The Tortoise Diaries - A Year in the Life of a Reforming Yoyo Dieter.

Changing Your Future with the Tortoise Diet Method.

 Losing weight and gaining wellbeing is not a one off, one size fits all miracle diet event. All of you who have tried all the diets over the years know this to be true.  What I’ve learned  is that its about changing the way we think, therefore the way we feel and therefore the way we act. It’s about creating the sort of environment that supports our desire to be the sort of person we really want to be. And all of this takes place over time – not overnight. Finding what works for you - or for me - takes time. In the book, the Tortoise Diet Method, I talk about giving yourself a gift of a year to get it right. I am giving myself this year to reach my goals and stay there. The Tortoise Diaries will follow that journey and you are welcome to follow along if you wish. I have thought about doing this for ages so am finally - on Day 41 of 2026 - taking actions on it. You can share the ups and downs, the ins and outs, probably some random insights that will end up as stories - but you will hear it first on my instagram posts in all its raw and real way. Starting here.

Just before Christmas and the end of the year, I just knew that I could not muck around any longer and had no excuse to not exercise.   So I began walking every day whether I felt like it or not.  I have to tell you, that it doesn’t take long at all to begin to feel the benefits.  In the past I had been a walker for many years. I even remember in my last pregnancy when I was aged 35, that I walked an hour every day and I am still heavier now than what I was when I was full term with that pregnancy.  And I do still remember how great I felt.

But over time, somehow you stop placing importance on your body. You know how it is.  You get a job where you sit on your backside for 7 hours a day plus an hours commute either side of that. Or you are so busy driving the family around to school and various activities that most of your life seems to be spent in the car or in front of a computer.  We always somehow think this is temporary and when you get more time, you will start that gym progam or take up running again. But we never do until something comes along and kicks us in that increasingly expanding backside. Like a health issue.  A blood test. A bit of a turn.  Shortness of breath when you are doing some every day task.  Pre-diabetes diagnosis. Or even just no longer being able to fit your favourite pants. I don’t know. There will be those moments over your life.

Those are wake up calls and many of us still don’t heed them.  I’ve been thinking about how often I have decided to turn over a new leaf and get back on track and promise myself that I would do all the right things.  As you will know when you read The Tortoise Diet Method, unless you have a real revelation of how bad your situation is and that creates a massive permanent desire in you to change your ways (revolution), most of us still need a good set of skills to keep up momentum over time. More evolution than revolution.

So a lot of what most of us struggle with is the ongoing daily struggle to do what we know is the right thing to do because sometimes we just don’t feel like it. 

Today, after 7 weeks of exercising every day and just loving how good it made me feel, I didn’t want to get up early and go for a walk. Yesterday was the first day that I had a down day since I started exercising.  I am not quite sure what it was that triggered it and will put some thought into that as often there is a trigger.  Getting to know your triggers is going to be one of the keys to your ulitimate success because we often have a few of those that persist over time. They kick off patterns of thought and patterns of behaviour.  So yesterday, I went straight to food for comfort. I did not even feel hungry. I felt jittery and annoyed and irritated. With myself as much as anything. I did not do any deliberate exercise – did not go for a walk.  I didn’t do it in the morning before work and told myself that I would when I got home. When I got home, I had the time but it was hot and I didn’t want to. So I scrolled and ate. 

So this morning, as I knew would happen, I woke feeling annoyed and angry with myself.   Even though the one big thing I have learned from taking daily exercise is that it improves not just my physical health but it is incredibly important for my mental health as well. I feel so much better, on the ball, more likely to eat well, more likely to make the right decisions, and to be honest, happier.  So, I actually managed to overcome the self sabotage, and do the right thing. I got up. I had a great walk and got back in time to make a good breakfast, do some writing and get ready to get to work on time.  I mean really. I could have stayed in bed for another hour, lying there awake and thinking, or I could have got up, gone for a walk out in the fresh air, watch the sunrise, see the joy in the dog’s whole body as she raced around smelling all the pee mail, felt how good my body feels when it is I moving and lift my mood by about 100%.  I am giving myself a wee pat on the back. It really is a matter of practise you know.   The more we do it the easier it gets – but believe me – I know how hard it is sometimes.  Let me encourage you to try it. Start as small as you need to but do something every day. It will be one of the most helpful tools in your toolbox of success.  Have a great day.