In an earlier post, I mentioned that people were asking me how I had lost weight – like I’d already met my goal (I hadn’t, but was close-ish). This got me thinking. How will I know if I’ve been successful in this quest to remain at a healthy weight?

I figured that success would be keeping it off for a year. So here I am, almost a year later checking in! So did I manage it? Did I keep it all off?  No… not quite.

I think at the root of my problem is the fact that I am a fundamental optimist. I always try to see the upside. In the past year I managed to keep off most of the weight I had lost. Note the use of most. In my head that means I’ve succeeded. Unfortunately… reality is checked when I try on the tight-fitting cream dress (the goal dress) from May last year. Nope… the zip won’t do up! I’ve conveniently dismissed the weight I’ve put back on, as I’ve still kept ‘most’ of it off. In my head keeping more than 50% off was a success. Blatantly this is skewed thinking so I’ve given myself a talking to and I’m back to fix it!

During the year, I’ve been weighing regularly myself, but had been thinking ‘I just need to lose my holiday weight’. What only just dawned on me is that I’ve now got 3 holidays to recover from,  dating back to August last year – and that includes the WHOLE month of December which was one long food and drink holiday! In truth, I’d also ignored the fact that it’s been taking me longer to get ready in the mornings – looking for flattering outfits to wear to cover up – how shall I put this – some extra bumps and bulges that really shouldn’t be there!

I realised all this last week and so I started my new quest last Monday. Today is day 6. I have set my goals. I have written them down in a spreadsheet and an old-fashioned diary that I carry round with me. That always helps for me.

My friend, Jott, said to me last week “Last year, nothing would stop you from meeting your goal – you were so determined”. And it’s true. I wanted to fit in the dress more than I wanted a big glass of wine. I have refound my motivation and I’m bringing that determination back in an 8-week attack to get the weight back off – taking me to mid-May.

If you’re doing something similar – good luck – we can do this.