Question: How can I be thin like the models in the magazines?

Answer: Thin people are the exception, rather than the rule, despite what the magazines portray.  Most images in magazines are “computer slimmed” – they really are not that skinny. The average woman is a size 14, so your aim should be not to be “thin”, rather, it should be to become healthy, full of energy and within the healthy weight range for your age and height. There is no such thing as an “ideal weight” but there is a healthy weight range you can work toward by making healthy food and exercise choices.

Question: Exercise is too much like hard work, where do I begin?

Answer: Exercise is all about feeling good about yourself and positive about your achievements.  Choose an activity you feel comfortable with (walking is an excellent beginner’s choice) and start with just ten minutes.  It’s all about getting out there and moving, breathing and living. It's all a bout improving your QUALITY of life.

Question: I don’t like jogging or walking, what can I do?

Answer: There are lots of exercise activities you can do around the house which do raise your pulse rate to the “fat burning” range!  Sweeping up leaves, cleaning windows, vacuuming and cleaning the bathroom are all excellent, providing you put in some extra energy over a sustained period of at least twenty minutes.

Question: How can I find time for breakfast?

Answer: Many busy working people skip breakfast – don’t!  It’s the most important meal of the day.  A simple breakfast consisting of a low fat, low sugar cereal, skim milk and half a banana, and a slice of toast will not only get you and your brain up and running with enough fuel to energize your day, but will also kick start your metabolism for the day into the bargain.

Question: How can I get going without my coffee to start the day?

Answer: Coffee (and to a lesser extent tea) is one of the worst ways to start your day! Coffee gives you a caffeine boost which just as quickly lets you down again, but it also increases hunger by boosting the output of insulin and is also dehydrating, making you thirsty and hungry and looking for a second hit.

Question: How can I find time to exercise?

Answer: Find time!  Healthy people manage to fit daily exercise into their daily routine!  Unhealthy people make excuses!  Fit exercise into your day by getting up half an hour earlier (you really won’t miss that half-hour sleep) or at lunchtime (up and down the stairs if it’s raining) or after work at a gym, on an exercise bike or treadmill.

Question: How can I stop my friends sabotaging all my attempts to eat healthier?

Answer: Be honest and tell them it’s your choice what you eat. Though I disagree with lying to someone, if you must, tell a white lie and say you are worried about your cholesterol level (even the most persistent saboteur will accept this) and your doctor has told you to avoid high fat foods.

Question: What should I be drinking?

Answer: Water is the beverage of choice and apart from the last 50 years or so, that’s all we drank!  Alcohol is a toxin and goes straight to the fat stores, tea and coffee are both drugs which dehydrate and make you hungry, fruit juices are outrageously high in sugar as are soft drinks.  A popular cola drink contains all the above and is not a healthy choice.  Sports drinks are designed only for professional athletes such as marathon runners.

Question: I work long hours. How can I find the time to cook?

Answer: Most supermarkets are open 24 hours a day, so quit making excuse!  Shop once a week and plan ahead for healthy, quick to prepare family meals such as stir fries, pasta with sauce, or grilled fish, chicken or steak with a big salad and vegetables.

Question: I’ve failed on every diet I’ve ever attempted! What’s gone wrong?

Answer: “Diets” just don’t work and will be guaranteed to fail you every time.  You haven’t failed, the “diet” failed you.  The only thing that will work is to stop “dieting” and think healthy eating instead.  Expect to succeed and you will succeed.

Question: Why do people keep offering me food and even if I say no, no, no they still push?

Answer: Unfortunately the more you say no, no, no, the more unhelpful people will push unwelcome food at you!  Practice saying “Thanks, it looks great – I’ll have some later”. Try it – it really does work.

Question: Why are lifestyle changes are so difficult to make?

Answer: Any change takes courage.  Courage is the power to face difficulties.  Courage comes from a determination to succeed and to practice new lifestyle skills.  When we isolate our problems and work on finding a solution we gain the necessary courage to succeed.

Question: Why do I feel as it my life is stuck in a rut?

