I cannot help thinking that we are focusing upon the wrong thing when we spend so much time paying attention to being overweight, how to lose weight, which diet is best and so on. Surely our focus should be instead upon how we can as a nation become healthier? As you think in a healthy and balanced way, your habits will reflect this and so too will your body size and shape. Should the dog not wag the tail instead of the tail wagging the dog?

We all too easily get tied up in focusing upon symptoms instead of causes. We pay attention to what is on the surface instead of examining what lies beneath. As different trends come and go we invest in the paraphernalia which accompanies it; hair straighteners one month, curlers the next, particular makes of jeans or trainers, makeup or moisturizer, exercise videos or personal trainers. The list goes on and on, seemingly forever.

Nearly all of these things end up as "fads". They provide a short term change of image or boost to ones self-esteem as you feel that you are fitting in with the crowd. But this lifting of one's spirits is all too quickly forgotten. Different diets and dieting aids last for a similarly short period of time before being "mentally binned" in the "diets which don't work" dumpster.

If you look for a "quick fix" that is what you will get - a quick fix and nothing more. It will not effect a permanent change, merely a transitory one. Until you dig deeper and uncover the foundations upon which your weighty symptoms are built you will not be able to change the size and shape of the structure which you are.

In this sense the weight loss issue is like a leaky dam. As cracks begin to appear you patch them up; then more and more cracks begin to surface and you keep doing what you can to smooth them over and fix them up. The ultimate result is inevitable as all of that "pent-up" water bursts its way through the dam. All of that time spent focusing upon the dam was spent in vein; it would have been far more useful to spend time looking at the source of the issue and finding a more workable and long term solution.

How many diets have you tried? How much time have you spent feeling dissatisfied with your weight? How many hours have you spent in shops or changing rooms trying to find something which you feel happy to wear? If you look back now over that period of time and you could change anything what would it be? What could you have done which would have provided a real solution with lasting benefits?

As a nation I think it is time to stop looking for quick fixes. We need to move together to look for long term workable solutions for many different problems, not just those of health and weight loss. Our self-esteem has become too heavily attached to how we look instead of how we feel and who we are. We need to get back to appreciating what we have instead of craving for things which we haven't got.

In terms of weight loss the most important thing is to get your mind around the issue and identify the real problems which have caused you to put on weight in the first place. It is important to examine thoughts and habits, self-belief and self-confidence, dreams and expectations and not just the superficial details of calorie counting, fat content, supplements or gastric banding surgery.

As we revert to thinking in a healthy and balanced way our habits will align accordingly and our bodies will mirror this real and comfortable sense of self.

Roseanna Leaton, specialist in hypnosis downloads for weight loss and confidence issues.

P.S. Would you like to tap into the power of your inner mind and discover the real you? Grab a free hypnosis download from my website.