To be a top class sportsperson, you need focus, dedication, drive, belief in oneself, passion and above all, a will to win. If the basic components are there, then everything else slots into place. If an athlete has to be on the track for 8 hours each day, he/she will be there. If a swimmer has to start training at 4am in order to excel, he/she will do it. And they don't do it for anyone else, they do it for themselves. And yes, they have to make huge sacrifices but they know that the price of success is a place on the podium at an event like the Olympics. Once they have the medal, they don't give up there, they strive to win the next one at the World Championships and the next one at the Commonwealth Games perhaps.

This made me think about weight loss and what it takes to be able to lose the weight and keep it off. A staggering 92% of people who lose weight put it back on again (and in many cases, put on more than they weighed at the start). It made me ask why?

I have learned over the last 7 years that to be successful at weight loss requires exactly the same qualities that it takes to be a top sports personality. However, for some of us we just don't have the self-belief that we can succeed or we're not willing to make sacrifices, or we're not prepared to maintain the fitness regime that got us to where we want to be.