Do you have a chapter in your life that you choose not to speak about? The reason why may vary, but ultimately it is because we made decisions that led to an unhealthy lifestyle. Although those decisions were not intentional, they were made to cope with the notion that life was beyond our control and the stressors became too much to bear. Can you relate?
2017 was that year for me where I hit rock bottom. Not only was I making poor life choices, but I also stopped maintaining a healthy lifestyle. I was at my heaviest that year, which was about 180 pounds! There are so many factors that play a role in gaining weight, which I understood so much more once I was living through it. Although we cannot control external factors, we can decide to control our own actions and our mentality!
I wish I can say I immediately took action and made that decision to be healthy. I did want to, but life happened and I was not handling it well. That’s okay! I may not have started immediately on the fitness aspect of the journey, but I did start with the mentality! I learned that when you heal the mind, you’re going to feel a difference in your body as well as see it. Don’t believe me?
For 3 years, I focused on healing and was breaking the self destructive patterns. I began eating healthier, drinking less alcohol, and most importantly, was more selective on what I fed my mind. When we talk about healthy habits in terms of weight loss, we usually think about what we eat. We all know that weight loss is mostly about a healthy diet, but what isn’t discussed enough is what we are feeding our minds. When I made that shift, there were so many improvements, but my absolute favorite was finally being able to look at myself in the mirror again! June 2020 I was back to being my confident self and brought my weight down to 150 pounds!
Keep in mind, that transformation was more on mentality and starting to eat healthy. Key term here…STARTING. I integrated some healthy foods in my diet, not as much as I should have, but something is better than nothing! Baby steps towards progress still count as progress! December 2019 I decided to join a gym again for the first time in years! I was going every night after work and I was making sure to start slow, but I also added in home workouts afterwards. I was going strong for a solid 4 months and then we have the pandemic.
Who else stopped being healthy because of the pandemic?
For most of the pandemic, my weight was gradually increasing again and I reached up to 165 pounds. I realized that our bodies react poorly to stress so when we take care of those stressors (what we can control), then it helps with the weight loss journey. So I shifted mindsets and just did the best that I could. After all, our best is all we can do, right?
December 2020 I decided I was going to go back to a healthier lifestyle. I only bought healthy foods when I was grocery shopping, with only ONE small treat per trip. I attempted to restart my home workouts, but went back to dance workouts instead. They’re more fun! I must admit, I do dine out when I choose convenience over health. Nobody’s perfect!
February 2021 I decided that I will officially restart my fitness journey. I was feeling confident in the way I look and fully embraced it, but I know I can be healthier. I used to be in 2013 and I knew I can go back to being healthy again. You read that right. I was unhealthy for 8 years so of course it will take time to be fully healthy again and I will not be hard on myself during this journey anymore.
Nor should you on yours.
Let’s do this together! From this day forth, we will all make healthier decisions and do our absolute best on our journey! No more procrastinating! Our only competition is who we were yesterday. Lean on me when you need to and if you ever need support, please reach out! I am here with you.
Want to share your weight loss journey with me? I’d love to hear it! Check out the contact page for details!
Thank you for reading my story! I look forward to learning yours!