When you look in the mirror in the morning and then wish you hadn’t, then it’s time to start to think about doing something about the large tyre that has appeared round your middle.

Getting started in anything is always the hardest thing to do. A good idea is to sit down and examine what you are doing that made you put on all this extra weight in the first place.

There are probably many reasons why you’ve put on weight. You’ve probably got some pretty good excuses. Some of them might be valid, but the fact remains that you’ve got to do something about it. Are you prepared to get to grips with the problem? Are you prepared to really make a supreme effort?

If you examine the causes of why you are overweight, you will soon realize that you are going to have to make some sacrifices. Gone will be the chocolate cookies and the burgers and all those sodas. You’re going to have to eat less as well. No more plates piled high with delicious food.

Do you know what the value of calories there is in what you eat every day? Do you know how much energy you use in a day - or how many calories you eat? You need to know this.

What you must not do is to suddenly stop eating and reduce your calorie intake dramatically. If you do the long-term consequences will be that you put on weight - not take it off.

What about exercise? Do you know how much you take? Do you take any at all? Exercise, if it is to be of any use to you at all, has to be ‘intentional’ exercise. Exercise that makes a difference and actually gets your blood flowing.

If you want to lose weight effectively you will need to sign up to change. Long-term w3eight loss doesn’t come from dieting, but from changing what you do. You need to begin to behave differently. To learn new habits, new slim habit that will help you to make permanent weight loss a reality.