Adding insult to injury is the perception that those who struggle with their weight are somehow morally inferior to slimmer counterparts, as if strength of character can be judged by tape measure. Compounding the misery is the belief that we must suffer the prolonged deprivation of a diet programme in order to achieve our ideal body weight.

Fat people are often regarded as weak and stupid. Food producers, suppliers and retailers use sophisticated marketing to encourage us to overindulge. But the same media which advertises excessive consumption damns those who do with obsessive coverage of lollipop-headed celebrities, portraying them as ravishing icons of starvation as a lifestyle choice.

This is not a political rant but an observation of how difficult it is to feel happy in your own skin, whatever your shape or size. Eating disorders aren't just limited to teens. They are the 'dirty secret' of untold middle-aged gym bunnies and yummy mummies.

Everyone has their own unique relationship with food based on a complex combination of nature and nurture. Food and comfort go side by side from birth. From an early age we have clear personal tastes and quickly learn that our eating behaviour can be a means to achieve control, win attention or gain rewards. Then there's how much we eat and how our bodies deal with it to consider. Another variable is how active we are. Some people are more active than others.

In an age of consumer abundance, all these factors lead to an almost inevitable epidemic of excess. We've literally forgotten how to listen to the signals our very efficient bodies give us when we need refuelling or when the tank is full. Many obese people eat before they get hungry unless they're on a diet when they doggedly ignore their hunger. And instead of stopping when full, many of us are conditioned by the ration-book generation of parents and grandparents to 'waste not want not' and be grateful we're not 'starving Africans'.

A lot of this unhealthy, self-esteem sapping behaviour is habitual and seated deeply within the subconscious, outside of our conscious control or rational powers of reason. Thus it is easy to be overweight, believe you don't eat very much and be genuinely baffled as to how this could have come about.

Tackling the way we feel about food is the start of a process of change. Many people think they can only be happy when they are thin when, in fact, creating a happy, positive and motivated state of mind is the first step towards a slimmer waistline rather than the end result.

It is then possible, using the 'modelling' principles of neuro-linguistic programming (NLP), to start thinking, feeling and behaving like a person with a healthy body and lifestyle. NLP is a powerful force for change which enables people to see their world differently and work towards realistic goals using all the skills and resources available to them. Applied to weight control objectives, it provides the vision to break the painful and destructive feast-famine cycle of binge-dieting.

Hypnotherapy helps by accessing the habitual hardwiring within the subconscious mind which creates the compulsion to overeat. New eating patterns and a routine increase in physical activity which take into account personal preferences and lifestyle choices can be easily assimilated on a permanent basis. It's this that is the key to long term weight control. A combined programme of hypnotherapy and NLP provides the awareness, desire and capability to stay slim for life.