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Quit Blaming Yourself For Your Weight Problems… Let’s begin by qualifying that: Our statement is accurate, but we’re not suggesting there’s nothing you can do. What we’re actually claiming is you’ve either been misinformed or uninformed!

We’d like to break that depressing chain of misinformation. We want to help you break free from the chains of obesity, and start living again.

We know there are lots of different explanations for obesity, but in reality most of them are not our fault. The thing to realize is it’s time to change - by educating ourselves the RIGHT way. We’re not trapped into a lifetime of obesity.

Look at it this way - Imagine you have a Nissan car that needs some work doing. The car mechanic has been given some Ford tools to repair it - completely wrong for a Nissan! He’s got no chance of succeeding. However can a vehicle repairer deal with the issues correctly if his tools aren’t equipped for the job?

Clearly it’s necessary to always have the specific tools that suit the task. Despite the fact that he’ll have a good idea of what he should be doing, with the wrong set of tools he’ll just be disappointed.

Our description might seem a little simple to some, nonetheless it illustrates exactly the problem we have with weight loss. As a result, we’re offering tools that are absolutely fit for the purpose of losing and keeping off weight. Let’s be realistic here - we’re all individual people. Life is more interesting that way. So we need different solutions for different folks.

A selection of systems and tools will give you the choice to find one that ‘fits’ you. It’s likely that most of us have experience of when during each day we find diets easy going or tough. As a rule, a busy routine makes dieting much easier.

The routines we’ve developed over the years therefore contribute to our eating patterns. We need to get to grips with new and simple ways of eating that will smoothly transition us into positive, on-going habits. The unique programs we’ve uncovered are the perfect tools for the job.

How are we supposed to know which advice to take about the best way to lose weight? We have a diet industry that now turns over billions of dollars a year, yet most of it doesn’t really work. We’ve researched this market, because like many others we were desperate to find a real fat loss solution.

It was important to us to find real experts who’d tested a long-term program. We wanted people that could show us life-changing solutions that we could grab hold of and use. An awareness of the facts is what we need. We didn’t want to have to purchase costly diet products week on week. Our approach was to find a re-education program that we could happily live with.

The three we liked best are all reassuringly sound. They don’t push the latest ‘quick fix’ pills. Please - do they think we’re that stupid?

The writers of our selected systems have produced empathetic material that we can put to use straight away. You’ll discover ’secrets’ about nutrition that everybody should be told in school. Others will ask how you managed to get such great results.

There Is A Way Forward Then? You have our word - disguised as it was under all the hype from the diet industry. But real answers do exist.

Many of us have struggled with one diet or other for most of our adult lives. Our weight reduces when we first start dieting, then it goes up again the minute we eat normally. Approximately 95 percent of slimming attempts fail. This is either because we don’t see fast enough weight loss, or because we just can’t survive on such limited food.

It’s a little known fact, but professional sports people attribute a great deal of their performance to their diet program. We’re not trying to suggest you should follow an athlete’s program - simply that we can extract useful information about the ‘fuel’ the body works best on. Taking these results and developing them into optimal programs for real men and women has given us all the chance for successful weight management.

So we have to make the decision to get on with it. It’s very rewarding to see visible changes occurring so quickly. Yet we can’t achieve anything if we don’t start. Once you’re on your way, you’re in the game! And be happy you’ve taken the first step.

Keeping a food diary is a very accurate way to establish your current eating habits. Start a full week before you plan to commence dieting. Write down everything you eat and drink (be honest!) throughout the day. Look at what you’ve written down, and after a few days you should be in a position to see where adjustments could be made.

You might find you’re drinking more fizzy sodas and eating more high fat foods than you thought. If you are, then look to cut those out first. Maybe your diet looks pretty good. But if you’re too heavy then you’re probably eating too much of it. Whether it’s poor food choices or too much food, the diary will tell you all you need to know.

List the changes you plan to carry out over the next seven days. Include an eating plan, and the exercise you will take. Under the food heading, write a list of ‘banned’ foods, and ‘weekend only’ food. And then write down the food you can eat in generous amounts.

Under your drink heading, restrict alcohol to limited amounts on special days only. Rule out all sweet carbonated drinks. You’ll need to commit to a fitness regime, so next write in your diary which days you plan to exercise and how.

Accurately weigh yourself the morning your regime starts. Repeat this procedure every week, and make adjustments if appropriate. And write down how heavy you are at the beginning of each week.

A plan such as this will allow you to manage your weight loss programme and adjust it to suit yourself. Your diary is a working document - make notes about how each day has gone. Don’t forget to be honest about how much exercise you’re taking. Write it all down! A diary is a very simple way to monitor your progress - and a remarkable tool for staying with the program!

