I'm sure you've been there. You're feeling stressed and anxious. And you've reached for the ice cream or a bar of chocolate and mindlessly plowed your way through it. Or you've been trying to hit a deadline and grabbed the easiest food you could find – insert 'fast' in front of that! Then you've chowed down, taking mouthfuls between typing. 

Maybe you've just had the worst possible day. So you reach for that bottle of wine and pour yourself one glass, which soon turns into three. 

You aren't alone! Eating and drinking for comfort when you are stressed or anxious is the go-to comfort for so many people. But the problem is when you are dealing with a prolonged period of stress, seeking solace in the refrigerator is ultimately not going to make you feel any better. And it's a massive whammy for you when it comes to your weight gain.

Added to that, stress and anxiety by its very nature can have implications on your body and weight. Did you know it can make you hold...

Fatigue can have a significant impact on every area of your life. Have you ever had that feeling when you are desperate to sleep, but you are lying in bed staring at the ceiling? Your thoughts are going around your head like they are a high-speed train trapped on a never-ending circular track. You know that as the new day dawns, you will feel irritated, fed up, and exhausted.

The worst part? This pattern is happening night after night. And you can’t figure out why you can’t get some valuable and restorative rest when you are so tired. 

When you are suffering from fatigue, it starts to impact your ability to focus on work, and how you care for your children. You begin to feel like you are not fully engaged, and you struggle to do exercise. Your eating patterns may go awry, and you strive to have healthy regular meals. And this can, of course, lead to weight gain. Which makes you even more miserable and fed up.

Added to this, you are stressed because you are not...

Getting your body into a shape you feel comfortable and happy with can be a complicated and frustrating process. While you watch what you eat like crazy, and do all the right things, when you get on the scale, sometimes that number just won’t go down. It can leave you feeling despondent and miserable.

How is it when you are doing everything you can - choosing healthy snacks, cutting out sugar, and watching your calories - you cannot get to the place where you want to be? This can lead to you feeling like you should abandon your plans to get a better body and head for the nearest fast-food drive-thru.

What you may not realize is, there are a lot of ‘healthy’ foods and ‘good habits’ which can seriously sabotage your efforts to achieve that dream physique you have always wanted. 

Here are my top five which have the potential to see those pounds staying firmly on when you are trying your very best to battle your way to a better...