to get your NPB Journal. We need to plan your day tomorrow. You should be in your journal every day and plan the next day. You should have an idea of what you are going to eat. You need to focus on portion size as well. A decent breakfast. No pancakes with syrup, doughnuts, or fried anything, please. Maybe a bowl of cereal with a cut-up banana. Perhaps some scrambled eggs and one slice of toast. Little or no butter. Perhaps some oatmeal. Add to that maybe some fruit.

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If you are into protein bars (small protein shakes are nice, too), maybe snack on one before lunch if you need to. For lunch, maybe soup and half a sandwich. Or maybe a whole sandwich and more fruit. Dinner, a helping of poultry, fish, or meat. A potato, some vegetables, and a salad with no or very little dressing.

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Remember to eat some fruit at least five minutes or more before dinner to take your hunger edge off. For your first four or five bites of dinner, you should eat slowly; if you must, kind of fast is OK. Then, you will need to slow down. Breathe four or five times between bites. Relax. I am here with you and trying to coach you. If you must, use the formidable Hunger Jiu-Jitsu technique known as the pattern interrupt to take control. Get up from the table. Take a two- to three-minute walk.

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Look at your shirtless or bathing suit picture, or even go to the bathroom and remove your shirt and remind yourself of what you are doing and what you said you must have!

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Now, go back to the table and take a bite, but chew slowly. Drink a little extra water. Eat more vegetables, and if you must, pattern interrupt yourself again. You need to start resenting the fact that you have to do this. Learning more self-control can free you from pattern interrupts in the future, and most importantly, help you change the way you think about eating.

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No desserts in the losing weight phase, please. Maybe some honey-sweetened tea or a diet root beer or something like that. Even an apple or some fruit is OK. But nothing else until you hit your target weight. And even then, very little or no junk, OK? You need to determine your target weight early in your quest. You can readjust later, but you need a target. Remember?

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Take notes in the Notes section of your NPB Journal. Record your daily weigh-ins and write down, in summary, the exercises you did. Of course, when you get a compliment, that goes in your journal first!

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This allows you to track how closely you are following the system and to determine if you are giving it the effort it, and you, deserve.

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Be honest with yourself. Do you think you are putting forth enough effort to put you on the path to achieving your NPB? Have you selected at least three or four favorite mantras and are you saying them at least several times every day? You need to do this, as it is an important part of reprogramming your mind and getting rid of old habits.