Really Wanting to Lose Weight

If you really want to lose weight, you have to be prepared to commit to it. There's not a lot of point to saying, 'Gee I'd like to lose weight', and then not making any changes in the way you behave.

The most important thing you need to work on isn't your exercise program, or the food you eat. The most important thing you need to work on is your head, your mind. People gain excess weight in a variety of ways, and for a variety of reasons.

I'm not a psychologist, I can't get inside your head. I'm just a person, and ordinary person, who has lost weight and kept it off. I didn't join a gym, or go on a restrictive diet. I just used the information that is sitting in my head.

I know a bit about nutrition, and I've read lots and lots of diet books. I've read about fruit diets, vegetable diets, carbs, low fat, all of that stuff. The thing that struck me most was that a lot of these diets were not made for real live people, living in a family, with all of the hustle and bustle that involves. I needed to do something different, something I could do for the rest of my life without making myself feel like I was missing out.

I started listening to my body, and realised that I don't get hungry very often. I always used to eat at the designated meal times, and have snacks sometimes, without ever having my tummy tell me 'Hey, I'm hungry!'

That realisation was the most amazing thing. Once I learnt to listen to my stomach, not my head, I was on my path to reaching my ideal weight. It means I wait until I'm hungry before I eat. It means I can eat whatever I want, as long as my tummy is hungry for it.

Of course, I still need to be aware of eating what is healthy for me, fruit, grains and seed, vegetables, small amounts of meat. But it also means I can have chocolate too sometimes, if I really feel like it. And that is great!

Because I know I can eat things like chocolate, I don't have cravings, and I only eat enough to savour it. I don't eat cheap chocolate, I only eat good quality chocolate. And I enjoy it, guilt free.