Answer: Once we stop learning, we stop growing as a person.  Being open to new ideas, new concepts and new learning will mean developing new skills.  Starting is the key, because if we want to be successful in any endeavor, we must start sometime.  The house of success is built brick by brick.

Question: I can’t afford to go on expensive pre-packaged food diets – what can I do?

Answer: No one needs pre-packaged diet food!  The power to achieve successful weight loss lies within each of us.  We alone have the responsibility to develop a healthy weight. When we understand this, we begin to realize that we alone are pushing ourselves forward or holding ourselves back.

Question: I’d really love to be slimmer, but why do I think I will never succeed?

Answer: Going beyond what we thought we were capable of is what excellence is all about.  Success comes from striving to become or do what we really want to become or do.  It means putting in effort to get what we want and understanding that we are all responsible for our own actions and our own health.

Question: There is so much conflicting nutrition information in magazines and on TV! What is really correct?

Answer: It’s a case of sourcing out information and taking an intelligent and informed look at it all.  Basically, 80% of what we eat should come out of the ground in the form of fruits, vegetables and whole grains.  We need quality protein to build and repair, dairy products to supply calcium and minimal amounts of fat, sugar and salt.  Chemicals, preservatives and colorings in food are a real health hazard, as are sugar laden soft drinks.

Question: I have a family history of diabetes – is it important I lose weight?

Answer: With a family history of heart disease, diabetes, stroke or bowel cancer, attaining and maintaining a healthy weight is imperative to remain healthy.  These are the killer diseases which can be directly related to obesity.

Taking charge and gaining control over weight will go a long way towards preventing the killer diseases, many of which show a family pre disposition to developing.

Question: Plateaus are so discouraging! What causes a dieting plateau?

Answer: Everyone who goes on a “diet” will plateau!  This is because all diets put people on a set calorie intake day after day.  The body naturally, and quickly, becomes accustomed to a very low energy intake and slows metabolism down.  This is why weight goes back on again after each diet attempt, plus interest.

Successful, maintainable weight management is not the result of “dieting”.  It can only be achieved by a varied and enjoyable food intake which fits into your own family lifestyle.

Question: I don’t want to change anything! Why shouldn’t I keep eating the food I like?

Answer: To achieve a change in our health and weight we have to accept that some changes will be inevitable.  Change can be daunting or it can be an exciting, goal-oriented challenge.  It all depends on how you view change.  We can still eat the foods we “like” (which is usually all the fat laden foods) but enjoy them in moderation.  High fat, high sugar, high salt foods are “special occasion foods” not everyday foods.

Question: I lasted on my last diet for three weeks and then my mother arrived to stay and it all fell apart. How can I prevent this from happening again?

Answer: The ability to handle relapses and then get back on track again as soon as possible is the key to success at any endeavor.  We are human beings.  That means we are not perfect!  Problems in life arise for everyone – even for those people with the trim bodies you envy!  The trick is to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get back on track.

Question: I’ve lost and gained weight back on again more times than I care to remember! Why does overweight keep finding me?

Answer: As with any endeavor with an end result worth achieving never give up.  Keep persisting and persisting until you achieve that goal you set yourself.  If it is worth achieving (and what could be more important than your health!) then it is worth persisting despite the challenges, which will appear along the way.

Question: I’d love to lose weight, but my husband says he loves me just the way I am. Is he telling me the truth?

Answer: If you are not happy within yourself, then how can those who love you possibly be happy?  Our greatest power is the power to choose.  We can decide where we are, what we do and what we think.  No one can take the power to choose away from us. We can be what we want to be.  The choice is ours and ours alone.

Question: My whole family is overweight – if I lose weight, won’t I feel like the odd one out?

Answer: If you are happy with your weight and are healthy, there is no reason to allow anyone to tell you to “lose weight”.  However, if you are unhappy and unhealthy, maybe now is the time to be a pioneer within your family and help point them in the right direction from a healthy point of view, by your example and inspiration.

Question: I’ve got young children – how can I find the time to lose weight?

