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Don’t Feel Guilty About Being Too Heavy… Allow a little clarification for starters though – We aren’t implying here that you don’t take responsibility for your weight management. It’s just that we believe you’ve been given misleading information.

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.

Visualise this scenario – a Toyota needs fixing, but the mechanic’s been issued with the tools to fix a Ford. Not the right tools at all! He’s doomed to failure! It’s impossible for a mechanic to do the repairs with the wrong equipment.

Having the appropriate tools for the job in hand is vital. The mechanic will understand the basics of what he’s supposed to do, but his tools will let him down.

This probably all sounds a bit obvious, but we’re dealing with the same ‘obvious’ challenge trying to lose weight. Hence we’re looking to provide you with specially designed tools for fat prevention. If we’re honest, we all relate to different things. (It would be dull if we were all the same.) Just because a program works for some, it doesn’t mean it will work for all.

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.

Our favorite chosen systems provide practical, usable knowledge. What they don’t provide are wonder drugs that ‘melt’ the fat away! (That everybody knows don’t really work!)

The authors of our shortlist really understand what it is to be overweight. They deal with the problem by teaching us workable solution-orientated habits. Your health will be greatly enhanced once you put the techniques into practice. As you begin to benefit from your new knowledge, the results will quickly follow.

Does This Information Really Exist? No question about it! We’re aware that the right messages have previously been ‘hidden’ by those seeking to profit from weight problems. But there is a program that will change your life – we absolutely promise.

Struggling with weight issues is a common problem for so many. We know how demoralising failed slimming attempts are. Sometimes we’re successful for a while, then it all just becomes too much. So many attempts at losing weight end up failing – usually because the diets are not workable for more than a couple of weeks.

The sports industry puts vast resources into educating athletes about the relationship between performance and diet. We may not aspire to be athletic, yet it’s reasonable to assume that knowledge gained by those in the sports arena can benefit others as well. Modern do-able eating programs have been developed from the results of the sports research – for regular guys like us.

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.

Writing notes in a diary is a great way to keep an eye on what you’re eating. Begin by consuming your regular diet for seven days. Make a note of all the things you have, and be scrupulously honest! After several days, you should be able to identify any weak areas and look at what time of day they occur.

You may be surprised at how many snacks and sweets you’re getting through, or how many glasses of wine. If that’s the case, they should be minimised first. If your diary only shows nutritious food, then perhaps smaller portions would be the answer. Whether it’s the first or the second situation, you’ll be able to see how to adjust your intake from the entries in the diary.

Write down an Action Plan for the next week. On a blank page, write down detailed notes to cover the following: If some foods are to be forbidden or limited, write that down. On another page, write down the foods that you can eat.

If you enjoy alcohol, decide on a small quantity that you will allow yourself at the weekend, and write it down. Forget any drinks with added sugar. Next comes physical exercise, and whether it’s a walk in the park, or visits to the gym – write it down.

Weigh yourself at the beginning of your regime first thing in the morning. Then repeat the process each week. If necessary, modify parts of the plan for better results. Only weigh yourself at the beginning of each week at the same time of day. Note it down in your diary.

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 won’t happen overnight though. Changes may be hard to detect in the early stages, but clothes will start to become less tight, and your energy level will increase after a few short weeks. Just be patient and have faith! Keeping up your motivation is sometimes tough, so try to dwell on the end result and the joy it will bring!

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.

Be proud of your achievements. Rewarding your efforts will keep you much more motivated. New clothes may need to wait until your goals have been reached. But an evening at a show would be spot-on to toast a ten pound loss!

Doctors talk about our body mass index when they refer to weight issues. If our index shows we come in above 18.5 and below 25 then our body mass is appropriate. An index greater than that reveals we have weight issues that could need dealing with. What’s more if we take that figure over thirty we’re defined as obese – over forty and the definition is morbidly obese.

To work out your own index – You’ll need to know your weight and height in kilos and metres respectively. Your index is your height squared, divided by your weight.

Let’s look at this sum in more detail. If your weight is 69 kilos and you are 1.5 metres tall – multiply 1.5 by 1.5 to get 2.25. Then divide 69 by 2.25 and you get 30.66. The final figure is your BMI. In that example, you would be considered obese and therefore should look to changing your eating habits and exercise regime.

