Have you ever felt like following a diet was the same thing as being punished? It's easy to feel that way, especially if you are following a very strict diet that forbids you to eat the foods you used to enjoy so much.

The problem with this "punishment" mind-set is that eventually you are going to give up the diet because it makes you feel so depressed and frustrated, or you'll find little ways to strike back and rebel (mostly by cheating repeatedly on your diet). Is there a better way to handle this situation? Yes!

Let's face it; losing weight is hard work, and often not very fun. There's the bland, boring meals, grueling workouts, deprivation, and temptation around every corner. As if that weren't enough, you often feel like you have to avoid gatherings and events that you used to think were fun, simply because you don't want to torture yourself with all of the good food and alcoholic beverages that you can no longer have.

The good news is that there are plenty of ways to make weight loss fun and easy - it doesn't always have to be such a huge downer. Below are some easy ways to start changing your perception of dieting and exercise so they seem less like a chore and more like something you can happily manage.

Most people think that if they can just get their eating and exercise habits in line, they'll lose weight effortlessly and keep it off for good. What they often fail to realize is that their mental attitude plays a HUGE role in determining their physical actions day to day. See: How Your Mood Can Influence Your Weight

Consider for a moment what your mental attitude is usually like, especially as it pertains to the state of your body. Do you avoid taking the actions that you know would be good for you?Do you "beat yourself up" for eating poorly? Do you try to force yourself to eat right and exercise?

Developing a positive attitude about weight loss can make the process much easier! Rather than fighting an inner battle with yourself ("Have to do this; don't want to do this; this sucks; I hate exercise . . ."), you can develop the willingness - or even the enthusiasm - to stick to your weight loss plan and make the process virtually effortless.

Here are 6 good ways to start:

Most traditional diet programs are geared to do one thing: help you lose weight. That's a good thing, right? Initially, yes. The problem is that most diets don't address the reasons you gained weight in the first place, so the moment you stop dieting, you gain the weight right back.

For truly permanent weight loss, it's important to figure out why you became overweight, and make permanent changes to your lifestyle so you don't gain the weight back again. A diet is a good temporary measure, like if you need to lose weight for a wedding, reunion, or other event. But for maintaining a healthy weight long-term, you'll need to do a bit more than simply cut calories.

Here are a few important things to consider for permanent weight loss:

Everyone knows that maintaining a healthy weight is an important key in living a long, healthy life. There are so many diseases and illnesses that are tied to being overweight, it just makes sense to do what you can to reduce your risk of falling victim to them.

However, losing weight "at any cost" should never be your main focus because it can actually make you more susceptible to disease. The end does not always justify the means.

For example, embarking on unhealthy fad diets, taking dangerous supplements or starving yourself can backfire and have serious consequences.

It's important to maintain a healthy weight, but NOT if it means you'll be malnourished and sickly!

Most people don't realize just how strongly their moods can impact their weight.

You may already be aware that comfort eating is a temptation when you feel down, stressed or depressed. However, there are other reasons you might be tempted to eat more than your body really needs, like feeling out of control, frightened, indecisive, or rejected. Boredom is another common trigger for overeating - that aimless, restless feeling of "I don't know what to do with myself; maybe I'm hungry" (even though you know you really aren't).

Depression and excess weight often go hand in hand. Depression is attributed to a chemical imbalance in the brain, and this chemical imbalance can often be caused by hormonal fluctuations, dietary habits and lifestyle habits.

Untreated depression can easily result in weight gain because depression typically makes you feel lethargic, unmotivated, and resistant to proper self-care. However, even when depression is treated with medication challenges can result because weight gain is a common side-effect of some depression medications.

Despite these challenges, there are many things you can do to make weight loss easier, even if you are being treated for depression. (Important note: if you suspect you are suffering from depression and are not yet being treated, it's important to make that your first step!)

Once under the care of a qualified physician, you can begin making other changes like these:

When you start a diet, you've got all the best intentions for sticking with it and reaching your weight loss goal. Unfortunately, many (even most) people who start a diet give up after a few short weeks, or even less. Why does this happen?

There are several possible reasons why a diet might fail. Take a look at some of the more common reasons below:

Do you consider yourself to be an optimist, or a pessimist? Would you believe that your state of mind day to day has a big impact on how much you weight you lose? Let's face it; losing weight can be hard. You've got to constantly work on improving your eating habits, avoiding fattening foods you used to love, making time for exercise each day, and generally devoting a fair amount of time to taking good care of yourself.

When you try to do all these things under a cloud of negative thinking, it just feels that much harder. Your negative self-talk works against you so you feel unmotivated, bitter, and disgusted by all the things you "have" to do to lose weight.

On the other hand, when you develop some healthy positive thinking habits, you'll find that losing weight becomes much easier. You'll enjoy exercise. You'll love preparing healthy meals and snacks. Taking good care of yourself becomes a joy, not a chore.

Here are five good ways to develop a positive, optimistic state of mind to make your weight loss easier:

One bad habit that contributes to weight gain is eating while you're doing other activities. Hands up if you've ever eaten while driving, surfing the 'net or watching television. And that's just the start!

There a number of problems when it comes to this sort of multi-tasking. The sooner you break this habit, the sooner the weight will come off.