Whats The Benefit Of Being Slim ?

So what's your answer?

What is your initial answer?

Now I have asked you this question loads of times over the past couple of years of doing these newsletters but do you ever actually go inside and answer it?

I talk to people all the time who say they can't understand themselves, they don't know why they eat too much, they don't know why they sabotage themselves, they don't understand why they can't get motivated, they are out of sync with themselves.

But the answers are in there! Remember you are the expert of you, you just need to spend some time, and effort, and work through with yourself what it really is all about.

Back in 2006 I fell to bits. I got to goal weight and I literally exploded my life, I was written off work, split up with my wife for a while, and basically went and hid in a barn in Lowestoft and just wanted the world to end. I couldn't cope with life without being able to use food to help me, I didn't realise just how much food was part of my life and how I used food inappropriately. But I was then sent to experts, I got a counsellor, I got a doctor, I was given loads of pills and everyone 'understood' how I felt.

I became a victim and I allowed myself to go down and down into a pit of despair, but then one day I decided to do something different. I decided to have a chat with myself, deal with the real stuff and then to move onwards and upwards. I threw away the pills, cancelled my appointment with the counsellor and decided to smile for a living.

I sat for an evening with my laptop and wrote out loads of question and answered them honestly. I have shared some of them with you before.

1. Stated in the positive, what specifically do you want? (Not what you don't want)

2. Where are you now in relation to that goal?

3. What will you see and hear when you have that goal?

4. What will you feel when you have that goal?

5. Do you truly believe you will ever have that goal?

6. What steps do you need to take to get to that goal?

7. How will you know when you have reached your goal?

8. What will getting to goal actually allow you to do?

9. Are you sure you want this?

10. Is this only for you?

11. Are you in charge of the result?

12. Where, when, how and with whom do you want this result?

13. Are there any drawbacks of getting this result?

14. What personal resources do you have that will allow you to achieve this result?

15. Do you know anyone else who has achieved the same goal?

16. What resources did they have that you can use?

17. Imagine you have that goal now, what resources did you use to get that goal?

18. Imagine you have that goal now, what advice can you give yourself now to make the journey as easy as possible?

19. What will happen if you get your goal?

20. What won't happen if you get your goal?

21. What will happen if you don't get your goal?

22. What won't happen if you don't get your goal?

Now for me the questions were more around what did I want to do with my life and where was I going but being honest with yourself is the key to all of this.

So what, for you, is the benefit of being slim long term? Are those benefits really strong enough that you won't overeat? I have always said it is hard to get excited about living to 95 when you are 35 and therefore apart from 'being healthy and living longer' then what else does it mean to you?

So my advice for this week is to get answering some questions, by putting some time aside and some honesty. Most people spend more time planning their shopping list for the supermarket than they do their lives so I recommend some 'me' time!