It’s important not to expect too much too quickly. Although you may not be able to see evidence of weight loss in the first couple of weeks, you should be starting to feel fitter. A little perseverance and patience will count for a lot. Motivate yourself by concentrating on the lifestyle you’ll enjoy as a fitter person, not the effort it’s taking to get there.

Don’t beat yourself up if you get off-track - it can be easily reversed with a bit of focus. Could your diet do with a bit of modification? Try to catch up by taking more exercise. Following a fitness DVD a few times a week can be very effective.

Celebrate your achievements along the way. It helps with your motivation if you award yourself little treats for good results. Clothes shopping isn’t appropriate ’til you’ve reached your target weight. But why not treat yourself to a beauty treatment or evening out as you hit milestones along the way?

When looking into health issues relating to weight, medics take note of our Body Mass Index. We’re considered healthy if our BMI is between 18.5 and 25. If it goes over 25, we have a weight problem. If in fact our index reveals a figure over thirty then we’re obese, with a result over forty making us morbidly obese.

You can work out your own figure by doing the following: Using metric readings, take your current weight and height. Start with a multiplication sum - your height times itself. Then take that answer and divide it by how much you weigh.

For example if your height is 1.6 metres and your weight is 78 kilos, your BMI is 30.47 (1.6 x 1.6 = 2.56 then 78 / 2.56 = 30.47). These figures state categorically that you fall into the obesity category. Medical advice would definitely suggest a change of diet and activity is needed.

We can’t lose weight if we continue to consume foods highly saturated in fats and sugars (save for the odd treat now and again!). We can lose weight by eating more healthily, and eating less. Then the fat that’s previously entered our system will be converted into energy.

Stay away from eating programs that sound too good to be true! They’re usually so restrictive and unsatisfactory that you can’t maintain them for long. This rules out anything that suggests you consume less than twelve hundred calories in 24 hours. Programs like this tend to have a yo-yo effect on weight - it comes off quickly, then goes straight back on again when you inevitably stop.

There are no short- cuts to long-term healthy weight loss. Trimming a few hundred cals a day off what you currently eat will take a few pounds off each month. Clearly this isn’t going to make an impact this month, but you will be healthier by this time next year.

We get the majority of our excess calories from fat-laden food. Consequently if you take out a big chunk of fatty foods, you’ll automatically take out a big chunk of calories. To avoid feeling desperately hungry eat more whole grains, and to balance your diet include plenty of fruit and veg. The health benefits soon start to make themselves feel apparent.

Don’t be tempted to pass up a meal to save calories. (Missed meals usually lead to high-calorie grazing). In point of fact, eating at least 4 small meals every 3 hours or so will prove much more satisfactory. Starvation isn’t in fact the best way to reduce your weight. It’s much easier for the body to process food and dispel fat when it’s receiving regular high quality/low quantity food.

If we could change our lifestyle to get some extra sleep, and decrease the amount of stress we endure, we might just find we lose weight as well. We find it hard to say no, and so end up rushing around doing far too many tasks - often skimping things instead of taking the time to do them well. Tension increases as one thing after another piles up. And that’s when we develop an overwhelming desire for food.

However, it now appears possible that there is a scientific correlation between times of stress and eating fattening food. Take a look at the following explanation of how tension can relate to putting on weight - The stress hormone cortisol is secreted when the body undergoes long periods of stress.

This stimulates insulin release, as an attempt to stabilise our blood-sugar. This insulin release makes us feel hungry- particularly for carbohydrate and fat-rich foods. And so we give in to our cravings, and our energy picks up again.

For a while the stress settles down and we feel satiated. Yet shortly after that, we feel drained again. An explanation for this is as follows: the insulin removes the glucose from the blood, and then allocates it to areas of the body that store fat, e.g. the waist.

It makes sense therefore if we want to lose weight; we also need to lose the stress! A decent night’s sleep may also be of benefit regarding weight reduction. Typically these days we only sleep for at most 7 hours a night - whereas we used to get around 8.

In conjunction with less sleep, we now have more obese people. Hormonal challenges are thought to relate the two things. If we’re run-down through lack of sleep, hormonal changes create hunger. As we have more waking hours, we become programmed to think we need to spend more time eating.

Evidently our longing for food rises as we become more tired, and again we veer towards carbohydrates and fatty food. Having eight hours of quality sleep may be just what’s needed to retrain our hunger hormones.

