Kia Ākina

Working towards lifelong recovery from obesity

Persist – “Fall down seven times, get up eight”

This excellent Japanese proverb sums up the dogged attitude required to recover from obesity.  

We all know that slips, lapses and even relapses are fairly common on the journey to recovery. We also know that these can be very demoralising and painful experiences, especially when they follow a period of renewed hopefulness and weight-loss success. It is also very hard to get ourselves back up off the ground when there are other stresses in our life. 

However, the greatest learning can come from these knock-backs if we approach them with our eyes open and a desire to undertake a fresh start with the new knowledge we’ve gained. 

A rule of thumb in addiction treatment is that people need to make 5-10 serious attempts at recovery to make it. Virtually no-one does it on their first attempt. Just about everyone falls down several times. The ones who make it are those who can be humble, admit defeat, dust themselves off and give it another go.  

How many times have you made a serious attempt at obesity recovery involving eliminating snacking, reducing portion sizes, eating more slowly, increasing general daily exercise, setting goals and weighing yourself regularly? 

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