Loving myself has kept me on track with eating healthy, exercising and sticking to my healthier lifestyle. Looking better and feeling better about myself has affected my interactions with others resulting in an expanded social circle and increased self-confidence. Increased self-confidence has opened up unlimited career possibilities.
With Valentine?s Day approaching, I thought it was fitting to write on the topic of love. However, I am not talking about romance or your significant other. I am talking about your relationship with yourself and how it affects every aspect of your life.
I have been on a transformative journey, over the last few years, that has brought me to a place of great happiness and contentment.
My life has changed on many levels including weight loss, career change, lifestyle changes, relationship changes and much more. The most noticeable part of my transformation to others has been my weight loss and that is what I get asked about the most. I am proud of this accomplishment, but for me, my transformation involves so much more and each element is dependent on the other. The weight loss has made me feel good, so I am more willing to love myself and take care of myself. Loving myself has kept me on track with eating healthy, exercising and sticking to my healthier lifestyle. Looking better and feeling better about myself has affected my interactions with others resulting in an expanded social circle and increased self-confidence. Increased self-confidence has opened up unlimited career possibilities.
Each part of my transformation really couldn?t have happened without the other.
When people ask me what the key has been to my body transformation and why after lots of failed attempts, it finally stuck, my answer is that I did the internal work to love myself so that the external work was able to happen. My weight loss wasn?t a result of gaining knowledge about healthier food options, or what exercises will best accomplish my weight loss goals. It wasn?t about laziness vs. self-discipline. It wasn?t about hiring the best personal trainers, nutritionists, and other experts although I certainly worked with people who were tops in these areas. But, I had worked with them for quite a while before the changes started to happen. They were doing a great job, but I didn?t love myself, so no amount of help from any of these experts was going to help me.
So when people ask me what was the key to my success, my answer is that I finally loved myself.
Loving myself allowed me to transform the other areas of my life that I wasn?t happy about including my weight. The obvious question that arises is how did I start finally loving myself. This was the challenge. I did it incrementally by taking small steps to nurture my mind, body, and soul. I began meditating and journaling. These were things I refused to commit to in the past. I started telling myself daily affirmations. At first, it seemed silly, but after a while, I noticed they made me feel better. I became much more mindful of my thoughts and would catch myself beating up on myself and put it to a stop. I implemented much-needed boundaries in my life by refusing to allow negative, critical people to spend time with me or affect my feelings about myself. I also started doing regular meal preparations so that I would always have healthy food on hand that was quick and easy to prepare. As all of this was happening, I found it easier and easier to commit to regular trips to the gym so that my body was consistently getting the exercise it needed.
So this Valentines Day, please remember, the most important relationship in your life is the one you have with yourself. Make sure you show yourself some love.
If you would like some coaching on how you can best do this, I would love to hear from you. Contact me here.
