My wife and I had got to the stage where we knew something HAD to be done about our weight. So we confided in each other about exactly what we wanted and why. It was amazing, but we really didn't aspire to anything that remarkable. The thing Katie wanted most was to have more energy for the kids. And she wanted to get rid of feeling self-conscious in her underwear.

For my part - I dreamed of shopping for trousers that fitted well, and flattered my shape rather than made it look worse! Oh, and I also REALLY wanted to get to the third floor of our house without gasping for breath!

We did our research, and found that as well as considering how we look, we also have to consider how we feel about ourselves. It seems that evidence suggests we have less regard for ourselves the more weight we put on. It's very common to see weight reduction as the solution to a happy life. Here are some thoughts and reflections that might help.

Psychologists understand that we have a subconscious mind, which doesn't recognise the difference between a real thing and an imaginary thing. This means it 'tells' our conscious mind anything that pre-dominates. Process that thought repeatedly, it emerges as its prevailing concept and thus it's actual truth.

If you think about that for a while, you've probably been dominating your mind with thoughts about how fat you are! So instead of telling our subconscious what we don't want, we should tell it what we DO want.

It's also important to think about all the great things being slimmer will mean. We began by making a list of everything we thought we'd like our slimmer selves to enjoy - Things like dancing, flirting, swimming, having fun, soccer, running with the kids, volley ball, cycling, sun-bathing and feeling relaxed sitting in a hot tub.

We thought next about the holidays - summer at the beach feeling good in our swimwear. Our confidence grew massively as others looked on with admiration. We brought the dream to life.

Subsequently we're both well on our way to our target weights - not stick thin, but happy! We're feeling great and can honestly say the fun is back!