I am on holiday at the moment. I realise that my normal routines have gone out the window. I don`t really know what I am eating let alone the calorie load. And I am meeting more people than on a usual work day, with a cup of coffee or a drink, maybe a piece of cake. In the past I would have worried throughout the holiday, wanting to enjoy myself but feeling guilty and worried that I was just putting on extra weight.

But I am more relaxed these days! I am on holiday and have given myself permission to enjoy myself. None of us can do a lot of damage to our weight in just a couple of weeks. So you can enjoy your holiday meals and drinks without any guilt trips. On the other hand, it is not an opportunity to let rip!

These guilty feelings don`t help us to achieve our goals. If you are wanting to lose weight, then feeling bad about yourself doesn`t offer any practical solution. The hypnotherapy that I practice allows you to develop a new way of eating that is sustainable and easy, without any misery or anxiety.

We can all find a little space for something particularly delicious and tempting. Our stomachs (normally the size of our fist) are very stretchy.

But what is making us eat when we are not hungry. Well, there are a number of reasons. If any seem to apply to you, think about how you can avoid them.

Some of us eat to calm or comfort ourselves. We feel bad about ourselves and food helps us feel relaxed. But then after that, we feel guilty, dissappointed and angry, so the comfort just doesn't last long enough. Learning to feel good about yourself, to overcome anxiety, is the first place to start. And hypnosis is a good place to start.

And then there is habit. Like putting two slices of toast in the toaster (because there are two slots) and eating both when one would do. Or cake with coffee. Or crisps with wine or beer. If we regularly eat a little snack at 3.00pm, then our bodies get used to it. Even if we have had plenty to eat, our bodies cry out for the 3.00pm intake. After a couple of days however, these cravings go. When are you snacking? Habits are learned and so can be unlearned.

Refined carbohydrates make your blood sugar peak and trough dramatically so you feel hungry soon after. This includes sugary foods, white flour, sweets, cakes and biscuits. If you don't buy them, you won't eat them. Remember, in the hand is in the mouth.

Of course, if something looks and smells delicious, our body responds positively, with lots of encouraging saliva flow, which itself makes you hungry. As for me, I don't want to resist a mango, but I trained myself to resist chocolate, and now it doesn't interest me. (I continue to be amazed.)

Alchohol lowers your general ability to resist. If you eat before you go out drinking, you will be less likely to succumb to a calorie-packed takeaway on the way home.

Research has shown that we are less careful with our eating and activity at the weekend. Maybe we get up a bit later and are less active than during the week.

If you then weigh yourself every day, you will notice these variations and with all that guilt, you might just say "What the hell" and start chomping on that sack of crisps.

Weight control is not a daily task. It is a lifelong task. So any overindulgence or inactivity at the weekend can be made up during the week.

Give yourself a break and weigh yourself mid-week. Just the once.