How you approach improving your nutritional habits can make all the difference to your success. Keep in mind that a dietary pattern is not a diet. What you need to start thinking about is making a lifestyle shift toward a healthier pattern of eating. This is not a short-term fad diet for quick and easy weight loss. In contrast, this is about learning how to choose a daily diet that is full of nutrient-dense, health-enhancing foods for a longer, healthier, and more enjoyable life that you will share with your spouse and new family.

When you think about nutrition, it's important to realize that as you reduce consumption of some types of foods, you generally increase consumption of other types of foods. So, ultimately, your approach is most successful if you emphasize choosing to eat healthful foods on most occasions, rather than in thinking in terms of forbidden foods, and keep treats that are special and dear to you in your diet. If they happen to be particularly rich and high in fat or sugar, then limit these to very small portions on perhaps one day a week. That way, you feel as if you're enjoying your life and you don't feel deprived.

If you eat a typical fast-food diet, it's challenging to convert to a diet of whole fresh foods. This chapter provides you with specific strategies for making this transition as smooth as possible. Studies show that people are most successful in changing their habits when they focus on the benefits they will receive as a result of their efforts. Your wedding date is a tremendously motivating event for making your new you a reality. Keep seeing yourself looking radiant and beautiful in your wedding dress. Put a picture of your dress on your refrigerator door — anything that will help you remind you of how important it is for you to stick to your new commitment.