I have been on a weight-loss journey for what feels like my entire life. I’m heading to the age of 50 in a couple short years and I’m asking myself, “Why now? You’ve been you, the way you are right now all your life. Why are you still trying?”
Over the years, my reasons have changed. In my teens and 20s I just wanted to look and feel beautiful. My 30s, I was a new mother and wanted to keep up with my growing babies, and not be the overweight mom. In my 40s it became about my health. I want to be a healthy Gramma, and not have my kids babysit me while growing their own families.
I’ve learned dieting – as the weight loss world knows it – is not the answer. Don’t get me wrong, in order to lose weight, I have to change the way I eat. Eat less, move more is usually the way it works, but there’s more to it than that. When I was in my 20s it was starting to be advertised as it’s a lifestyle change. It is! A lifestyle change. Not just in the diet I eat and the exercise I do, but in how I love and respect my own body.
It’s about how I love myself. That to me sounded so selfish the first few times I heard it. I soon learned, that doesn’t mean only take what I want, being on my own when I want to be, no matter who gets left out in the cold. It just means treat myself the way I treat anyone else I love, with love and respect.
I taught my kids to eat healthy when they were toddlers, now as teenagers and young adults, their eating habits are more like mine: eat what I want, when I want it. I’ve always joked, “I should eat to live, but I’d rather live to eat.” I need to change this way of thinking. Food is my fuel to keep my body working. I eat for enjoyment more than to get it running!
I am currently working on small goals to get on the right track, these are:
- I will drink 4–6 glasses of water daily, more if possible
- I will do 10–20 minutes of movement exercise daily
- I will spend 10–15 minutes reading and/or journaling about self-love
I’m not giving up on this journey, I will learn to love myself, with true love and respect, and I will teach my clients to do the same, not only through my own experiences but what I have learned through my certification course.
