You'll find plenty of weight loss tips around, but these are slightly more unusual. Follow them, and you’ll find those fleshy pounds and bulges will disperse. What’s more, you’ll be transformed into not just a slimmer, healthier person, but into a happier one as well.

1. Cut Out Stress.

Before starting on your diet, reassess your lifestyle, work out what makes you unhappy or stressed, and make a plan to cut those things out. Stress and unhappiness cause us to binge on comfort food or alcohol which, in turn, packs the calories on, making us feel even more depressed. You’re not meant to go through your life feeling perpetually unhappy or continually stressed, and you are the only person who can change this. So, do so!

2. Plan Your Diet.

It’s best to either join a proper dieting group, or to visit a doctor or nutritionist and obtain a suitable diet there. This way, you won’t be the only person monitoring your weight … you’ll have someone else to answer to! It also means you’ll be following a healthy diet. What you’re after is slow weight loss, and a balanced diet which you can maintain over a long period of time. Fast weight loss tends to result in putting the pounds back on again fairly quickly. Your main goal will be to learn a new eating lifestyle – one that is healthy, does not supply your body with more calories than you’re going to burn, and one that you’ll enjoy and be happy to maintain.

3. Keep Happily Occupied.

Most of us spend hour after endless hour each week, sitting in front of the television. Apart from it not burning up any calories, the television is so boring, and with so many advertisements, that your mind is naturally going to turn to snacks. So, buy a copy of the Kama Sutra instead (or anything else that appeals), take your partner up into the bedroom (or anywhere else that appeals), and burn off a few calories. Make sure you’re playing an active rather than passive role, in order to burn off calories. This should turn out to be a pleasanter form of exercise than jogging, and cheaper than joining a gym. But, if you prefer jogging or the gym … well, I guess that’s up to you.

4. Stay Away From Weight Loss Pills.

Diet pills and potions are a waste of time and money and, if you’ve cut out excessive stress and unhappiness, found yourself a sustainable, well-balanced diet, then you shouldn’t need them. Spend the money instead on pleasanter things.

5. Spoil Yourself Continually.

If you’re following a healthy, well-balanced diet, you should end up spending less money each month on your food bill. If this is not the case, cut out buying junk food, which tends to be more expensive than basic foods, and drink water instead of fizzy, sugary drinks. Invest the money you save on spoiling yourself in other, non-fattening ways – you deserve it!

Can you visualize yourself as being slim, happy, and healthy? Then it’s now up to you to take the action necessary to make the vision a reality – just follow the five weight loss tips!