At LighterLife, we believe that living a lighter life goes beyond what you see in the mirror. It’s about changing how you think, feel and respond to the challenges life throws your way.

If you think about why you (or other people you know) overeat, you’ll probably think of things like boredom, stress, even comfort… But when it comes to losing weight, the focus is usually on physical solutions like exercise, counting Calories, medication or even surgery.

And that’s the problem. Many diets are just about managing what you eat, rather than dealing with the underlying causes of why you eat it which often means that if they even work in the first place, the lost weight usually just goes back on.

Exploring the emotional reasons behind overeating is key in helping you develop the skills to finally stop using food as a way of managing uncomfortable feelings and situations.

In our free, weekly LighterLife group meetings, you’ll learn how to use easy and amazingly effective CBT mindfulness tools and techniques to help you make the lasting changes that are key to managing your weight in the long term.

LighterLife CBT Mindfulness is a unique approach developed and researched over more than 30 years and it’s helped more than a million people live their lighter lives. Now it’s your turn to experience why LighterLife is different!

What is mindfulness?

Mindfulness is a simple but powerful way of becoming more aware of what is happening around you and within you, so you can make a conscious choice about what you eat.

What is cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT)?

CBT helps you understand how your thoughts, feelings and behaviours are all interconnected and that your thinking affects how you feel and behave (including around food). It enables you to spot and interrupt those unhelpful thought patterns – the ones that insist, “I must have it” or “just one won’t hurt” – that trigger overeating.

“The LighterLife group work changed everything for me. Everything. I learned to pause before eating and ask myself if I was really hungry or whether I was tired, stressed, in need of comfort. In other words, I got in touch with my reasons for eating. I found the CBT so helpful that I used the mindful exercises to quit smoking.

There were times when I considered lapsing. But CBT teaches you to recognise the crooked thinking behind such moments.

For instance, whether it is reaching for the biscuit tin or having a sneaky fag, I might think: ‘No one is going to know. I so want one. I’m feeling so stressed.’

Then I would ask myself: ‘But am I going to feel less stressed if I eat the biscuit or smoke the cigarette? The answer I know. Am I going to feel happy with myself? No.’”