Both my wife Katie and I were desperate to reduce our weight, so we had a little heart to heart about why we wanted to be thinner, and what that would mean to us. Our little tete-a-tete revealed a rather basic wish-list. As far as my wife was concerned, she wanted more get-up-and-go when the kids wanted to do things. Also, she wanted to feel more confident revealing herself to me.

Predominantly for me it was about buying stylish off-the-peg clothes again, instead of the dreary ageing ranges available for ‘over size’ people. 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. Those of us who are obese tend to have a very low self-image. It’s a popular assumption that reducing weight will make everything in life good again. I want you to know how much I understand this thought process. Here are some observations…

Medical research tells us that our sub conscious mind has no scope to differentiate between actual reality, and perceived reality. This means it ‘tells’ our conscious mind anything that pre-dominates. Tell it the same notion many times; it becomes the principal thought and consequently the reality.

Reflect on that for a little while – have you been sabotaging your hopes of a slimmer self by constantly telling yourself that you are fat? We should tell our sub conscious what we want, not what we don’t want.

If we concentrate on the positive things we’ll enjoy when we’re slimmer, it’s easier to get through the tough times. And so each of us thought of activities and things that would be enhanced by being slimmer. We realised we wanted to do things like going for long walks, going to dances, being flirtatious, having great sex, swimming, having more fun, playing with the kids, beach games, cycling, confidence and excitement.

And then we visualised trips away, wearing lovely summer outfits. Others smiled and welcomed us where-ever we went. We truly started to live…

Accordingly, both of us are a lot lighter and fitter – though not as thin as rakes! We’re feeling great and can honestly say the fun is back!

(C) Scott Edwards. Visit WeightLossDietWar.com for intelligent advice on slimming beauty and health weight management.