Happy Birthday WLW Podcast!

It’s crazy to think I am here writing this message, celebrating a full year since the Weight Loss Warrior Podcast started. It’s an achievement I feel proud of for a number of reasons, although absolutely none of this would have been possible without YOU.

To celebrate, I have recorded a special episode of the WLW podcast with guest host Claire, as I share my own journey for you to all learn a little more about me.

For anyone who doesn’t know, the concept of starting a podcast to provide support to people on a weight loss journey began last August during my trip to the UK. I had been speaking to my mum (a member of SW for over 10 years) about why she had never reached her target and struggled so much to lose weight. Her answer was that she felt lonely in between group weigh-in sessions and lacked the motivation she felt was necessary to be successful. The sensation of “being on her own” on this journey made it difficult to stick to the plan.

To be honest this was quite difficult to hear, and I couldn’t help but feel sad. Partly because of the guilt of perhaps not being as supportive as I could have been, but also because I could hear the feeling of sadness in her voice when she said it.

That night I couldn’t sleep for thinking about it. I started to wonder just how many others shared the same experience as my mum and a quick look on Instagram confirmed my thoughts. There was an overwhelming amount of people “starting again” or “taking a break” from their diet, a concept I have now come to know as “yo-yo” dieting… I discovered a huge community of people losing weight and helping each other and felt the overpowering urge to try and help, possibly fueled by the guilt and shame my poor mum had endured during so many years.

Between the hours on 3am and 5am, my frustration of not being able to sleep was replaced with a buzz and excitement of how I might be able help people trying to lose weight by providing extra support and motivation during their journey.

The concept of a podcast sharing success stories from normal everyday people felt like something that could work well. We all love a story of someone overcoming a struggle, defining the odds to succeed. Open the latest “Bella” magazine, tune into breakfast television or read the newspaper and you will see what I mean.

Over the next 2 weeks I became obsessed with what we now know and love as “Weight Loss Warrior”. I spent time reaching out to people, looking for someone willing to share their story to prove to myself my idea wasn’t crazy, and someone out there would see the potential I felt was there.

This is where I want to pause and thank everyone who has been here since the start, especially my first guests who had nothing but my “idea” to go on…To those who took a chance on me and helped turn this into something real, I am deeply grateful and appreciate you in a big way. It was your initial support and belief in the power of selflessly helping others that enabled me to launch my first episodes. Thank you, Warriors, you’re awesome and a true fountain of inspiration that so many around the world benefit from.

Throughout the last year, the podcast has grown from strength to strength gaining new listeners and followers every month. When I compare the total followers on Spotify after the first couple of months to now, there has been an increase of over 720%!

It still feels surreal to think about the fact that people listen to my podcast, but it’s a feeling that makes me proud to have done this. I set out to offer inspiration, motivation and support to those wanting to transform their lives with the objective that even if it gave something to a small handful of people, I was helping to make a difference.

I’d like to now thank each and every listener of the WLW Podcast. Your feedback, advice and ideas have blown me away since day one, and I thrive from knowing you enjoy hearing the success stories shared by the amazing Warriors on the show. I realise as well that many of you face a daily struggle with your physical and mental health. It’s likely you discovered the podcast and listen because of a desire to change your situation. I have SO MUCH admiration for anyone with that craving to become an improved version of themselves.

I also understand that for many, your current situation creates feeds a number of negative emotions and in some cases completely prevents you from being your true self. Don’t give up. Ever.

You are amazing, you may just need some help and support to reach your goals. Keep going.

I have learned so much in the last year however with every discovery feel like I am in some ways only beginning to scratch the surface of the complexity and struggles so many face in making long term changes and living a healthy, sustainable lifestyle. There are many strongly held self-limiting beliefs and concepts shared by people who find it difficult to lose weight, and strong connections to mental health and wellbeing that I feel must be addressed for a happy and balanced life.

As part of my journey during the past 12 months, one of my strongest beliefs created from speaking to hundreds of people in this community is the following:

“Physical weight loss is not a guaranteed ticket to feeling amazing. There is a level of inner peace, self-love and mental well-being that MUST be achieved in order for weight loss to be permanent and to allow a person to be truly happy in every sense of their being.”

Before starting the podcast, call me naïve but I had little knowledge of how deep the connection between mindset and sustainable weight loss was. Like many reading this, I had always relied on motivation and then wondered why I was unable to reach my goal or always began failing after a couple of months. As part of my own journey to better health and since starting the podcast, I have learned that there are many tools and actions you can take to not have to rely on motivation alone. This for me has been an absolute game changer and helped me lose weight, stay active and feel a lot better about myself.

The Future of Weight Loss Warrior

I am excited to have the opportunity to continue sharing inspiring stories on a weekly basis with you all, and my commitment is to look for ways to make the show even better. If you have ideas, suggestions for questions, anything at all…I’d love to hear from you.

In addition to the podcast, I have been quietly working in the shadows on the “next stage” of this project. I quickly realized when starting out that I had found something I am truly passionate about finally after what felt like my whole adult life searching for an opportunity to work without feeling like I had a job. Although WLW is not providing any income currently, my long-term goal is to be able to focus all my efforts in this direction.

As part of this, I have been studying to become a coach and have a clear vision of how I believe I can help people. The process of physically losing weight is simple in terms of if you follow a plan like SW, Weight Watchers, Keto etc. correctly, it works. The challenge for most is unlocking the doors in your mind that allow you to reach your goals and sustain them. I plan to work with people in parallel to their current weight loss plan focusing on mindset, habit change and raising your feelings of confidence and self-worth. I am already working with a small number of amazing people and am extremely happy with how things are going.

I’ll be sharing full details of this very soon, but if this jumps out at you and you would like more information about how I might be able to help, feel free to get in touch on Instagram or by replying to this email.

Overall, I am very excited and cannot wait to get stuck into this next phase of the journey. I feel like WLW Podcast now has a sturdy foundation, an amazing tribe and is ultimately helping people on their journeys. My goal now is continue growing, looking for ways to reach new listeners and for opportunities to collaborate with others who focus their attention on helping people to live a healthier life. This could be in the form of professionals, businesses or anything else that is focused on driving improvement. If you know of a company or person who may be interested with collaborating with WLW, please let me know!

I’d like to say thank you one last time for all the amazing support, encouragement and belief in the Weight Loss Warrior podcast. I feel truly privileged to have met so many incredible people on this journey so far.

The final thank you goes to someone who I know that this would have not been possible without, my beautiful wife. Nuria has been amazing throughout this process. She has accepted me sitting at my desk until the early hours of the morning while I edit episodes, allowed plans to change or even be cancelled because she understood how much this meant to me. She has been my soundboard (probably more soundBORED now from how much I talk about WLW) for every doubt, idea and question I have. She has kept the boys quiet to allow me to record episodes in peace. She has given me a nudge and called me out when I have tried to convince myself of my own excuses and above all else, supported my vision with nothing but total love and reassurance. Thank you Nuria from the bottom of my heart.

Warrior Tribe, let’s make this next year a success for ALL of us. Whatever your goal, I want to be there to celebrate with you. The best place to share your progress and support others is in the WLW Tribe community. Let’s join together and help each other win as one. Click here now and be part of it. Together, we are strong.

Let’s get at it!

Carl