reading

WELCOME

Welcome to what I hope will be a life-changing book for you. My own life has changed beyond belief over the past couple of years, and now I want to share everything I’ve learned on my weight-loss journey.

I’ve called this book my Honesty Diet because that’s exactly what it is. You’re going to be honest with yourself; other people are going to be honest with you; and you’re going to be honest about every single thing you put in your mouth.

You’re not going to get to the middle of this book and find a magic weight-loss pill hidden within the pages. The reason? It doesn’t exist.

If you’re serious about losing weight, the only way it’s going to happen is if you:

● eat healthier meals

● choose smaller portions

● move around more

This book is all about honesty, so I’m going to start off by sharing a pretty hard truth with you:

IF YOU’RE OVERWEIGHT, YOU’RE EATING TOO MUCH!

Are you ready for some more tough love?

IF YOU’RE OVERWEIGHT, YOU’RE ALSO PROBABLY NOT MOVING AROUND ENOUGH

The diet industry doesn’t want you to know that weight loss is as simple as eating less and moving more. They want you to keep buying their low-fat, additive-laden products, and losing weight/putting it back on again at expensive slimming clubs. Why would they give you a long-term, common sense, sustainable plan when instead they can keep making more money from you, over and over and over?

ENOUGH NOW!

I’m not about to give you false promises or tell you that you can still eat what you want and lose weight, because you can’t. I’m not one of those people who’s going to say you can eat chocolate and ice cream and still drop pounds, because that’s simply not true.

If you’re looking for a super-quick fix or for someone else to do the work for you, then this isn’t the diet for you. And in the spirit of honesty I want to say upfront that there are some bits you may find tough. Nothing worth having was ever easy!

But the incredible news? It really does bloody work.

Just look at me. This plan will be hard at times but it will change your body.

This isn’t one of those diets to do for a couple of months and then get complacent about. If you want to feel amazing for the rest of your life you have to be mindful and honest about what you’re eating at all times.

Dieting will always be a way of life for me now. People notice all the time that I’m ‘careful’, but that’s because I have to be. Being really focused on what I eat is what gets results and keeps me where I want to be.

The proof is in the pudding. (Or, in this case, in not having the pudding!) I am walking, talking, smiling evidence that with the right guidance, determination and self-belief (and a healthy dose of willpower) you can be the size you’ve always wanted to be.

Back when I was delving into my wardrobe and pulling out size 28 clothes, I never dreamed I’d be able to walk into a shop and pick up a size 12 knowing it would fit me. But now that’s my reality every time I buy new clothes. And my God, I love it! I cannot describe the buzz I get when I wear something from a shop I used to stare wistfully into as I made my way to the plus size stores.

I cried my eyes out when I first put on a size 12 T-shirt. It was the best feeling ever. A friend of mine said to me that I was smiling so much at that moment I was glowing. I want each and every one of you to experience that very same feeling.

Here’s another thing you may not want to hear: I’m not the slimming fairy and I don’t have a magic wand. Only you can put in the work and drop dress sizes.

It’s also not enough just to read this book. You have to take action!

So throw those crisps in the bin, dust off your trainers, and prepare for the fabulous new you!

YOUR NEW BEST FRIEND

Well, actually, you’re going to have two.

The first one is me. By the time you’ve finished reading this book, hopefully you’ll hear my voice in your head like a concerned friend every time you want to sneak to the corner shop and stock up on Doritos.

I want you to know that I’m rooting for you every step of the way. And I’m not just here in book form. You can follow me on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, and I’ll try to reply to messages whenever I can. You can also interact online with other people who are working to lose weight, and I can tell you from experience that you’ll get tons of support. Use #honestydiet to find other people on a similar path to you.

Your second best friend is going to be your Honesty Diary (see here). From now on, you’re going to write down every little thing you eat so it’s in front of you in black and white – or whatever colour ink you like best!

Buy yourself a brand-new notebook or diary so you can start afresh. It doesn’t have to be expensive, but it’s going to be with you for a long time so make sure you love it.

From now on, you are your own:

● diet coach

● personal trainer

● therapist (sometimes!)

And, even better, you come for free!

Any time you feel up or down, make a note of it. Record what you’re feeling and anything specific that happened to make you feel that way.

You may laugh, it’s entirely possible you’ll cry, and you’ll probably be pretty amazed about how much denial you’ve been in. That’s all brilliant. I shed a fair few tears in those early days, I can tell you. Then, later on down the line, they turned to tears of joy.

