So many of the women I work with have done this before.
Lost a stone or two, dropped a couple of clothes sizes, felt amazing.
Then six months or a year later, it's all back. Sometimes with a bit extra on top.
It's easy to assume the plan wasn't strict enough, or that you just need more willpower next time.
But in my experience, the real problem is rarely the plan.
The pattern I see over and over
For a lot of the women I coach, the real driver is stress. Work, family, everything piling up.
And the go-to way of coping with it is food.
Then comes the guilt.
Then the thought, "I've ruined it now, so what difference does it make?"
Then more of the same.
And suddenly you're back at square one, wondering how it happened again.
Clients have told me that when this regain happens, it often hits harder than never having lost the weight in the first place. Not just the extra pounds back, but the sense of having lost the progress too.
Why the usual programmes don't fix this
Many popular weight loss programmes are built around a plan you follow, week after week, with someone checking in on your numbers.
That can work, for a while.
But if the plan ends and you haven't actually learned what works for your own body, your sleep, your stress, your appetite, then the moment life gets hard again, you're right back where you started.
Some of the most well known weight loss programmes actually profit from this pattern. People rejoin, again and again, after the inevitable regain.
I don't think that's a coincidence, and I don't think it's a reflection on the person going through it.
What actually breaks the cycle
That cycle, stress to food to guilt to "what's the point" to starting over, is the actual thing I help people work through.
Not another diet. Not a stricter plan.
Just building real awareness of what's driving it, then replacing it with things that actually help: some self-care, getting outside, movement that feels good, and learning to eat in a way that leaves you satisfied rather than guilty.
The goal isn't to follow me forever. It's for you to actually understand what works for your body, so the change lasts even when nobody's checking in on you.
Once you understand your own pattern, you can finally stop starting over.
If this sounds familiar, what's usually the trigger for you?