Overcoming Barriers: Why Most People Fall Off Their Fat Loss Journey

The truth is, fat loss isn’t just a physical challenge — it’s a mental one. As a professional in the fitness world, I’ve seen time and time again that what holds people back isn’t a lack of motivation or a bad workout plan — it’s the struggle of overcoming barriers that are often unspoken and left unaddressed.

This section exists to unearth necessary adjustments to be made daily while allowing you to be brutally honest with yourself.
You’ll figure out what’s been stopping your progress, and more importantly, how to beat it.

1. Where Barriers Begin: Notice the Block

Before anything changes on the outside, something stirs on the inside.

Sometimes it’s a quiet thought that repeats itself when no one’s around.
Other times it’s the way your energy drops before you’ve even started.
Maybe it’s the all-or-nothing pressure that shows up whenever things feel hard.

You’ve probably brushed it off, blamed yourself, or tried to push through — but these patterns don’t go away because you ignore them.
They stay. They shape your habits. They slow you down.

Here, we shine a light on those invisible weights — the ones that aren’t seen on a scale or measured in a workout.
This is where many people finally recognize a piece of themselves they’ve never quite had words for.

Read through the blocks below.
You don’t need to fix anything yet.
Just notice what feels familiar.
That’s the moment you begin to understand what’s really been in your way.

2. Understaning Barriers:

These aren’t flaws — they’re patterns. Invisible threads woven into your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors that quietly guide your decisions (and often derail your progress). You’ve likely felt their weight before — without knowing where it came from.

This is your chance to finally name them.

As you read through the blocks below, don’t overthink. If something feels familiar — if it makes you say, “That’s me” — pause and sit with it. That moment of recognition is the first crack in the wall.

If there are any areas you would like to explore deeper, hover over the name and click the link.

3. Reframing Barriers: Changing Your Interpretation

Identifying your barrier is one thing, but what really changes the game is when you train yourself to see it through a different lens.

Reframing isn’t about pretending your struggle doesn’t exist. It’s simply about making subtle adjustments when unhelpful thoughts arise to help you move forward, instead of shutting down.

• It doesn’t change the facts — it changes the meaning you give to those facts.
• That shift in meaning alters your emotional response — and your next action.

Example:
“I messed up again. I’ll never stick to this.”
becomes → “This is a pattern I’ve repeated before — and now I see it. That means I’m getting closer to changing it.”

That tiny pivot is powerful. It separates people who spiral from people who stabilise.

Trying to completely remove every obstacle is unrealistic.  Responding differently when they show up is the task at hand during the reframing stage.

How to Develop Your Reframing Skills

To get good at reframing, you need to practice a few key abilities:

1. Awareness

You have to notice when you’re slipping into unhelpful thinking — like all-or-nothing thinking, catastrophizing, or self-blame.

2. Emotional Honesty

Reframing isn’t pretending everything’s fine. It’s saying:

This is hard, but is there another way to look at it?

3. Flexible Thinking

This means holding space for multiple perspectives. You practice moving from:

• “This setback proves I can’t do it”
  to
• “This setback gives me data about what I need to work on.”

4. Language Practice

Often, reframing starts with how you speak to yourself:

• From: “I failed.”
• To: “I’m learning what doesn’t work for me yet.”

Over time, this becomes your default, not because you force it, but because you train for it

Below are a few more examples of barriers (Old Thought) and simple adjustments that could be made (New Reframe) to ensure a smooth journey ahead.

Use the Reframing Prompt Sheet whenever you feel stuck, overwhelmed, or caught in a negative thought loop — it will help you shift perspective, regain control, and take your next step with clarity and confidence

4. Acting Against Barriers

Reframing is changing how you think about the barrier.
 Acting against it is changing how you respond when it shows up.

Knowing what’s holding you back is only half the battle. Real change happens when you prove to yourself that the old pattern no longer runs the show.

The good thing is that you can pretty much predict when a barrier will pop up and when you need to take action. Maybe it’s just before a workout, or maybe it’s while you’re sitting in a burger bar, hesitating to make your burger skinny.

Remember, one small action is enough to shift your direction. Don’t wait for the perfect moment. Create it.

