Just how serious is obesity? Well in the USA obesity is linked to around 110,000 deaths every year and in the UK the figure is around 9,000 a year. Your life expectancy is also reduced by about nine years – nearly a decade! The problem is worse than this however. Obesity is a major cause of:

• Type two diabetes
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol
• Certain types of cancer
• Gastroesophogeal reflux disease
• Psychological problems
• Emotional problems

If that list doesn’t make you want to change your ways, I don’t know what will!

The biggest problem with obesity is that a lot of people lack willpower and struggle with mind over matter. Most people want instant gratification when it comes to their food and it brings them pleasure and comfort. You really need to think about the list of problems you could suffer in years to come when you are tempted to binge eat.

Your weight matters because you do not want to be faced with this list of problems years from now. If you want to know how to lose weight; the key to losing weight is to change your lifestyle. Instead of eating 3 huge meals a day, reduce your portion sizes. Exercise more often than you do normally and eat a healthier diet. It isn’t rocket science, but it also isn’t ridiculously easy. Once you have made the necessary changes and are exercising more each day you will probably start to notice a change in your habits. By now you will have changed your mindset and automatically do the things you found so difficult when you started.

Your genetics will have an effect on your dieting and weight loss efforts, so bear this in mind when you are setting your weight goals. Unless you have come from generations of supermodel stock, that shape is probably unrealistic for you to pursue. Set goals that are achievable so you aren’t miserable and give up.

• Exercise 3 times a day in 10 minute bursts.
• Eat smaller portions
• Don’t be a quitter!
• Eat more fruit and veg
• Don’t starve yourself, this will only lead to failure
• Use supplements like herbal slimming teas to help

There are high protein shakes, low carb diets, vegetarian diets and even diets that claim to work better depending what blood type you have. There are even diets out there that claim to naturally shrink your stomach, a poor man’s stomach band! Most of these diets have some simple things in common:

• They force you to dramatically reduce the amount of food that you can eat, leaving you hungry all the time.

• You may only eat from a list of approved foods and you are not allowed any deviation from it.

• You may need to spend a lot of time preparing your meals as everything has to be done in a certain way.

• Your hunger never really goes away even after a meal.

When you first read about these new slimming diets your first instinct may be to rush out, buy the ingredients on the list and try it. After a few days on this restricted and limited diet you will start to get discouraged, start breaking it here and there, before finally succumbing and stop the diet completely. What you have to do to lose weight consistently is to take the right actions to get the results.

When you choose your personal slimming diet you will need to think about whether it will be something you can fit into your schedule and way of life. If you’re a busy person with a hectic schedule, don’t choose a diet that will lead to constant shop trips and long preparation times. A vegetarian diet isn’t going to help you if your mouth waters at the smell of bacon. Choose the best fit!

The last thing to remember is not to believe all of the hype surrounding any particular slimming diet. Victoria Beckham may have success on a hypothetical ‘chocolate diet’ but she has personal trainers, dieticians and experts to advise her. Unless you’re a millionaire as well you don’t have that option. Choose your slimming diet carefully; try to be more active and you will soon start to see the results.

Quick Slimming tip #1: Top up your water
We have all heard that we should drink around eight glasses of water a day. It keeps you hydrated and can help you feel less run down. But did you know that if you drank a full glass of water before your meals it could decrease your appetite?

Quick slimming tip #2: Have a cup of slimming tea
Once you get home at night you are usually hungry. To keep off unwanted calories you need to resist over eating in the evening because you don’t have the time to work the excess off. Drink a nice cup of herbal slimming tea to try to keep hunger at bay. You could also supplement with other weight loss herbs.

Quick slimming tip #3: Step away from the junk food!
If you have a craving for some greasy, fatty food try to stop yourself from eating it by telling yourself you will have some in 15 minutes. Once the 15 minutes have passed you will be surprised that you have gotten a grip on yourself and can now easily resist.

Quick slimming tip #4: Less is more
Instead of eating 3 big meals in a day, have 4 or 5 smaller meals a day to help raise your metabolism and burn off calories quicker.

Quick slimming tip #5: If you’re having a big meal, have it early
Most people have their biggest meal of the day in the evening. This is a bad idea for a few reasons, the main one being that you don’t get to burn off the calories you just consumed. If you’re having a big meal, have it early.

Quick slimming tip #6: Exercise early
If you exercise early in the morning before you have breakfast you speed up your metabolism more than you could if you exercised during the day.

Quick slimming tip #7: Try to include cheating in your diet
If you love a particular food and your diet prevents you from eating it, you will fail. Allowing for a few foods you like through the week will make you feel better about the diet because you aren’t missing out.

Quick slimming tip #8: Don’t give up
You’re only human and you are going to make mistakes. Forgive yourself if you mess up and move on.

Quick slimming tip #9: Get some exercise!
Try to do at least 30 minutes of exercise each day like cardio or strength based training. you will burn off calories at a much quicker rate.

Quick slimming tip #10: Don’t strength train exclusively
If you’re a woman who wants to keep your feminine shape don’t do only strength training or do too much of it. Some women build up muscle more readily than others and after a while you might start looking like a contestant for miss universe!

If you’re a man, this isn’t as much of an issue. It’s natural for men to be more muscular than women. But it’s still a good idea to include some cardio work in your regime to get the maximum fat burning effect from your workout.