Weight Loss Through the Lessons From Failure

Successful people don’t believe in failure.  They see mistakes as opportunities to learn and create new strategies to help them reach their goals and success.  For many of us, failure is another word for wasted time and effort and that nothing has been gained or learned.  Think of many people that you think of as successful.  The majority of them have had setbacks, mistakes, and missteps along the road to successes.  You don’t achieve success by being perfect.  In fact, you achieve success by failing, learning from it, adjusting your course and moving ahead.

If we are so fearful of success, we would become paralyzed and not do anything at all.  Failure are lessons in moving forward taking action.  You are doing something.  Look at Babe Ruth….he made the records for the number of hits; he also made the records for the most strikeouts too.  Successful people know that each failure brings them closer to accomplishing their goals and dreams.

How does this apply to weight loss?  There are many hits and misses along the way to losing weight.  Sometimes we get so far off track that we give up and regain some weight of our weight loss.  Is that a failure?  Not at all.  It allows you to learn what you can from going off track, get back on and know what to avoid and what to do to ultimately to lose weight once and for all.  The track to weight loss has speed bumps, obstacles in the road and also times where you veer off or take an exit by taking a break from your healthy habits.  Don’t believe that the track to weight loss is a straight shot and easy going.  Sometimes it is and sometimes it isn’t.  Changing habits and replacing them with others takes time.

It is through the speed bumps along the way and lessons to be learned that we ultimately win and reach our weight loss goals.  Being able to see “failure” of food slip ups as an opportunity for learning about trigger foods, how we handle our emotions through food and other important realizations that allow us to grow and silence that head hunger.

I regained weight a few years ago.  It was awful.  I felt like a complete and total failure.  I re-lost my regained weight.  I cannot tell you that I’m glad I regained weight but I sure learned a lot about myself along the way.  I learned how I used food.  What emotional eating did for me and what it didn’t.  I became much more aware of things in my life that needed my attention.  My weight loss from my surgery was easy and quick.  Re-losing my weight regain did not come so easy or quick.  I had to really learn the habits that would take me to weight loss and weight maintenance.  I thought I had learned those habits but took my weight loss for granted.  Now from that perceived failure and the lessons from the regain, I am so much happier and have a deep understanding of what I need to do for myself.

Live the best life you can.  Part of that process is experiencing failure and two steps forward, one backwards.  It isn’t the destination but the journey!  Enjoy your journey and scenery along the way.

Believe In Yourself,
Cathy, CLC
Certified Life Coach, Weight Loss Surgery Coach
Certified Back On Track Facilitator