Unless we restrict highly calorific food to high days and holidays, the weight will stay put! Smaller, higher fibre lower fat meals will help the body to metabolise the fat stores that have previously built up.

Diets that make claims to crash your weight are not recommended – they’re unhealthy and unsustainable. A crash diet is any eating programme with less than 1200 – 1500 calories a day. Radical weight reduction can result, but it’s usually very short-lived!

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.

Thus if weight loss is your objective, first try to create a more harmonious lifestyle! It’s also thought that there could be a relationship between the amount of sleep we have each night and our weight. There was a time when the average person slept eight hours a night. This is no longer the case, with seven being optimistic for many today.

Alongside this, is the fact that weight problems have increased. One theory is this is due to hormones. If we’re not sleeping for long enough, we develop an appetite for more food. This is because our body thinks it must be daytime when we’re awake, so it’s time to eat.

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…

For change to happen, a plan of action has to be made, targets have to be set and a commitment to see it through has to be adopted. This applies to everything – including a weight loss regime. Nobody realises their ambitions without commitment to a strategy.

Before you embark on your weight loss regime, you’ll find it valuable to set yourself a series of goals or targets to help you complete the course. Targets that take a bit of effort, but certainly can be done will keep you on track. Keep your goals easy to understand and measure. They should always be specific, and start reasonably short-term.

Use the following five D’s to help you get emotionally involved with the result of your efforts. Write your five D’s down in a contract to yourself. First of all define what it is that you wish to get from successful weight reduction. Have a clear-cut picture of who you will be and the lifestyle you’ll enjoy when the excess weight has gone.

The thing that really moves us to action is desire. Find something that you really want to achieve from your weight loss. Is it to prove to yourself or others that you can do it, and that you deserve a better life? Perhaps you want to be fitter, or maybe it’s a personal challenge.

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.

Let the people in your life know when that is, so they won’t expect you to do other things at that time (just as they don’t when you go to your job). Having a routine prevents you feeling stressed. You’ll exercise all the better for it.

A contract illustrates your Determination to see this thing through. Having a written document about the positive direction of your life makes it harder to bottle out of it. Discipline (to overcome the hard times) – the resolve to work around challenges and not allow them to stop you achieving your goals.

Your contract is a working document designed to assist and strengthen you through the change in your life. Goal planning with realistic targets has proved time and time again to bring more success than any amount of haphazard efforts. Don’t compromise your results by merely paying lip service!

Some folks appear to have it all – and everything they do seems to fall easily into place. On the other hand, we know others who never quite make it, and always have an answer why things haven’t worked out. It usually comes down to attitude, where the victors maintain a good attitude, and the victims maintain a poor one.

When embarking on a slimming regime, it’s critical to take on the outlook of the victor to get your result. Victims attempt actions over-cautiously, hoping for good things, but never really feeling they’re worthy of great results. However a victor has already visualised his or her success mentally before the reality catches up.

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?

The victor is characterised by the word oar- a figure paddling on to victory. (OAR stands for Ownership, Accountability and Responsibility). On the other hand the victim is characterised by ‘BED’ – he or she stays in bed and is defeated. (BED stands for Blame, Excuses and Denial).

Not relying on others, but taking ownership of the job is a strong characteristic of a victor. He’s liable for his actions, and so he takes account of them (seeing things through by dealing with problems not making problems). He’s responsible for the results of his actions, and so doesn’t take excuses from himself.

In the victim’s eyes, there’s always a reason why he doesn’t achieve, and it’s seldom to do with himself. Everything is always someone else’s fault – he feels out of control so lays the blame elsewhere. And then he reasons why something didn’t go well – although no-one’s convinced but him! Over time, the victim assumes a position of absolute denial. He has completely bought-in to the saga of excuses and blaming that he created himself.

To stack the odds in their favour, a mental work-out may be needed for some dieters approaching a life-changing eating program. To really embrace the health-enhancing program, any traces of the victim syndrome have to be wiped out.

Continual positive repetition will change a victim’s attitude to that of a victor. Listen to the voice inside your head – if it sounds like a victim, then stop it and verbalise why you can succeed. Nobody else is superior to you – some have just conquered their victimisation thinking and achieved their success.

