To start off with, an exercise! Sadly one that won’t burn any calories, but an exercise none the less.

I want you to answer the question below, quickly and without thinking, and in approximately 5 words.

Ok are you ready? Here we go. "How would you describe yourself, heath and fitness wise?"

Did you do it? Nice and quickly without thinking too much about it? Did you limit yourself to about 5 words? (It would be so easy to go on and on!). Write it down before you forget. So what did you get?

I got: "Fat and unfit." Eek! That is NOT GOOD.

Well, the bad news is that what you have written down is your health and fitness identity, and this "identity" has a powerful effect and control on your attempts to get fit and live a healthy life. The good news however is that you can control your identity, and even decide on what identity you want!

What is identity? Here is another exercise for you.

Get into a relaxed state and say the following phrases. Leave a gap between saying each one.

When you have said the phrase notice how you feel. Okay? Ready? Here we go.

Phrase One: "I am a wimp." Phrase Two: "I am powerful." Phrase Three: "I am stupid." Phrase Four: "I am a genius." Phrase Five: "I am ill." Phrase Six: "I am healthy."

Have you done it? What did you notice?

If you are like me you would have noticed the following. When you said the negative statements you felt low, tired, and weak. One the other hand when you said the positive statements you felt strong, energetic, and confident.

What happened? When you said the statement you were giving yourself an identity, and you body, mind and emotions were automatically and powerfully adjusting to fall in line with your identity. You started to become stupid, ill and a wimp. On the other hand you started to become a powerful, healthy genius. Didn’t the latter feel so much better than the former?

We all have an identity for ourselves, and actually have several, "I am a mom," "I am a manager," and "I am a boyfriend." Each identity immediately brings with it a set of mental and physical programmes. These help to automatically fulfil our identity. We go on autopilot toward our identity’s goal.

Is your identity positive or negative? Now isn’t "I am a fit, healthy, and energetic marathon runner" better than "I am fat and unfit?" Try it repeat the identities. Doesn’t the former feel SO MUCH BETTER? If you are like me you can almost feel yourself triumphantly crossing that finish line!

Our identities govern every area of our lives. If my identity was "I am fat." Dieting would be hopeless, as I would just be battling against the inevitable. My choices not to eat certain unhealthy foods would be temporary, as I would always gravitate to those fattening foods. If on the other hand I was to say that my identity was that I was "Thin" then my choices to eat certain food would be governed by what a thin person eats. This empowers me to say no to the fatty unhealthy foods. I would also feel better about myself, and have a positive self image. I would also see weight loss down to my ideal weight as natural and expected.

So what identity are you associating with yourself? Have you carefully chosen this or just adopted it unconsciously? Choose your identity NOW, and don’t leave such a powerful influence in your life to chance! You can’t afford that! Chose a positive health and fitness identity now and see how it boosts your life, and helps you attain your ideal weight.