There’s a good chance you’ll be shocked about what you’ve been doing to yourself all these years. Not just about what you’ve been consuming, but the negative messages you’ve been literally ‘feeding’ yourself, and how much of a hard time you’ve been giving yourself for ‘failing’ at dieting.

You haven’t failed at dieting. You just weren’t coming at it from the right angle.

I can’t stress enough how much of a game changer it was for me when I acknowledged what I was eating on a daily basis. Once I was realistic about the fact I was the one who had made – and was keeping – myself fat, I was able to start making real, substantial changes.

It’s so important to write things down and face them. Over the years, I’d told so many lies to myself about losing weight, I’d completely deafened myself with them. I constantly told myself, ‘I can’t,’ and ‘I won’t.’ I’d got used to being different from other people and labelling myself the ‘fat, funny one’. Until I recognized that the only person I was lying to about the mess I’d got myself into was me, I couldn’t move on.

The more emotions that you express and are honest about, the better you’ll feel, and the more you can begin to understand what’s been going on beneath the surface.

People only see the excess pounds, but weight problems run so much deeper than that. This is why I want to help you find out your triggers and pitfalls, so that you can confront them.

I have confidence in you!

I know you’re going to do such a great job with this that, by the end of the process, you’ll want the best for you, just like I do. You won’t want to let yourself down.

These days, I live and breathe honesty. I’ve always been honest with other people, but now I’m honest with myself too. I don’t lie to myself ever. And it’s time for you to do the same. Want to know a secret?

THE MORE HONEST WITH YOURSELF YOU ARE, THE BIGGER THE CHANGE YOU’LL SEE!

GET TO KNOW YOUR EATING HABITS

To get the ball rolling I’d like you to fill in this questionnaire. It will help you to start thinking about the way you eat, and why.

You can either write your answers directly in the book, or copy the questions down into your Honesty Diary and answer them in there.

You can reread your answers and add to them at any point. It might be interesting to see how your responses change over time. They will be really important in the coming months, so write as much as you want to. There is no limit.

Remember, the answers are just for you, and no one else has to read them. So be one hundred per cent – wait for it – HONEST!

Now take some time to read through your answers. When you get to the last six, give yourself time to really absorb and process them.

Feel how you’re going to feel wearing that outfit. Imagine yourself smiling when you look in the mirror at your gorgeous new figure. And tell yourself how much you deserve to feel fabulous.

Draw a picture of yourself in your head – or in your notebook, if you fancy getting a bit arty.

Hold on to that image.

Make it come alive.

THAT’S YOUR FUTURE, RIGHT THERE!

When did your weight problems start?
What do you think triggered them?
Was there one thing that changed your eating habits?
Did you get comments about your weight when you were growing up?
What is the worst thing anyone’s ever said to you about your weight?
How did you react/deal with it?
Looking back, was there a better way you could have dealt with it?
On a scale of 1–10, how much is your weight bothering you right now?
What bothers you the most about your weight?
What do you wish you could wear that you can’t at the moment?
What would be your dream outfit?
If you were slimmer, what would you do that you don’t do now?
Which foods are your biggest downfalls?
Do you know when to stop eating?
Do you think you eat the right portion sizes?
Are you a big snacker?
Do you reward yourself with food?
Would you say you’re in denial about how much you really eat?
Are the people around you helpful when it comes to your eating patterns?
Do you comfort eat when you’re low?
What are your triggers?
Is there anything you could do to change or resist your triggers? (This is a tough one, but think about it.)
What is the kindest thing you could do for yourself right now?
Why do you deserve to lose weight?
Is there a reason you don’t deserve to lose weight? (Challenge anything you write down after this question. Is it really true? My guess is probably not. Imagine a friend said to you what you’ve just said to yourself. How would you feel? What would you say in response?)
How will you feel once you reach your goal weight?
How will you celebrate?
How did you react/deal with it?
In what ways do you think it will be different doing everyday things?
How are you going to feel when you’re wearing that dream outfit?
What will you dare to do that you’ve always been too scared to do?
How big is the smile on your face going to be when you wake up feeling incredible every morning?

THE HONESTY DIARY

This is how I laid out my own Honesty Diary. Every day I wrote down:

● what time I ate

● what I ate

● why I ate it

● how it made me feel

Each night, when I went to bed, I wrote a brief summary of my day, and I went to sleep holding the image of the all-new future me in my head.

Copy the grid opposite into your Honesty Diary or simply photocopy it lots of times. Alternatively you could write it on to a chalkboard or whiteboard, or even your kids’ easel, if you’ve got one.

MICHAEL JOSEPH

CONTENTS

ARE YOU READY?!

LET’S DO THIS!