Weight Loss

I've been fat, I've been thin and at present I'm in my healthy weight range, slightly heavier than I'd like to be but on my way to thin again.

This time last year I was fifteen stone and covered in ugly stretch marks. Now I'm eleven stone and the stretch marks are virtually invisible.

My target weight is ten stone and I'm confident I'll reach it. So how did I manage to shift four stone?

We've all seen the claims about certain teas helping one to lose weight and I've no idea if there is any truth to them. What I can tell you is that a cup of tea taken before or after a meal is fat free, low in calories and produces a feeling of fullness which discourages snacking.

I'd be very suspicious of any claim that you can sit on your bum, eat cakes and lose weight by adding a few cups of tea into the mix but I'd recommend tea as a natural appetite suppressant.

I know it's boring and you can't be bothered but you really need to exercise if you're serious about losing weight. When I decided to lose weight the first thing I did was join a gym, I knew from past experience I wouldn't stick at it but I stayed with it long enough to two stone by which time I had gained the motivation and energy to carry on under my own steam. The fact is the more you exercise the more energy you have and the more appealing it seems.

You should find a form of exercise you enjoy. My choices are Yoga, walking and swimming.

Walking is great because it's easy to incorporate into your daily routine. Get of the bus or train a stop early,park your car further away from work, stop emailing people at the next desk -get of your bum and go see them. At weekends go on a day trip and spend a few hours sightseeing. You'll see a lot more on foot and you might even learn something into the bargain.

Yoga can be done at home, there are a lot of great videos on the market and youtube has many free yoga routines you can follow in the privacy of your own home.

I stopped visiting the public baths because I felt too fat to be seen in public in a swimsuit. How wrong can one person be? There is ALWAYS someone fatter than you at the baths and if you happen to be the fattest person in the world just now then draw strength from the fact that your very presence makes the rest of us feel better and get swimming.

Losing weight is just common sense. Eat less, move more. So why do so many of us find it so hard? Many people use food to cope with stress -I should know I gained five stone trying to beat stress and depression with cheese, crisps and convenience foods!

I'm not a greedy person. Even when I was fat I never ate vast quantities of food in terms of volume. What I did was eat comfort foods with a high fat, sugar and calories content. I knew how to eat healthily, it wasn't ignorance but for some reason I kept on going.

Until......

I tried hypnosis. In one session with a qualified hypnotherapist, I learned that comfort eating is an absurd way to deal with one's problems. I thought that prior to hypnosis -the difference is now I really feel it and believe it.

Some people require more than one session, some need to top up from time to time. Personally I've managed fine with one face to face session and the occasional listen to a self-hypnosis CD.

The key to getting and staying motivated is to stop beating yourself up. If an overweight friend told you that they hated themselves, were going to stop going out and neglect their personal appearance because they were fat. Would you agree this was a good course of action? Would you make nasty remarks and beat them up?

If you would, it's not just your weight that needs work but your attitude to friendship. If like the rest of us in the human race you wouldn't dream of treating a friend so shabbily then let me ask you this -why do it to yourself?

What are you putting off doing until you're thin enough? Do you really need to be thin to do it? It isn't possible to be too fat to exercise, eat healthily, attract a partner, go out clubbing, change career, be a model, write a book or take up ballet dancing.

I limited myself for a long time believing I was too fat to go to nightclubs, nice clothes shops and restaurants. I'm not one for regrets but I regret the time I wasted because when I did bite the bullet and go for it. No-one said a word about my weight. I was treated with courtesy and respect. I was even complimented on my appearance. In other words I had wasted the last eighteen months being frightened of nothing!

Even if they had what harm could that do me? Has anyone ever died as a direct result of being called fat? Does anyone really need anyone that shallow in their social circle?

Get out there do it, lose your limiting stupid beliefs and the weight will disappear.