As kids, we’d get in trouble for making excuses. And if, on reflection, we’re honest with ourselves, probably 19 times out of 20 we deserved it. Truth is, there would have been a way to finish our homework or help dad clear the garage if laziness – or a more instantly gratifying alternative – hadn’t got the better of us.

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With adulthood comes a raft of responsibilities and as the years pass, life can seem ever less an exercise in what we can get away with. But is it? Really?

If the lithe teenager you once were has matured into a well-padded grown-up, chances are you’ve justified this change in your own mind with some weight loss excuses.

Likewise, if your weight loss resolutions have tended to come to naught, you’d have found ways to live with those failures that didn’t involve writing yourself off as a weak-willed goodfornothing.

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But the time comes when you need to play headmaster to your own excuses. Evaluate them. Do they stand up to scrutiny? What follows will clear up whether you’re pudgier than you might be by necessity or choice. It will also point the way forward to achieving a more streamlined version of yourself – one who spends less time crafting excuses and more time responding, “Thanks, that’s kind of you” to women who compliment you on how good you’re looking.

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