If I asked you to get a sheet of A4, write down all the things going on in your life and put them in order of importance, it would take you a while. We now live in a world that never sleeps. We are all busier than ever, we all try and keep plates, balls and everything else up in the air at the same time and what tends to happen is that things that aren't a priority get left to the side while we 'firefight' the daily lives we live. As an example I bought some tester paint pots to put on the lounge wall back in mid August. Every time I have thought about getting a paint brush out of the shed and putting them on the wall, something has come up. The last time I walked to the shed the grass needed cutting so instead I got the mower out and did the lawn!All the time your brain is working on what to do next, it tries and prioritises 'on the fly' and from experience most people prioritise on the 'he who shouts loudest' approach. In other words if I am standing in front of you demanding something then you are going to do what I want as opposed to something that maybe you wanted to do for yourself.

This situation can link back to your weight and diet journey.  If I looked at your list now then where would your weight be on it? Even more importantly, where would you be on it? Are you on your own list of priorities? Or have you got everything and everybody else on the list but you seem not to be on there? Most people will give up what they really want for what they really want right now and therefore when you are tired, upset, bored, needing comfort, or just hungry then you will prioritise that above long term weight maintenance. I have always said it is quite hard to get excited about living for a few more years when somebody offers you a bit of cake! That is ultimately the choice and your job is to prioritise being slim above eating too many calories! If you are doing that then you will be slim long term, if you prioritise food above slim then you won't. There is no secret to this!

I did the A4 exercise above with a lady back in 2007. She wrote down 65 things she had going on in her life which ranged from kids, husband, moving house, getting the car serviced through to finding a new job, and looking after her elderly mother. Of the 65 things she wrote, she never put down getting slim! Even though this was her priority, it wasn't even on her radar compared to everything else and therefore was unlikely to happen. I had someone at work this week telling me they would love to tone up but never get the time to do it, when I asked them why they didn't get up 20 minutes earlier each day and do it then they say they could never do that as they needed their sleep! So all they did was prioritise sleep above being toned! So remember you can always change your priorities now, it's just a decision and then execute!