How to Rebuild Confidence After Failed Fat Loss

Three simple steps to rebuild confidence after a failed fat loss attempt (or two) so you can regain self-trust, positivity and momentum.

1. Reframe your "Failure" as Feedback

Reframing your “failures” as feedback helps you move forward constructively. At first a failed fat loss attempt (or attempts plural) may feel like a personal shortcoming like a lack of discipline or willpower, but they’re often not about you, but about the approach you chose.

Before you hit the "f*ck it" button explore what didn't work without judgement. Was the method too restrictive or did it clash too much with your lifestyle or personal preferences? Was it the timing, or do you simply have unrealistic expectations? 

E.g., Instead of saying, "I failed to stick to the keto diet," reframe it as, "Keto didn’t work for me because I love pasta and bread. Eliminating those foods made me feel deprived which triggered binge-eating."

Every experience gives you data to improve your next approach, so long as you learn from it.

E.g., "I learned that cutting out entire food groups doesn’t fit my lifestyle. I need a fat loss strategy that allows for a more balanced diet."

Reframing shifts your mindset from the fixed mindset of "I failed" to a growth mindset of "I learned." This mental shift helps build resilience and stops the self-sabotaging cycle in its tracks.

2. Set Goals Outside of Weight Loss

Find ways to highlight signs of progress beyond scale weight, as fat loss can require a lot of patience being unmotivating-ly slow at times.

Setting performance-based goals to work towards (E.g., I want to deadlift my bodyweight) or utilizing more non-scale weight measures of progress (like paying attention to how your clothes fit or by updating progress photos every few months) can help you stay motivated and committed to the process.

E.g., You felt defeated because your weight hadn’t change after four weeks, but when you realized you could now do 10 push-ups, something you couldn’t do before, it reinforced both your self-confidence and your commitment to your fat loss habits, which is the only way to secure long term progress.

3. Celebrate Progress and Wins Regularly

Actively recognize your wins no matter how small. Celebrate them by sharing them with others and/or recording them in a dedicated journal.

E.g., "I have started to enjoy cooking more meals at home" or "I meal prepped even when I didn't feel like it". You can look at these wins at times when you feel discouraged.

Plan ways to reward your efforts when you meet certain milestones:

E.g., You set a goal to go to the gym 2-3x per week for a whole month following through even when you feel unmotivated, when you achieve this goal you decide to treat yourself to a new set of gym leggings!

Bonus Tip - Seek Support

Find and join supportive fat loss or gym groups on Facebook or another local or online forum. This can be a great way to share your wins and receive encouragement, or to feel inspired by the success of others.

Sometimes other members can offer great ideas but remember to take recommendations or advice with a grain of salt. A lot of people in these groups offer advice based on what worked for them, but these suggestions might not always be appropriate or applicable to you! You may find yourself sifting through a sea of conflicting advice to figure out what applies to you and what doesn't!

Final Note

Like the people in these groups, you might be an expert on your own body, lifestyle and personal preferences, but you may not be an expert on the true underlying mechanisms behind fat loss.

There is the possibility that you could be struggling to lose fat simply because you're not using a strategy or monitoring your progress in a way that actually works.

It's not easy to view your own progress or behaviors objectively, especially when emotions get involved, in which case you might not be able to accurately determine what's working for you and what isn't and WHY, keeping you trapped in a self-sabotaging cycle.

Furthermore, if what once worked isn't working anymore you might also need support letting go of your old fat loss methods in order to embrace new ones that are more suitable for your current stage of life.

If the scale has you feeling frustrated and upset and you want, or rather NEED, unbiased support AND a stress-free fat loss strategy designed uniquely for YOU that eliminates any overthinking or guesswork, delivered by an actual expert - I would love to help!

To see if we'd make a good fit, you can book your free, no-obligation consultation here.