Start with what you can control, even if it’s tiny. The goal isn’t perfection — it’s momentum.

When in doubt, ask yourself:
“What’s one thing I can do right now to move forward?”
Then do it — no matter how small it feels. That’s how change begins.

5. Supporting Yourself

Willpower is unreliable. Systems are what save you.

You’re not always going to feel strong, motivated, or in control — and that’s normal. Life will test your limits, and barriers tend to show up strongest when you’re tired, hungry, stressed, or stretched thin. That’s why self-support isn’t optional — it’s your safety net.

Real support means anticipating your weak points and putting structures in place to catch you before you spiral. That could look like:

• Getting enough sleep — Studies show even mild sleep deprivation affects mood regulation and increases cravings for high-calorie “comfort” foods. If you’re snappy, tired, and reaching for sugar, lack of rest may be the root, not a lack of discipline.
• Meal prepping in advance to avoid impulsive or emotional eating when time is short or stress is high.
• Blocking off work hours and breaks so you don’t overwork, underwork, or let stress bleed into your physical health.
• Keeping healthy snacks in the house and removing constant temptation from sight.
• Designing fallback routines for tough days — like doing a walk instead of a full workout, or journaling instead of skipping a check-in entirely.
• Setting up visual cues (post-its, phone alarms, calendar prompts) that reconnect you with your goals in moments of overwhelm.
• Practicing self-compassion — talking to yourself like you would a best friend who slipped up, instead of shaming yourself into quitting.

These are the invisible supports that separate those who bounce back from those who burn out.

Remember: it’s not about being perfect — it’s about being prepared for the messy, human moments when things don’t go to plan.

6. Be Ready for Its Return

“Supporting yourself” is about managing your day-to-day environment and energy so you’re less likely to hit a barrier.
“Being ready for its return” is about knowing how to respond when — not if — the barrier creeps back in anyway.

Even with great support systems, barriers don’t disappear—they evolve. You may expect a spiral of perfectionism during a tough week, but it can also sneak in during a good one.

In this section, you’ll build a system for long-term resilience, not just prevention.

What “Be Ready for Its Return” Really Means:

1. Recognise the Early Warning Signs

Most people don’t realize a barrier has returned until they’re already knee-deep in it — avoiding workouts, spiraling in self-doubt, or reaching for quick comforts to numb stress.

But barriers rarely show up without warning. They leak in quietly, through your habits, your tone, your thoughts, and your energy.

Your job is to notice the small shifts — before they become a full relapse.

Ask yourself:

• Are you starting to talk yourself out of things you were excited about last week?
• Are you snoozing your alarm more often, skipping your routine, or dragging your feet?
• Are you getting unusually irritated, withdrawn, or reactive with people close to you?
• Are you being extra hard on yourself — overly focused on flaws or setbacks?
• Are you justifying unhealthy choices with phrases like “I’ve earned this” or “It’s only one day”?

These are early cues that a barrier is resurfacing — whether it’s perfectionism, low self-worth, overwhelm, or something else.

The sooner you catch these cues, the easier they are to handle.

They’re like warning lights on a dashboard — not a reason to panic, but a signal to check in and respond before the engine stalls.

2 Use Pattern Awareness

Barriers don’t just happen once — they cycle.

It’s easy to think, “I got through that slump, so I’m past it now.” But most mental and emotional blocks aren’t one-time events. They’re patterns. They resurface — especially when you’re tired, overwhelmed, stressed, or things stop going as planned.

Maybe in Week 2 you skipped workouts because work got chaotic.
Maybe in Week 5 it happens again — but this time it’s because your sleep was off or your mood dipped.
The details change, but the pattern is the same: stress → avoidance → guilt → restart.

Recognising this doesn’t mean you’re failing — it means you’re finally paying attention.

Pattern awareness turns surprise setbacks into predictable events, and when something’s predictable, it’s manageable.

Think of it like weather. If you know rain is coming, you bring an umbrella. You don’t stand in the storm and wonder why you’re getting soaked.

To spot it earlier.
To recover faster.
To break the loop before it takes over.

The more familiar you become with your personal “loop,” the more empowered you are to step outside of it — instead of staying stuck inside.