I had gotten caught up in the trap that so many others in their late 20s-mid 30s seems to find themselves in....work/commute/mortgage/kids/never have time for yourself. Having been a former college scholarship swimmer, I felt that I had let myself down in the most significant of ways. See, I knew how to work out. I knew how to eat correctly. I had spent years and years making sure that I ate foods that gave me energy. I had spent countless hours in a pool and in a weight room fine-tuning myself for better performance. I cross trained, I avoided injury, I was an athlete. And, then that Christmas, I looked at myself with disgust. I could barely see a shadow of the person I once knew. Enough was enough.
Do you wait until a doctor has a stern talk with you? Do you wait until your heart palpations and heartburn have gotten so severe that you take antacids following each meal? Do you walk into a boutique full of cute clothing and find that you cannot fit into a single pair of pants? Do you avoid the park because you don't have enough energy, instead telling your children to play XBox at home? Do you attempt a weight loss surgery, diet pills, or any other artificial means of putting a bandaid on a gaping wound?
Here's the thing...if you look at junk food right now and know that you cannot go a month, a week, a day without stopping in the drive-thru or breaking out the bag of potato chips, then you've got a problem. You're addicted. If you cannot find the time to maintain a consistent rigorous exercise schedule for longer than a few months, then there's a problem. If you blame your genetics without taking into effect the environmental factors of your health, then it's time to do some serious self examination.
The traditional way of weight loss is about deprivation, will power, and self control. If that didn't work before, then why would it work now? The traditional way of dieting is about having the strength to avoid all of the bad stuff. Nobody is that strong. That is a road that leads to shame, beating ourselves up, and feeling like we've once again failed ourselves.
Try a different approach.
Your body is a holy being. It was created clean and whole. It has needs, it has a pH balance, it is most precious. It yearns for deep, natural sleep and quality nutrition. Years of polluting this beautiful gift of a body causes fatigue, muddy skin, irratibility, weight gain, and ultimately disease.
Pills and surgery don't address the underlying problems, which are still manifested and resurface. The road to health is paved with self reflection, patience, balance, priority, and learning how to turn off all of the noise around us so that we can learn to listen to our body and respond appropriately. We must change the psychology that is inside of our heads and our hearts in order to change. It is a gentle, kind, loving approach that is not at all about shame.
This Christmas, give yourself the gift that nobody else can give you - more energy, better sleep, more years on your life and a better cholesterol reading. Let's slim your waistline down and rewrite your story. I'm not a psychologist. I'm not a nutritionist. But, I can help you in your journey.
It doesn't happen overnight. But, it does happen.