In conclusion - a simpler life could be just the spur our weight loss program needs. Remember everything doesn’t have to be done yesterday! And then at the close of the day, instead of grabbing another bite to eat, simply play some relaxing music and snuggle up in bed…

To make a change to your life you have to plan to make the change or it won’t happen. Planning for a successful outcome is the basic requirement of any endeavour. When Sir Edmund Hillary conquered Mount Everest, he wasn’t out for a stroll and all of a sudden found himself at the summit!

Take some time to work out what you want to achieve from losing weight, and put your goals in place. Even if the end result falls short of the planned criteria, it’s a likely bet that you’ll be much closer to success than you’d have been without them. Achievable goals tend to be measurable, specific, realistic and targeted.

Make a personal contract based on the following 5 D’s to immerse yourself in the positive outcome of your weight management. This contract should be written down, and signed. Define (what you want out of it) e.g. The exact figure, attitude, lifestyle etc. Be specific about the things you’re looking forward to, the kind of look you want, the sort of sports you’ll be able to play and the type of lifestyle you’ll have.

Our desires are what truly inspire us to do something. Get emotionally involved with what they are. For instance is it because you want to gain the approval of another person, have more fun or feel less restricted?

Next comes Dedication (the commitment)… Plan your time each week so you know exactly when you’re dedicated to exercising. Have it written on a calendar planner that you can cross off once you’ve completed it.

It helps to establish a routine, which in turn helps you to remain committed. Establishing your timetable helps you cope better mentally. It’s mentally easier for you too, because you don’t feel tempted to do other things.

The purpose of a contract is to have written evidence of your Determination. It helps having a physical document that is there for all to see. Finally, a Disciplined individual will have the strength to cope with set-backs. Obviously there will be knocks along the way, but a well planned regime will bring structure to your weight loss efforts.

Your written document is the beginning of your new life - refer to it often. Plan your work, and then work your plan with commitment. This has been proven by the world’s most successful people.

We all know people who appear to sail through life, happily moving from one success to the next. By contrast, there are others who never quite make it, and always have a reason why life has dealt them a hard blow. Society is made up of victors and victims, and the difference can very often be boiled down to one key factor - attitude.

When trying to lose weight, it’s essential to learn the habits of the victor to achieve a successful outcome. The victims attempt diets in a hesitant manner, hoping for good things, but never really believing they’re worthy of getting the figure they want. A ‘victor’ will be one hundred percent committed to the goal mentally. They’ll get emotionally involved with the outcome.

Visualise the finale of a tennis championship, where the player’s attitudes are as follows: One says “It’s my last chance - I’ll give it my best shot,” but the other says “Winning is my destiny.” Who do you think is taking the cup home with him?

If we split up the word OAR we have the definition of a victor - someone who takes Ownership of his or her task, is Accountable for their actions and assumes Responsibility for getting it done. The victim can be defined by the term BED - one who stays in bed and gives up. BED = Blame, Excuses and Denial.

The victor doesn’t expect someone else to lead the way - and takes ownership of his or her tasks. He takes account of his actions by taking them seriously. He sees things through by tackling problems instead of creating them. Ultimately, he is very responsible.

However, as far as the victim is concerned, it’s never his fault when he doesn’t achieve. He can always find fault with another person - as if that person was in control, not him. He always makes excuse for his lack of performance, but the only person he’s persuading is himself. After repeating this cycle of excuses and blame for a while, the victim is in denial. He’s absolutely convinced that there isn’t anything he can do to change things.

A person about to start a new slimming program should stack the odds of success in their favour by giving themselves a mental check-over. Anyone who’s a fully paid up member of the victim society will have to address their issues before they start, to truly embrace the concept of losing weight.

The two sets of attitudes are both just habitual. With unwavering repetition over time, habits can be changed. Listen to that little voice in your head - if it’s obviously a victim, then consciously stop it and state why you can accomplish your goal. Achievers are just like the rest of us - except they’ve conquered their demons and taken control.

“There is no such thing as a hero, only those who rise to the occasion”. Those were the words of Winston Churchill, and they’re just as valid today. To achieve the weight and health we want, we must adopt the right frame of mind. Then we become capable of anything!

Look at any Best Seller list in bookshops today, and it will be full of works about the rich and famous. From footballers to business magnates, their stories have a common theme. They overcame the problems that came their way by maintaining an optimistic outlook. This is the only way to achieve anything we’re aiming for. We have to consume ourselves with positive beliefs, and not allow negative a foot-hold!

Adopting this focus whilst working on a slimming regime will make all the difference. You’ll reach your goal so much sooner with the right attitude. An optimistic outlook introduces all sorts of achievement-oriented circumstances. But being down-beat and uncertain won’t reap the rewards.

