Since I shared over the summer, my fight with diet and health issues (issues meaning body image not so much actual health issues), the past few months have been filled with great moments of transformation in my mind and lifestyle. I finally got to a point where I decided that I was going to accept my body. I was going to stop telling myself lies in my head about how I looked or what I thought of myself based on what the scale said. Thanks to a few health resources, I have learned that working out to eat was not only a depressing lifestyle but also it was no longer doing my body good.
Back in 2008 I lost 45 pounds after gaining a lot of weight in a short period of time. I lost the weight by working out and counting calories and I learned a lot about my health that has shaped many of my habits I practice today. It was in getting to my lowest point that I was able to pick myself up and start over.
The thing is, I am not overweight anymore. I am no longer at a low point but I was allowing myself to live like I was anyways. Those tools I used, though successful, do not work the same way anymore. I do not burn as much anymore (I am getting older!) and I do not need to eat as much anymore. I know better, have a stronger grasp of self discipline, yet I still looked to food for comfort in my life.
This sort of hits the nail on the head:
I have continued over the past few years to put on the same five to ten pounds and then lose them. I was tired of celebrating my body one week and then condemning it the next. I realized that by constantly counting calories and cutting way back on what I was eating was no longer doing me any good.
So for the first time since 2008, I am not counting calories but instead eating clean (and by clean I do not mean all that crazy #cleaneating you see on the internet--it's normal and healthy). I am not working out everyday like I used to but instead working out a couple of days a week and trying to keep active at home. And I am trying to not eat after 7:00 pm (we eat around 6:00 and go to bed at 9:00).
I am reading books, accepting real truth in who I am besides how I look, and am finding freedom to just live my life. It is an incredible feeling to not only come to this realization, but because of it, I am now actually losing weight slowly and naturally.
To read more on this topic, here are some links that have really helped me.
Why Maintaining Your Weight is a Success from Jill Fit Physiques--a response to the above Facebook post.
11 Ways to Feel Less Deprived On Your Healthy Diet from Jill Fit Physiques.
Clare of Peak 313 blog--and her Facebook page is full of daily inspiration.
You can also catch up on what I am reading by following my Healthy Life Pinterest board.
