A lot of you are familiar with my weight loss story.

I was quite teary when I wrote it down. Take a look here if you haven’t heard it yet. This is a bit of a follow on from that. This is the story of my big fail and how I’m recovering from it. My big fail has to do with gaining weight after a huge weight loss. I may even have talked myself into it. I also let others talk me into it. A lot of people said to me, ‘You won’t sustain it’ and I started to believe it. My big fail is about falling off the wagon.

You become what you believe

And after a while I did gain some weight, not loads, but enough to notice and enough for my clothes to feel tight. Life got busy, training became harder to fit in. Ironically, my fitness took a turn for the worse when I qualified as a personal trainer! I was picking up clients and holding down a demanding full time job and I let things slip. I have a bit of a habit of taking on more than I can cope with and I ended up neglecting my own well being. Then along came a global pandemic and everything felt upside down. Painful personal circumstances compounded things. It wasn’t long before the days I wasn’t working were spent lying on the sofa binging on Netflix and chocolate and not much else.

There’s always a consequence

Guess what? I put on weight. Weight gain or loss is always to do with calorie surplus or deficit. Whatever other reasons, this is the base line. I’ll explain that in another article. So I knew I was in caloric surplus, I was taking in more than I was using and I felt trapped in that pattern. My body paid the consequences.

Is falling off the wagon permanent?

As I write this I am back on track. I wish I could undo those months in a flash, but I can’t. My way out is the opposite to how I got here. I’m working on being in a calorie deficit. I’m using more calories than I’m taking in (most days) and I’m feeling better. The way out for me is about holding my nerve and keeping consistent. It’s also about knowing that slow and steady wins the race, and if I keep going I will get there. It’s about looking one day, week, month at a time.

I know the way out

I’ve done this journey before and I have a map! Falling off the wagon doesn’t have to be permanent. So, I’m setting my compass and I’m checking in with my direction from time to time. How we set our direction and read our map to weight loss is the subject of another blog. It’s in the pipeline. Meanwhile, I hope my story helps you. We all hit road blocks and even diversions where we end up going back on ourselves. The secret is, not looking back, keep your eyes on the next right step. Each step takes you a tiny bit closer to your goal.

We’ll get there together.