This is because of our Reticular Activation System - a mechanism that automatically tells our brain what to focus on. Over our lives, we’ve experienced a huge number of things that no longer remain in our conscious thoughts - the majority of our past beliefs and knowledge shift from our conscious mind into our sub-conscious mind.

The reticular activation system trawls the subconscious each time we need to retrieve information. It presents our conscious mind with relevant thoughts and experiences from our past.

As a result, when we’ve fed our sub conscious with buoyant, optimistic communications, we can expect those to be reciprocated. And yet the reverse is true when our sub conscious has been bombarded with negative.

We can exercise some control over this. People who achieve often programme their reticular activation system by manipulating what they send through to their sub conscious. And so the reticular activation system emerges as a brilliant mechanism for fulfilling our dreams. The sub conscious has no way of knowing whether information sent to it is imaginary or not.

As a result, we should build a precise illustration in our head of the results we want to achieve. This will then pass on to our subconscious via the RAS - and help us to achieve our goal. All because the positive, meaningful material is brought into focus, and not left ‘lost’ in the background.

Napoleon Hill once wrote that we can attain any reasonable goal if we keep it clearly in our mind. That’s as long as we don’t allow any negative thoughts about it. Obviously, if we keep telling ourselves that we can’t hit a goal, our sub-conscious won’t allow us to achieve it.

As we consider how our lives should be in the future, mental images pop into our heads. Maybe we see a more prestigious home or a stylish vehicle in our mind’s eye. Most of us see changes to our appearance; a trimmer physique and a transformed wardrobe.

Thinking of what we’d like to have can be the beginning of our goal-setting journey. If we don’t have an idea of how things will be when we’ve made it, the chances are we’ll never get there.

We will have to make some changes though before we can have the things we want. Einstein told us that to expect a change in results; we have to be prepared to change our activities. And so, continue doing what you’re doing right now, and you’ll continue having what you’ve always had.

To make great progress in what we have, we need to make great changes not only to the way we do things, but more importantly to the way we think. So the right thought process and effort comes first, to achieve the results we want to have. Giving to get is not a new concept to most of us! But the rewards we want won’t just turn up purely from doing the work.

We accomplish success by embracing the thoughts and behaviour of a successful person - assuming the characteristics and values of a winner before we’ve actually become one. So the individual who’s goal is to lose 30 pounds in the next 12 months has to become conscientious about nutrition and prioritise a certain amount of time to exercise each week.

Hanging out with friends comes after the work-out’s been completed. A success-oriented person believes in delayed gratification, where the right effort will bring the right rewards. Adopting a good mental attitude to the things that have to be done will result in much faster weight loss.

Victory won’t come looking for us. Having an achiever’s state of mind is a powerful force if we start doubting ourselves, or get criticised by others.

We can connect with positive achievers by watching films and reading biographies of others who’ve overcome challenges on their path to success. We come across the same story time after time; their attitude and self-image is what created the results. By focusing on becoming who we need to be, we’ll enjoy the exertions we have to do more and receive the things we want to have so much faster.

My wife and I had got to the stage where we knew something HAD to be done about our weight. So we confided in each other about exactly what we wanted and why. It was amazing, but we really didn’t aspire to anything that remarkable. The thing Katie wanted most was to have more energy for the kids. And she wanted to get rid of feeling self-conscious in her underwear.

Predominantly for me it was about buying stylish off-the-peg clothes again, instead of the dreary ageing ranges available for ‘over size’ people. We have a 3 storey townhouse, and I wanted to run up the stairs without panting by the top floor!

Going through this process revealed that how we perceive ourselves is a key factor in how we actually look. We have much less respect for ourselves when we increase in weight. Lots of us see a happier life ahead if we can just lose weight. We wholeheartedly acknowledge these feelings, and want to share some findings with you.

Psychologists understand that we have a subconscious mind, which doesn’t recognise the difference between a real thing and an imaginary thing. This means it ‘tells’ our conscious mind anything that pre-dominates. Process that thought repeatedly, it emerges as its prevailing concept and thus it’s actual truth.

Mull that thought over for a moment. The chances are you’ve been repeatedly telling yourself that you’re too large. We need to change the messages we send to our sub-conscious into positive ones.

It’s also important to think about all the great things being slimmer will mean. We began by making a list of everything we thought we’d like our slimmer selves to enjoy - Things like dancing, flirting, swimming, having fun, soccer, running with the kids, volley ball, cycling, sun-bathing and feeling relaxed sitting in a hot tub.

We thought next about the holidays - summer at the beach feeling good in our swimwear. Our confidence grew massively as others looked on with admiration. We brought the dream to life.

Hence, we followed the process and reaped the rewards. Has it been worth it? You bet…