We don’t start out as victors, we learn the habits of victors to accomplish our goals. We have to have the mind-set of a winner in order to achieve the weight we want ourselves to be.

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!

And so for someone attempting to reduce their weight, a positive mind-set is fundamental. Being positive is the only way to get through. An optimistic approach brings about all sorts of opportunities to achieve. It throws up possibilities we might not previously have thought of. On the other hand, a negative outlook blocks us and numbs our ‘can-do’ receptors.

We all have an automatic ‘device’ in our brains, known as our reticular activation system. This system is responsible for everything we focus on. Over time, a myriad of thoughts and experiences have shifted from the front to the back of our minds – as we store all our previous experiences in the sub conscious bit, or the back so to speak.

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.

Therefore, if our conscious mind has generally been transferring positive, upbeat messages to our sub-conscious mind, that’s what it will send back. But if our sub-conscious has been given loads of downbeat messages, then that’s equally what will be sent back.

It seems that achievers are able to manipulate the messages filtered through to their sub-conscious minds. By deliberately programming their RAS, they choose the exact messages the conscious mind sends. So as the sub-conscious doesn’t know what’s actually real, the RAS can be a great tool for realising ambitions.

So it’s vital to construct an exact picture in our conscious mind of what we want. Then our RAS will transfer it to our sub conscious mind, and help us meet our goals. Because when we need to retrieve our old information on losing weight, the message is that it’s a done deal!

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.

Most of us can visualise the way we’d like to live as we progress through our lives. We might envision a bigger house, more holidays, a faster car and maybe a job with more status. It’s probable we’ll view our figure differently – with less body fat and a more toned physique.

Whiling away such thoughts is useful. Knowing what we want to have is essential to determining how our lives might be. Unless we have a vision of how things will look when we’ve reached the lofty heights of our personal success, we’ve little chance of ever getting there.

However, we have to be prepared to make some changes, prior to having all these brilliant things. The great Albert Einstein was quoted as saying that the definition of insanity is to do the same thing and expect a different result! In other words if we keep doing what we’ve always done, we’ll continue to have what we’ve always had, and our life just goes round in circles getting no-where.

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.

Success is achieved by behaving and thinking like an achiever; by adopting the beliefs and attitudes of a successful person before we’ve got there in reality. So the person who’s objective is a weight reduction of 35lbs in a year’s time has to change to being a conscientious dieter who each week makes exercising a priority for a pre-set amount of time.

The exercise must take priority over fun with friends. Accomplishment thinking tells the slimmer it’s the work-out first, and the play will come later. A focused approach to weight management makes the process more enjoyable. It also brings results in much faster.

Winning isn’t a matter of chance. Developing the mindset of an achiever is a powerful weapon against the knocks, criticisms and doubts that will inevitably come our way.

Associating with successful thinkers helps. We can do this by reading biographies and watching interviews of others who’ve emerged victorious after conquering their difficulties. A common philosophy seems to be apparent each time – their beliefs and attitudes were strong from the start. So the formula is apparent – to have what we want, and relish the tasks we need to do, we must first embrace who we have to be.

Katie, my wife, and I badly wanted to lose weight. So we thought carefully about what it was we wanted and why. Our little tete-a-tete revealed a rather basic wish-list. My wife’s dearest wish was to have more energy when playing with the kids. Also, she wanted to feel more confident revealing herself to me.

For my part – I dreamed of shopping for trousers that fitted well, and flattered my shape rather than made it look worse! Oh, and I also REALLY wanted to get to the third floor of our house without gasping for breath!

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.

Consider your own prevailing thoughts – are you ruining your hopes of being slimmer by holding on to an ‘overweight’ self-image? Our subconscious needs to be fed a diet of what we actually want to be real.

We must always be focused on the prizes of losing weight, not the price. First off we wrote down the things we could start to enjoy when the excess weight had gone. We came up with – Going for walks in the country, flirting, great sex, going for a swim without embarrassment, playing with the kids, fun on the beach, dancing, cycling and greater happiness.

And then we visualised trips away, wearing lovely summer outfits. We got the respect and esteem of people as we confidently mingled with others. Everything was fantastic!

Subsequently we’re both well on our way to our target weights – not stick thin, but happy! We’re feeling great and can honestly say the fun is back!