Answer: We are beasts of habit.  The force of habit and making excuses are quick to force us to fail or never begin!  The more we do something, the more likely we are to do it again.  Establishing a healthy eating, cooking or exercise habit forms a bridge, which enables us to walk across the deepest valley to success.

Question: Why does something always happen to prevent me from reaching my goals?

Answer: Choosing to fail or choosing to succeed is entirely up to the individual.  There are no limits to our possibilities.  When we imagine success and positive happenings in our lives, this is what we can expect to achieve.  When we imagine success our vision expands, we capture and hold onto our dreams and our views are fulfilled.

Question: I try to lose weight, so why do I fail each time?

Answer: “Trying” to do something allows us automatically to fail.  In the words of Joda the Jedi Master in Star Wars.  “Do or do not. There is no try.”  Choose to do it or to not do it.  However, if you choose to do it, then do it – don’t just try!  Listen to what your own self talk is saying to you and re-program your head to tell you positive self-talk, not negative, self-limiting self-talk.

Question: I really envy all my friends who are slim and full of energy. Why is life so unfair?

Answer: Life is not a rehearsal and there is no such thing as a magic weight loss fairy (or magic pill for that matter) which will turn you into a slim person overnight.  Instead of wishing you could be slimmer and full of energy, take a good look at just what you are eating and how much exercise you perform each week.  To both lose and maintain weight we need to reduce our total fat grams eaten per day to around 20-24 grams, eat three balanced meals and two snacks every day and exercise four times per week. Remember, healthy people do it all the time!

Question: How can losing weight make me feel better?

Answer: The health benefits from even a small weight loss are extraordinary.  Even a 10% reduction in overall body weight can see blood pressure come down, cholesterol levels come down and energy and self esteem levels go up.  As we lose weight, there is less strain on backs, knees and ankles, reducing pain.  Headaches become lessened, we sleep better and function more effectively in all areas of our lives.

Question: Why do I feel such a sense of failure when I always put weight back on again after going on a diet?

Answer: Diets are doomed to failure each and every time!  The ONLY successful way to both lose weight and maintain weight is to establish lifelong healthy eating habits.  When we take small daily steps and congratulate ourselves every day for even the smallest change towards achieving our weight loss goals, we begin to think like a winner.  And the more we think like a winner, the more we begin to feel and look like a winner.

Question: Why are my thin friends so lucky?

Answer: There is no luck involved in being slim, healthy and full of energy!  What is involved is healthy, low fat regular meals and snacks, and a sensible exercise routine. Most people really do have to work at keeping their weight where they want it to be. There is no luck involved. It’s all about getting out there and doing it, not wishing it would happen.

Question: I’ve thought about beginning so many diets in the past. Why can’t I ever get around to it?

Answer: It does take a lot of courage to begin to make significant lifestyle changes.  Most people with a weight problem do need to ask for help and this takes courage.  In fact, sometimes taking that first step is the hardest part of making any change.  Until you take that first step, you stand little chance of reaching your goal.  Once you have made the decision to change, stick to your resolve and commit to changing your lifestyle for good health.

Question: I’d love to do all sorts of things in my life. Why is it that somehow I just don’t get there?

Answer: Stop procrastinating!  Thinking about, or wishing about, becoming slimmer won’t help.  Thinking about it is what got you in the position you are in!  Set your goals a bit higher than you feel you can achieve and always aim for super success.  Wallowing in doom and gloom is not nearly as much fun as knowing you have won, and achieved everything in life you want to achieve.

Question: I really hope I’ll be slim and happy one day – will it happen?

Answer: This life is not a rehearsal – we are only given one shot at it.  One shot to become the person we really want to be.  One shot to eat well, get our weight down to where we want it to be.  One shot to learn as much as we can.  One shot to improve our lives and the lives of our family and loved ones.  Don’t leave your life behind without knowing you gave it your best shot.

Question: Why doesn’t anyone ever do anything for me?

Answer: Well, maybe you don’t give too much either!  George Burns lived over 100 years, sharing and giving and living by this philosophy.  When we give something, expecting nothing in return, then it is given back to us with interest.