Having a healthy relationship with food is like writing yourself a golden ticket to your optimal weight for your entire life. When you've let go of the diet mindset and are ready to change, you get excited about what could happen.

Unfortunately, there are some things that could stop you from developing this healthy relationship.

1. Focusing Only On Results - Looking at your scale for results is one of the hardest behaviors to leave behind after years of on and off dieting. But changing the way you eat means focusing on the food and how you feel much more than what a number on a scale means.

2. Not Being Grateful - If you're feeling forced to eat healthy foods, you're going about it all wrong. You have to recognize that you've been given the energy of abundance (money) to exchange for the energy of life (food). Feeling this gratitude is essential - without it, you're not recognizing just how powerful simple, clean, healthy foods are.

3. Focusing On Losing, Not Gaining - Similar to focusing on results is the focus of developing a healthy relationship with food to lose weight - not to gain appreciation of the right foods. This type of focus detracts from allowing new and wonderful food experiences from coming into your life.

4. Letting Your Emotions Control You - The more you're identified with your emotions, the less ability you have to make the best decisions. Anytime boredom or worry gets in the mix of your decision making process, you start forgetting the real function that food plays in our lives.

5. Being Unaware Of Your Thoughts - We all carry thoughts around about food that don't always serve us. It's up to you to start recognizing these thoughts and replacing them with thoughts that change the way you think about food. If you always identify with your thoughts and do what they tell you, you can't possibly develop the healthy relationship with food that you need.