If wishing could melt calories away, we'd all be beautifully slim.
How many times have you heard the people around you sigh, "I wish I could lose weight.
" But when it comes to actually doing something about those excess calories, then nothing happens.
Losing weight stays on the wish list and never becomes reality.
It's not even as if it's a complicated procedure to lose weight.
No, don't wrinkle your nose at me and say "Well, it is for me!".
The math is simple; your body requires a certain number of calories per day to function.
Take in more than that number, and you'll put on weight - what your body does not require will be popped into fat stores for a rainy day (figuratively speaking).
Don't forget that your body's systems have not changed since caveman days where a famine might be just around the corner and stored fat would make the difference between survival and starvation.
Our internal systems have not followed us into the 21st century! Food is now far too plentiful and easy to come by - we don't have to run after it, find it or grow it.
Worse, our food ain't what it used to be.
Our basic staples are refined, processed and packaged for convenience, sometimes transported thousands of miles.
The animals we eat are fed on chemicals to make them grow quicker and never see the light of day.
Most of the food industry is based not on nourishing us, but on turning a profit.
Result; poor quality food that is stripped of goodness by the time it gets onto our plates.
What do you think that sort of food does for your body? The answer? Not a lot! As a nation, we are underactive, unhealthy and lethargic.
And overweight.
Good food, on the other hand, - free range or organic meat in small quantities, wholegrains in slightly larger quantities, and fresh vegetables and fruit (as many as we can eat, and in all the colours of the rainbow) will do you nothing but good.
This type of food will truly nourish you - make you bright-eyed and revitalized, give you energy to work, rest and play and even protect you against heart disease, Type 2 diabetes and bowel cancer.
It's true, that last - you can go a long way towards lessening your chances of bowel cancer by eating a diet rich in fruit, veg and fibre.
It has been proved that in African tribes, unspoilt by western eating habits, bowel cancer is almost non-existent - due to their totally unprocessed diet.
And a good diet and sensible eating habits will help you lose weight.
The reverse of the calorie equation is true - use up more calories than your body takes in, and you will lose weight.
And eating good quality foods helps even more because you feel fuller, your system needs time and energy to digest fiber-rich food and is therefore far more likely to "unlock" fat stores to do so.
Add to this sensible diet regular, moderate exercise and you will not only lose weight, but tone up also - love handles will smooth out, baggy underarms will disappear, derrieres will shrink and thighs will tighten.
You will look good and feel terrific.
And not a wish in sight.