Last year, whilst talking to someone about their weight issues, I asked how much they valued themselves.  Their answer will always stay with me, as they said 'I am worth about 10p'.

So my first question to you is how much do you value yourself? Instead of answering what you think you should answer, such as  'I am worth millions!' or 'I am priceless!', what do you truly feel? Feel inside and see what reaction you allow yourself. When I do this a lot now with people and listen to the real them, the results can be surprising.

When I was big, I did not value certain aspects of myself. I certainly did not value my health. I also allowed my self-esteem to take regular knocks by the way I lived my life and allowed others to push me around and upset me.

I work with a lot of people who work very hard. They work long hours in their jobs. They then rush home to keep the house going. They cook and clean for everyone and give up most of their spare time to help others. They run the mentality of 'when everyone else is happy then I can be happy'. However this logic doesn't work as you end up not valuing yourself and allowing yourself to always be 2nd, 3rd or 56th in the queue. Therefore when it comes to putting time aside for yourself, it never happens.

Valuing yourself  is one of the absolute corner stones of long term weight maintenance.  If you don't care what happens to you then the rest of the world won't increase their opinion of you. You need to value your health and yourself very very highly. In fact, I would argue that you need to put yourself at the top of your list; friends and family being very close second. I would go back to the question the other day of 'Would you teach your children to put themselves 30th ?', in which case why is it good enough for you to do the same?

You deserve to be healthy and happy. Anyone who tries to hold you back needs cutting loose. It is your birth right to be able to live your own life in your own way with your own agenda. Once you realise that and value yourself,  the rest of the world will come to value you at the same level.

You are priceless. You just have to realise it !