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. It was amazing, but we really didn’t aspire to anything that remarkable. Having more oomph to play with the kids was Katie’s number one goal. She wanted to become more self-assured when undressing in our bedroom too.

My main wish was to be able to purchase clothes that fit properly! We have a 3 storey townhouse, and I wanted to run up the stairs without panting by the top floor!

As we read more about weight loss, we realised that there’s a direct link between self image and size. Unfortunately, the larger we grow, the less we seem to care for ourselves. The majority of obese people think that fat loss will make them happy again. As overweight people ourselves, we completely identified with that. However, this is what we found -

Over time scientists have discovered that our sub conscious mind stores information, but can’t decipher whether that information is actually ‘real’. It therefore ‘programs’ the conscious element of our brain with anything that occupies it. Process that thought repeatedly, it emerges as its prevailing concept and thus it’s actual truth.

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? Our subconscious needs to be fed a diet of what we actually want to be real.

If we concentrate on the positive things we’ll enjoy when we’re slimmer, it’s easier to get through the tough times. We started off with all the things we’d like to do or have more of: Things like having fun with the kids, cycling, more confidence, poise, going for long walks, dancing and playing tennis.

We imagined going on vacation, wearing shorts and tee-shirts and looking great. We got the respect and esteem of people as we confidently mingled with others. We brought the dream to life.

Subsequently we’re both well on our way to our target weights – not stick thin, but happy! We look at each other every day now and smile – you will too when you see how far you’ve come.

(C) Scott Edwards. Check out WeightLossDietWar.com for in-depth diet advice on slimming tea and weight loss management.