The problem with trying to lose weight is that life has an annoying knack of getting in the way. I’ve read a couple of particularly irritating articles recently that have said: "Remember, these celebrity women are just like you, they have to work just as hard to get in shape too." Just as hard? Maybe. But without the pressure of a job, housework, meetings, food shopping and generally living getting in the way? Definitely.

This is what has happened to me over the past two weeks. I had planned to explain all about the joys of exercise and why it is the most useful weight loss tool. However, that was before I got ill, ran out of anything that can be called food in my house and had trouble resetting up my gym membership. In the past two weeks I have eaten only cheap convenience food, for (as it says on the tin) both cheapness and convenience.

All this has made me realise just how much losing weigh relies on precision organisation as much as determination and willpower. And the minute anything upsets your dieting flow, that’s it. Two weeks pass and you will be lucky not be right back where you started.

So how do you avoid life getting in the way? Firstly, planning your meals makes everything 100% easier. If you know what you will be eating, you can shop accordingly. No panic buying on your way home from work, no living on snacks from the corner shop. This can also be said for exercise. Plan it into your weekly routine and put it in your diary. Knowing when you are planning to go for a run, or visit the gym or play squash etc helps avoid the ‘I’ll just do it tomorrow’ trap.

But the other thing that I have learned over the past two weeks is the importance of goals. After losing enough to take me back to my pre-December weight, I realised that I was lacking motivation. Apparently this is one of the classic self-sabotage diet traps. You become unhappy with a weight, so do something about it. Then after losing enough to become ‘happy’ again, you stop dieting and return to your previous bad eating habits, gradually creeping up to your unhappy weight again. Et voila, you are yo-yo dieting.

In order to combat this pattern, setting small goals along the way is apparently the key, seemingly fitting as it will be my birthday in three weeks. So for the next three weeks, I will be planning, food shopping, planning some more and keeping my dates with the gym.

My goal? Ideally, that would be to have a body like Rihanna’s in three weeks…but for now I’ll settle with another seven pounds off the scales as a birthday treat to myself.

Follow me on Twitter @steviecooke1985

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