We all know what to do; what foods we should eat. Perhaps we need a little help with how much of those foods we should eat, what interesting recipes we can combine them into and how we can vary them over the week. Sometimes we need a reminder of the physics but often it’s that isn’t enough.

The more people I speak to about losing weight the more I realise there is another big factor at play. I’ve had to lose weight, or size as I prefer to think of it a few times now. The first time was due to sustaining an unhealthy lifestyle for a year, the other times were after significantly inactive pregnancies (for medical reasons not health reasons). So I know how it feels to be overweight, to be heavy, too big for your favourite clothes or too heavy for running. Wondering who the fat person is in the mirror at the gym and then realising it’s your reflection doesn’t feel good. I know the daily grind, the repeated questioning of your meal choices every day. It’s exhausting. Then the more exhausted you feel the harder it is to pick yourself up again and carry on. Carry on with your healthy choices; carry on picking up a pear not a chocolate bar.

This all led me to think; If only I could reprogram my brain! Hardwire it to somehow automatically choose the better option. To take away the stress of thinking and choosing and deciding. That’s what I call emotional fitness. It starts with working out what is the best food, when to eat it and how much of it to eat. This is followed by finding the motivation to actually do it, then maintain doing it. That’s the hard part. Maintaining it. Particularly on days when you don’t really see a difference to your shape. Those are the days you need to stick with it though.

So how about we all put our minds together and try to come up with some ideas of how to maintain emotional fitness. How do you keep yourself motivated to eat well? Let me know! Perhaps I’ll even do a study on it..