For 8 years, I bounced from diet to diet- either steering the wagon or very much being dragged along behind by my ankle! I was always waiting for the moment I would feel elation like the feeling at the top of the mountain when you think “I’ve made it!” But I never got this feeling, because you can always think of ways in which you could be better and you can fantasise about how much happier you would be if you were skinnier, more toned, more this, less that etc. But actually I came to realise that the time to love yourself -and enjoy being you- is actually now. 
Success came when I stopped “doing” diets and tried to implement logic at its most basic and natural level. If you do not do these, then you are likely to be overweight… unless you are one of those lucky people with a very fast metabolism.
1. Eat when you are HUNGRY (it is not a national emergency – you do not need to eat immediately) and stop when you are full. Being sad is not a reason to eat! Call a friend, go for a run, cry – let your emotions OUT. No amount of food will make them go away so try to avoid food and drink becoming emotional.
2. LOVE your food – enjoy every bite and do NOT feel guilty. Negative emotions make overeating likely. Be kind to yourself.
3. Eat SLOWLY – no one is going to take your plate away (they best not anyway!) and the speed-eating championships have already passed, so allow your mouth to taste your food 🙂
4. Do not DEPRIVE yourself from any food categories or items. Temptation is born from deprivation – if you know you can have chocolate at ANY point, then the chances are you won’t want it most of the time.
5. Try to eat real WHOLE food – food that grew or ran on the earth. Do not be a sucker for the diet industry- remember that they make millions from you being overweight every year. You cannot trust the labels because they have somebody’s wallets -and not your best interests- in mind. Limit eating out and take-aways, enjoy good ‘old-fashioned’ & simple ingredients: meat, fish, vegetables, salad, fruit and nuts.
You may not do all of these things ALL the time, and some of them may come more naturally to you than others. Eating slowly is something I have to remind myself to do every evening (and most nights, the realisation of my natural labrador instincts comes at least a quarter of the way through my food). There are still times where I internally start to berate myself for eating food that I used to consider “bad”, but I have the awareness now to fade it out and bring in instead, a positive thought.
If you are waiting to be lighter to love yourself then you will be waiting forever. Love yourself FIRST.
The behaviours that will bring you to your natural weight will follow.
No one is perfect and everyone has their own journey to take.
