Why You Should Stop Comparing Your Body to Other People's.

Low self-esteem can be an issue when you're overweight, as you often compare yourself to everyone else and think that you're less attractive, less intelligent and the kind of person nobody wants to be around. There is usually more to low self-esteem than weight issues, but they can still play a significant part in how you feel about yourself. You just want to fit in and be accepted, but can feel that your weight holds you back in all areas of your life – from your career to your love life. It doesn't seem fair that all the skinny girls get all the attention and success which you crave.

It is generally a positive step to decide to lose weight, especially if it is affecting your confidence and making you feel depressed. However, the danger is that you start comparing yourself to other people in a way that puts pressure on you to lose an increasing amount of weight as quickly as possible. If you fixate on the ultra-slim celebrity bodies you see in magazines, you may decide to take drastic steps to achieve the same look. You might starve yourself or exercise like a demon when you body isn't used to it.

You may end up losing lots of weight, but you have to ask yourself whether you will actually be able to keep the weight off? For many people, it is not losing weight that is the problem, but rather keeping it off. You may enjoy the feedback you receive as a result of your weight loss, but then you feel an overwhelming amount of pressure to keep the weight off and it can get you down. You will probably find that you haven't been able to completely shed the bad habits you had before, so that eventually the weight starts coming back on.

Not everyone is designed to be skinny and so you would be better off concentrating on your own weight loss and fitness aims, rather than getting sidetracked by how slim everyone else is. So what if your friends can all squeeze themselves into tiny dresses? The most important thing is that you're happy and healthy, which you won't be if you're continually alternating between bingeing and eating very little whilst exercising to the point of exhaustion. You really need to lose weight for your own health and well-being, instead of worrying what everyone else thinks.

At the end of the day, comparing yourself to your friends, relatives, work colleagues, celebrities and anyone else you encounter in real life or in magazines isn't going to help you feel better about yourself. Losing weight isn't going to cure your self-esteem issues overnight and so you have to work on appreciating your qualities, rather than always talking yourself down and being negative about yourself, since there is clearly more to you than just how much you weigh.