Choose success - it's in your hands!

Overweight. It affects our health, what we look like, and our confidence. As problems go, there’s no doubt that excess weight is a humdinger!

As overweight people, it is our emotional response to the knowledge that we have the ability to change to a slimmer, healthier person, to change our lives for the better, that affects our success.

If, deep down, we like ourselves, we respect and value ourselves, then we are strong, resilient and less vulnerable to criticism. We’re able to accept responsibility for ourselves and are aware of what we do well and what we do less well. We take responsibility for and learn from our mistakes. We don’t beat ourselves up over them.

At the opposite end of the spectrum, when we have no love for ourselves we cannot handle criticism, appropriate or otherwise, often to such a degree that we do not allow ourselves really to see our own behaviour. We stay in denial. We often feel hopeless and helpless and stuck, as if there are no options available to move on.

Does it really matter whether you like yourself or not? The simple answer is yes. Feeling good about ourselves is a vital ingredient of permanent success. Thankfully, ‘feeling good’ is not dependent on anyone else.

We really can and do choose how we feel. Others can only invite us to feel a certain way. The glorious revelation is that we don’t have to accept the invitation! Understand this and you’ll feel and be more in control of your own destiny.

Next time you’re feeling down, or blaming yourself for not losing weight, tell yourself that no-one finds losing weight easy and that it’s understandable that you sometimes stumble and fall. Tell yourself no-one is perfect. And your imperfections go along with the other stuff that make up this wonderful, perfectly imperfect person.

Feel good about yourself and give yourself the best chance of success – at whatever it is you decide to achieve.

You have to decide whether your weight matters to you enough to make the necessary changes. Do not be pushed into doing this by someone else. Beware the bullies in friendly disguise! Choose what’s right for you and do it for the right reasons. Check your expectations. Realistically, the things that will happen are a change in your looks, your health and your confidence and those good feelings about yourself will be deeply reinforced. Personally, I think it’s the most marvellous feeling in the world. If you’ve been burdened with a weight problem, then I promise that nothing tastes as good as being slim feels!