6 Powerful Lessons I Learnt on my Health Journey
My health journey has been a slow process and trust me when I say s-l-o-w! I was that teenager that constantly had colds due to a poor immune system and was always complaining of an upset stomach & digestive issues. I saw countless doctors, did multiple tests but never found any definitive answers. So, I basically gave up! When school ended & I had more freedom to go where I wanted, eat what I wanted and do whatever I wanted, I started to gain quite a bit of excess weight. This resulted in me becoming extremely inactive, eating poorly and feeling absolutely awful about myself. After seeing a few unrecognisable photos, receiving a few nasty comments, dealing with anxiety & feeling so awful about myself, I finally decided I was never going to feel like this again! So, I took action, it’s been a process that I have actually fallen in love with and I wanted to share some key takeaways from journey with you.
Your Health is a Journey
The key word is ‘journey’, your health is a never-ending process that will continue to evolve & transform. This isn’t a hop, skip & jump, there’s no quick fixes. You have to put in the work, and you will be rewarded. This may seem disheartening, everyone wants that magic pill that will solve all problems, but it simply does not exist. Once you realise this, you will conquer all. As cliché as it sounds, it really is a lifestyle change and not a periodic diet. Which brings me to my next point.
Make it Sustainable
You have to make it actually doable. Extreme restriction will never work, calorie counting etc does NOT work & often ends with poor nutritional choices, anxiety surrounding food and potential binging episodes. Instead, once you have accepted that this is a journey, you can start to make small changes day by day, week by week & month by month that support a healthier you.
There needs to be balance & ongoing flexibility. Depriving yourself of that chocolate mud cake at a family birthday is unrealistic, instead enjoy that cake, relish the moment, don’t feel guilty about it, move on and continue making healthier choices. This changed everything for me, once I was no longer obsessing over food, it was just food and I was simply opting for the food that I knew would nourish me and make me feel good, whilst occasionally enjoying myself and having the chocolate.
Goal Setting, Rewards & How These Change
I am a very goal driven person, so this method initially worked for me. When I first started losing weight, I would say to myself okay when I lose another 5kg I will reward myself with a healthy gift (no longer was I rewarding with food), for example buying a new pair of gym leggings. This pushed me to exercise and continue making these healthier swaps. However, as time went on my goals shifted instead of focusing on the number on the scale, I started focusing on how I was feeling. I stopped obsessing and let my health journey naturally take over, just letting it do its thing. This was probably the most empowering part of my health journey. Realising, that the end goal doesn’t exist, this journey is ongoing and is ultimately about how my health reflects how I am feeling.
Accountability
If you’re someone that thrives off accountability, then make it happen! This could be simply telling a friend or family member that you are going to work on you and focus on improving your health. This could be asking that friend to go for a run with you, it could be signing yourself up to a boxing class that you have paid for and feel obliged to go to. Team sports? Even better, no one wants to let down a team. Or maybe it’s seeking professional guidance, if you think this would benefit you, I’m here to help you. For me, I didn’t even know health coaching existed, so instead I told my friends. I had multiple friends that I would regularly do healthy activities with. Instead of going out for a lunch, I would eat a healthy meal at home and then we would go for a walk. I used these interactions as opportunities to be active together. It’s important to note that although accountability is great, definitely don’t depend on others to help you on your health journey, which leads me to being honest with yourself.
Getting Real With Yourself
This made a massive difference is my health journey. I realised that I was depending on others to fix my health, instead of me taking control, I was so scared I would fail and wasn’t strong enough to follow through, that I would blame my lack of progress on others. SO, get REAL with yourself. What’s holding you back? Are you depending on others? STOP. Ok, how can you depend on yourself more? For me, I used journaling, how was I feeling, what areas do I want to improve and what was going to push me further. It’s important to take a step back and analyse your habits and tendencies as a person. For instance, I realised that if I came home after work and sat down then my workout wasn’t going to get done. So instead, I made sure that as soon as I walked in the door, I got changed into my athletic gear, rolled out my yoga mat and got it done. This may seem like such a minor thing, but once you really get REAL with yourself you can hack your habits and turn your downfalls into endless opportunities and improvements.
Give Yourself Some Self Love
Learn to be proud of where you are on your journey. If you’re just beginning…Yay, go you, so many exciting things are coming! Or maybe, you chose the healthy salad over the burger & fries…Oh your body is going to be feeling so good! You had some chocolate last night…all good, I bet you enjoyed it, you’re doing great & have been fuelling your body so well. You had a set back!? Awesome let’s conquer it, move forward & be stronger than before! Do you see how powerful these mindsets are? Adopt a positive attitude, practice self-love and your journey will flourish.
Remember, to enjoy yourself and practice gratitude. This is your new healthy life, stop obsessing, work on gradual improvements, accept that it will indeed take time, make it balanced and figure out what’s working for you and what’s not. This has been just a snippet of my journey and I will continue to share more & more with you as time goes on. Hell, I’m still on my journey, remember!? It’s never ending, and I am constantly enhancing my health and I love it.
Tell me below, what do you think is holding you back at the moment in your journey?
