Set a reasonable, measurable weight-loss goal and consider what you are going to do to attain it: You might decide to limit your fat and calorie intake and take 10,000 steps per day to lose a pound per week, for example. “If you set a specific goal that has process and outcome aspects, it gives you specific targets to meet, which provides positive reinforcement,” says Daniel S. Krischenbaum, Ph. D., clinical director of Healthy Living Academies and professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Northwestern University Medical School in Chicago.