Weight loss. Those two words and already your mind is thinking diets, lettuce, starvation and gym membership. I guess thats partly right but what makes people fail to lose the weight they want has nothing to do with lettuce, diets, gym membership or starvation.

Losing weight is quite simply a goal.

The only person who has control of achieving a goal is you. What lies in between you and your goal [losing weight in this case] is what you allow to be put there. By this point you are perhaps thinking 'oh I have heard this before, think it and you'll achieve it'. Thats partly right but the fundamental difference with what I am telling you is to do with the word starvation. Ok you might not think you are starving yourself at times but you certainly feel you are giving something up. You feel you are making a sacrifice to allow yourself to lose weight.

Its this thinking that makes you fall off your diet plan or stop going to the gym. Too much pressure and its just too hard to stick to.

The answer to this simple but profound problem when trying to lose weight is to view the whole process as a little fish in a bigger pond. The big picture would be that your life would be transformed, you would feel a million dollars [ok maybe not but am sure you would feel happier?].

If you start by thinking long and hard about the word moderation. Look at it like this. Everything you put into your body will ultimately have some result. If you eat lots of sugery food, chocolate, fatty foods, high salt foods, caffeine etcetera those foods in excess have negative effects. Without those foods sometimes you feel you are sacrificing something but in excess you know you are causing your weight gain.

To make matters worse having a diet to stick to every day or having to add points up each time you eat does indeed provide the intended result. It does however create this enormous amount of pressure on you to achieve a specific amount of weight loss each week.

I don't need to provide you with a schedule. It would take you a couple of hours reading on the internet or from a few books to establish which foods are going to give you lower fat and healthier eating. You will probably discover that you like eating healthier foods.

The biggest difference is you shouldn't stop having something you really want to. Don't restrict yourself. You know that you are eating fatty or sugary food. In moderation you will not suddenly put on 2 lbs in a day.

There is no magic formula to losing weight. There is no right way and no wrong way. You can, however, do it completely the long way round. Think what you want to achieve, eat healthier, do a little exercise every day and drink at least 2 litres of water every day. After two weeks of just changing your lifestyle and enjoying freedom from diets, plans and points you can lose weight. Multiply those weeks by a few months and you will start to see what you will become.

There is no such thing as failure. Any outcome you achieve is a direct result of the actions you took to get you there. Thinking a diet didn't work is nonsense. Diets do work, people do lose weight on diets. The whole weight loss issue is one of of looking at yourself.

If you desperately wanted to go on holiday next year and began saving. Most people would save and go on holiday. Its not a sacrifice to save for a holiday because the end result is a couple of weeks enjoying the sunshine and relaxing. Weight loss is no different. To be the weight you want to be or the shape you want to be is the end result. Put yourself there and think how good you would feel. Work backwards and here you are. The actions you take now will decide how long it takes you to get to that result. It doesn't matter if it takes you months [depending on how much weight you have to lose]. The critical thing to remember is every action you take [ie every week you spend munching on sugar, fat and bad foods in excess] either puts you a little step closer to your result or it takes you a little further back.

If you can adopt this thinking and live your life in moderation you will achieve your goal. Take the pressure off, have a look inside yourself and live your life differently. Think differently. Your thoughts are your actions and your actions are what ultimately give you your life as it is.

It took me a few hours researching on the internet and a few books I borrowed from the library to read up on the good and bad properties of food. I have also discovered that it is a lot cheaper and more enjoyable to cook fresh foods than to buy processed frozen ones. If you don't like the cooking part you can just buy freshly prepared frozen ones! You don't have to turn Jamie Oliver or become complicated just read up on it and buy different groceries for a couple of weeks.

Balance your diet doesn't mean you are having to go on a diet. Your diet is whatever you choose to eat and giving yourself a balance of everything [remember moderation] is all you need.

Unless you have a specific medical condition it would be impossible to eat healthly for two weeks and not lose weight. You get out what you put in and if you can read up on fat intake and understand what you need to give yourself a balanced diet you will lose weight. Doesn't matter how slow or fast it happens you are losing weight and from a health point of view you are doing it in the very best way.

You have to take genes into account. You can't achieve catwalk model legs if you are 5 ft 2 with small legs. Be realistic and honest with yourself. Being unable to lose weight makes people unhappy. Allowing yourself the freedom to decide what you eat takes away the pressure. Everyone has some understanding of what makes a lifestyle healthy. Start from that point and invest just a couple of hours in yourself. It might seem a little boring having to read up on it, might seem strange having to buy foods that are not all processed. Keep on it for a couple of weeks and don't forget the water - very important with just a splash of exercise - gentle if you haven't done any.

Little steps in the same direction will get you what you want.

If you have tried to lose weight you will have recipes everywhere. I don't need to lose weight anymore but eat a healthy balanced diet and this is my breakfast.

Small pot of natural yogurt

chopped fruit - choose two - strawberries and grapes are good as are raspberries and bananas

chopped walnuts

crushed cereal - Special K [not sure what US equivalent is but a whole grain cereal - flakes are better so you can crush them]

Add into a cereal bowl and stir together

If you work out roughly the amount you need for a week you can buy with your groceries and its in your fridge every day.

Having a tuna salad for lunch drizzled with olive oil and sprinked with black pepper gives you a light protein meal. Choose sandwiches or rolls with salad, vegetables and chicken or fish. Cold pasta with tuna fish and little olive oil and black pepper is a good lunch because you get an energy boost for the afternoon.

When you spend a little time choosing the food you eat you'll figure your dinner out for yourself. This is not a diet but a lifestyle!