SOMEONE once said that the only thing we need to be afraid of is fear itself. For many people, this manifests itself when they think about making a real attempt at losing weight but something stops them – the fear of failure. This happens because the unconscious mind remembers the bad feelings around the last failure; since one of the main roles of the unconscious is to protect us, it naturally sets out to make sure we can’t feel like a failure over our weight loss.

It’s almost impossible to overcome this without outside help. However, you’ll be very glad to know that it can be done – and here’s a Slimpodder who proves that week after week.

When I first met Darin McCloud back in 2011 he was a 20-stone coach potato who couldn’t walk down the street without being out of breath. Today he’s an athlete. No, he’s more than that – he’s a triathlete. That means he pushes himself to the limit in races which involve running, cycling and swimming in the sea.

Me with Darin before the race

Amazingly he competes even though he’s afraid of the water. “I can swim but am not comfortable in the water,” he says. “I have a fear of drowning.” Not only that: “The emotion fear is unbearable. I really have the fear of failure the fear that the sea will beat me.

“I don’t really know how I got through my fear other than with my Slimpods. I have never taken the easy option, I have fear and trepidation on every new event whether in a group or on my own. This was a whole new level and one I really never want to feel again.”

Darin with his triathlon medal 

Did I mention that Darin’s lost over 70 lbs and kept it off for five years or more? That’s a great achievement in itself but even such a massive weight loss pales into insignificance when you consider that deep down inside, Darin still suffers from fear.

Every time he prepares for a run or a cycle ride he has to overcome a barrier inside his head. Even with 62 medals to his credit, he is still afraid of failing, of letting himself down.

Darin has just written a wonderful blog about his latest achievement, an event called the Tough Mudder. It looks a lot of fun – so long as you’re happy getting covered from head to toe in mud.

He’s also written a great blog on how he overcame his fear to take part in the Portsmouth triathlon

And here’s Darin’s great blog on the Tough Mudder event. That’s him pictured above with some fellow tough mudders!