The Real Reason Your Cholesterol Keeps Going Back Up
I had a discovery call recently with a lady who was considering 1:1 coaching, and within a few minutes of chatting, a pattern came up that I see all the time.
She’d been diagnosed with high cholesterol a few years ago, which understandably came as a shock.
So she did what a lot of people do.
She went away, researched everything she could, and went all in.
For about six weeks, she cut out dairy, processed foods and red meat. She stopped drinking alcohol. She increased her exercise.
She was incredibly committed.
And to her credit, it worked.
Her cholesterol came down when she had it retested.
But then life happened.
Not in some dramatic, spectacular way. Things just gradually started slipping back towards how they had been before.
And now her cholesterol is higher than it was to begin with.
If you’re reading that thinking, “That sounds a bit like me…”, you’re definitely not alone.
Why does my cholesterol keep going back up?
There are lots of reasons cholesterol levels can change, and lifestyle certainly isn’t the whole story.
But one pattern I see again and again is this:
You get a high cholesterol result.
You feel worried.
Motivation kicks in.
And suddenly everything changes at once.
No cheese. No chocolate. No alcohol. No takeaways. More exercise. Perfect meals. Perfect weeks.
You manage it for six weeks, maybe a couple of months.
And then it starts to feel hard.
Restrictive.
A little miserable, if we’re being honest.
Eventually something gives.
And because the changes were so far removed from the way you normally lived, there isn’t really a sustainable middle ground to fall back on.
So gradually, you end up back where you started.
That can leave you wondering:
Why can’t I stick to anything?
Other people seem to manage this.
Maybe I just don’t have enough discipline.
But more often than not, the problem isn’t that you couldn’t stick to it.
The problem is that what you were trying to stick to wasn’t designed to fit into your life long term.
Going harder usually isn’t the answer
We’re often led to believe that if something isn’t working, we need to try harder.
Be stricter.
Cut more things out.
Exercise more.
Have more discipline.
But that can actually create the very cycle we’re trying to escape.
Because if the way you’re improving your cholesterol only works when life is quiet, predictable and perfectly controlled, what happens when you go on holiday?
When work gets busy?
When someone invites you out for dinner?
When Christmas happens?
When you’re tired?
When you simply want to have a piece of cake without turning it into a moral dilemma?
Your health needs to exist in the real world.
So the goal isn’t to create the most perfect cholesterol-lowering lifestyle you could theoretically follow.
It’s to create one you can actually live with.
What helps keep cholesterol down long term?
Instead of asking: “What can I change, and how quickly can I change it?”
Try asking: “What is one small thing I could do differently today that would move me in the right direction?”
And tomorrow, ask the same question again.
It isn’t particularly glamorous.
It probably won’t give you the same rush as declaring that you’re changing your entire life from Monday.
But it is incredibly effective.
Because this is where things start to shift.
Not through one enormous overhaul, but through small changes that gradually become part of the way you live.
You might start by changing the type of breakfast you eat.
Then increasing your fibre intake.
Then looking at the types of fats you use most often.
Then adding more movement.
Then thinking about portions.
Then making changes to alcohol, snacks, sleep or exercise.
One thing at a time.
Eventually you’re no longer constantly thinking about whether you’re “on track” or “off track”.
It just becomes normal.
Your cholesterol-lowering plan still has to leave room for your life
This is exactly what we spoke about on that discovery call.
Rather than bouncing between two extremes, doing nothing or doing everything, we look for the middle ground.
Something that supports her health without taking away from the life she enjoys.
Because she said something that really mattered: “I have a good life. I don’t want to lose that.”
And she shouldn’t have to.
Improving your health shouldn’t come at the expense of your life.
If anything, it should enhance it.
I was reminded of this recently with one of my clients.
He was about 10 weeks into coaching when he went on an all-inclusive holiday.
Before we started working together, he was worried about it.
He thought he might undo all his progress.
Or that the alternative would be spending the holiday feeling restricted and unable to enjoy himself.
Neither happened.
When we caught up afterwards, he told me it had been the best holiday.
He went to the gym every other morning because he wanted to.
He chose balanced meals during the day because he liked how they made him feel.
And in the evenings?
He relaxed.
No guilt.
No overthinking.
No sense that he was being “good” or “bad”.
Just balance.
And what’s interesting is that if I’d described that version of life to him at the very beginning, he probably wouldn’t have believed it was possible.
It would have felt too far removed from where he was then.
So we didn’t aim for the final destination.
We focused on the next step.
And then the next.
And then the next.
Until eventually, that way of living became normal.
The goal is not to need motivation forever
Something else happened this week that really stayed with me.
My parents were round helping with some DIY and I had to step away for a couple of calls.
My mum said: “I thought you were full with clients?”
I told her a few people were reaching the end of their coaching, so I had some space opening up.
And she said: “I guess you’re a bit of a victim of your own success, because you set people up so well they don’t need you forever.”
And she’s right. That is the goal.
Not to have people relying on me indefinitely.
Not to give them another temporary plan they can only follow while someone is holding their hand.
But to help them build something they can carry on themselves.
Because that’s when you know it has actually worked.
So if you’ve been wondering why your cholesterol keeps going back up, and you recognise that cycle of going all in, falling off track and starting again, it doesn’t necessarily mean you need to try harder.
You may simply need a different approach.
Something more realistic.
More flexible.
More human.
You don’t need to overhaul your entire life to improve your cholesterol.
You need to start making changes you can actually keep going.
Because that’s what adds up.
That’s what lasts.
And ultimately, that’s what gives you a much better chance of improving your health without feeling as though you’re constantly fighting against your own life.
If you want support with this
If you’re feeling stuck in that cycle, or you know what you should be doing but are struggling to turn it into something sustainable, you don’t have to figure it all out alone.
I currently have one or two spaces available for 1:1 coaching.
If you’re interested, fill in the form below and we can have a relaxed chat about where you are now, what you’d like to change, and whether working together feels like the right fit.
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