It is a fact that if we regularly eat daily more than 2000 calories for women and 2500 for men, we will slowly gain weight putting our whole health and well being out of control, creating potential death threatening diseases like high blood pressure, high cholesterol, heart problems, strokes, diabetes. Our body works like clockwork without us having to do anything but give it fuel derived from vitamins and the things that come from the earth, the greatest of worth when it comes to natural good for you medicine.

We all know that by eating lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, the colourful food group, we stay in top working order, yet most of us dismiss them as boring and too much hard work, choosing convenience over taking time and thought.

Before you begin to think about weight loss, you have to understand why you over eat, knowing full well, deep down, you want to be fit slim and healthy living a happy life, yet being conscience of this, you still choose to eat like a pig. Eating four bags of salted crisps, three cakes, a bar of chocolate, wine and a bottle of fizzy coke in one day, on top of your meals, is too much, your stomach is not an empty void. If we are eating the right diet, of the right portions, at regular times, our bodies instinctively let us know when we are hungry, by a simple signal from our brain to remind us to eat something, which translates in to the necessary fuel for more energy. When we are over eating the wrong diet and in big portions, at the wrong times, our internal workings get clogged and our instinct is to eat more because it is not about being hungry, it’s about comfort or greed.

We only know what we know, so if you get used to feeling bloated, tired, fat, sluggish, unattractive, you begin to believe it’s just the way it is because it’s impossible for you to feel any different. Sadly being fat has become normalized in our culture which is very dangerous because too much fat on your body is fatal and does lead to severe illnesses and early death. You don’t need a lecture and you are not being judged but you must accept if you continue to over eat the wrong foods, you will get fatter and face the prospect of a half filled life and self -induced death. You cannot hide behind excuses anymore and you have to understand lack of confidence and information has so much to do with why you feel hopeless every time you fail.

Losing weight to reach your goal of a sustainable healthy lifestyle is possible for anyone who is prepared to do the hard work it takes to achieve and that is a fact, NO excuses. You must recognise without doubt whilst ever you choose to continue your patterns of over eating the wrong foods, then persecuting yourself with guilt by periodically joining a slimming or diet regime, you are destined to fail. Diets don’t work and are not sustainable long term because once you reach the desired result you fit in your clothes again, you ditch the diet and revert right back to your old eating habits until the next time your jeans don’t fit.

Your diet is your lifestyle, so if you desire a fab slim figure, loads of energy and the secret to happiness, in a long fun packed life, you have to invest your time in creating an eating plan that includes no more than 2000 calories a day, including alcohol. Once you have mastered this and recognised over eating is not the way to happiness or a long healthy life, you can begin to enjoy controlled indulgence by introducing exercise into your lifestyle. If you eat 3000 calories in a day, you would have to exercise and burn off the extra 1000 calories, a 10 mile run, in order to keep your body weight stable. So exercise like a 30 minute walk, swim or bike ride will burn off about 150 calories, two biscuits or a yogurt, which if you are over eating is not going to make a blind bit off difference in your weight loss. Exercise is great and good for everyone, so walking in the fresh air or taking up running will motivate you and spur on your weight control but it is not enough to allow you to eat what you want in abundance.

Now you know what it takes to be slim and healthy for ever and why it’s vital to master your eating addiction in order to live a long happy life, it’s time to make a choice. You can keep going on another fad diet and fail because you have no will power and they never work or you can start a weight loss journal and create a lifestyle plan by working on yourself and your fears. The definition of insanity is to repeat the same behaviour and expect a different result! The secret to success in mastering anything new is to accept you are in control of your life choices and responsible for your actions. Don’t listen to anyone but yourself because only you have the answer, so pull yourself up from the roots and fill the empty hole with a seed of hope, then watch yourself grow tall.

Photo by GeoffreyWhiteway, courtesy of FreeRange