Here is a guest post that I wrote for Andrew's Discipline or Regret blog.

Do lots of cardio, lift weights, eat a healthy diet and drink lots of water.

That's the typical advice, albeit oversimplified, that you'll hear when you ask 9 out of 10 people how to lose weight (the 10th one will tell you about the Cabbage Diet or something like that). It's great advice for sure, and the basis for a great foundation of a healthy life but it really just addresses the physical aspects of weight loss.

Just as important, if not more so, is being mentally prepared for your transformation and having the right mind set as you work on changing your body. I'll leave all the physical stuff to the trainers and share with you 7 tips for your mind that I've used to get to where I am today. These tips have helped me keep on track, even when I've stumbled on my path to a new me.

1. Prepare yourself mentally

Athletes prepare for competition by visualizing their performance. They just don't step out onto the field and have at it. They've thought about every aspect of their game before stepping onto the field.

Like an athlete mentally preparing for a game, you must prepare your mind for the change you're about to embark upon. You cannot start a weight loss program on a whim and expect to be successful. Losing any significant amount of weight is a major commitment that requires forethought.

The simplest way to prepare yourself is to pick a date, a few weeks out, that you'll start your new life on. Circle that date on your calendar, setup some reminders if you use an online calendar, post the date on your bathroom mirrors, whatever. Just make sure that you see that date staring you in the face several times a day.

Seeing the date coming will help you focus on the pending changes coming in your life. You'll start thinking about the date, and what you'll do to be successful more often. When you're mind knows something is coming, it will make the transition easier because you are mentally prepared.

Preparing your mind for this major change will help when things aren't easy. If you just jump into a weight loss program with no mentalpreparation, it will be much simpler for you to quit when things don't go your way or when the going gets tough.

2. It's not going to be easy, be prepared to be sore and to sweat

Believe me, there will be tough times. No matter what you see or hear in the media or out on the net, there is no easy way to get from overweight and out of shape to fit, tone and lean. You just can't do it. If it were possible there wouldn't be any fat people in this world.

Get that through your head now, because there will be times you're on the treadmill or lifting weights and your muscles are screaming at you to stop. And it's during those times that having realistic expectations about weight loss will help you push through the pain, discomfort or disappointment and succeed.

3. It will take time, there are no quick fixes

Success won't come overnight though. As they say, "Rome wasn't built in a day". You and I didn't get fat overnight either. It took quite a few years of eating poorly and not being active to achieve that shape you see in the mirror.

The good news is, it probably won't take as long to get back into good physical shape. Of course, that really depends on the type of shape you want to get in. If your only looking to lose the spare tire and be more fit, you're looking at 6 months to a year (again, depending on where you start from. It could be more, could be less). Now, if you want a ripped, chiseled body that stops people in their tracks on the beach it will take you quite a bit longer. Your mileage will vary, of course, but whatever goal you set for yourself, it will take time so don't expect overnight miracles.

4. Don't over analyze

One of the great thing about living in the information age is that you can find advice on just about everything with a simple Google search. The problem with living in the information age is that you can find advice on just about everything with a simple Google search.

There are so many so-called "experts" spouting off on the Internet, each with their own agendas to promote, that it often becomes overwhelming trying to figure out what advice to follow. There are so many new diets, fads, tips and programs hitting theInternet each day that you could go mental just trying to implement all that advice into your programs.

Don't! Stick with what's worked for hundreds of thousands of people. Eat less, move more and use resistance training. Of course, it's a bit more complicated than that, but not too much.

When so-and-so says to do this-and-that to help improve your metabolism by 3%, they might be right. But is it worth worrying about a 3% change in your metabolism if the tip conflicts with some other aspect of your weight loss program? Don't lose sight of the forest through the trees!

Keep it simple stupid! That's really good advice. Not only for how to lose weight, but how to deal with the glut of information available to you each and every day. You'll be a much happier, saner person if you don't stress over each and every study and tip that you read about in your fitness magazine.

5. You will have success and you will have failures

The stock market has it's ups and downs. So does the weather. Guess what, your weight loss does too. Besides time, I cannot think of anything that is a guaranteed constant. So set your expectations properly and realize this is going to be a roller coaster ride.

Successes and failures don't only apply to when you step on the scale. You can have good days and bad days when you're on the treadmill, or when you're doingpush-ups or when you're eating out.

Be prepared to deal with failures. Sure, you can feel miserable for awhile, but get over it and move on when you hit a snag in your plans. You're only human and things happen. Get up, dust yourself off and move on. Use your failure as a learning experience.

On the flip side, celebrate your success. Not to be a stick in the mud, but be careful and don't go overboard in your celebration. You don't want to undo all the good you've done with a celebration. Moderation is key.

6. Don't go it alone

A great way to celebrate your success is by sharing it with others. This social network of support is a vital component to being successful. Having only yourself to be accountable to makes it easy to give up. After all, who do you have to answer to, just yourself? You may think that's enough, but it's not because more often than not, you're your own worst enemy.

Sign-up on some online forums and get active in them. Let people know who you are, where you came from, where you are now and what you're goals are. You'll find lots and lots of other people going through the same exact things as you who will offer you their support, be there when you need to vent or just for some idle chat.

Another good resource is blogs. Subscribe to some weight loss blogs (like the amazing Discipline or Regret blog) and follow along as others journal their experiences. This is another great way to see that other people out there are having the same type of experiences as you are and you won't feel so alone.

Believe it or not, starting your own blog is a fantastic way to stay motivated too. Since starting No More Fat Dad, I have received so many fantastic comments and emails that I get motivation each day from the readers of my own blog. I now also feel accountable to those thousands of readers, which keeps me going through some of my own down moments.

All this talk of online support resources doesn't mean you should ignore your real world friends and family. Get as many people involved in your new life as you can. Everyone wants you to succeed and you'll find that more often than not, people will go to any lengths to help you succeed.

7. Willpower vs Focus

When you don't have anyone around to help your through a trying time, there is a simple shift you can make in your mindset that can help get you through it.

This may sound simple but believe me, this really works.

When you're faced with a difficult decision or you're tempted by that candy bar in the grocery checkout line, don't think to yourself "I'm not going to do it" or, "I can't have the candy bar". That's you trying to exert willpower over the situation and in the end, even the strong willed will eventually lose that battle. You are more likely to want something you can't have, it's the forbidden fruit.

Instead, think about the goals you've set for yourself and focus on how having that candy bar will help you reach that goal (it won't). Using focus to help bring clarity to the decisions you make forces you to consciously pick between good and bad. Most people will end up making the good decision.

In the end, losing weight is all about being strong mentally, making the right decisions and acting on them. To succeed it takes a lot of mental toughness and sweat. My kids love a song from High School Musical that really applies to weight loss... "Get your head in the game". Because if you don't have your head in the game, it won't matter how many push-ups you do or how many miles you run because you'll eventually fail.

So get your head on straight, set the right expectations with yourself and do something to achieve your goals every day.

This post has also appeared in the following blog carnivals;

• The Fifth Edition of the Carnival of Improving Life
• A Very Public Diet Carnival