Week 6 12WBT: Reflecting On My Happiness

Last month I flew down to Sydney for a Bloggers Brunch with Kids Business. It was an incredible opportunity to hear from and chat to some incredibly inpiring women including Anna Gare (Junior MasterChef) and Therese Kerr (KORA Organics and Miranda’s mum).

I was also very honoured to be asked to write a post about my weight loss journey as part of the Kids Business Happiness Inspires Happiness initiative. So I thought Week 6 – halfway through – would be a good time to take a moment to look back at my journey so far and reflect on what I have learned – about weightloss and also about myself.

When I first committed to the 12 week program, I was a little apprehensive (to say the least!). Sure it’s easy to join up, pay your fee, and be given your meal plan, but when Week One started I knew I was in for some serious lifestyle changes. I had gotten in to some very bad habits, and I was just too lazy to shake them. I knew my portion sizes were too big, but I lacked the will and motivation to change them. I felt embrassed by the way I looked, I felt unhealthy on the inside, and I was just so tired all the time. I hated not having the energy to WANT to run around and chase the children as they played in the backyard.

 

Six weeks and 7.3kg later, I feel like I am meeting a new me. Although I am only half way to my goal weight, I feel confident that I will get there. And while the meal plans and the exercise have something to do with it, here’s the thing…. ANYONE can eat well and exercise. It’s simple – so very simple, and yet I struggled with it – in fact I HAVE struggled with it for years. It’s not rocket science – to lose weight you have to burn more calories than you consume.

So why is it so hard??

Over the past 6 weeks, I have slowly noticed a shift in mindset - changing my perceptions of the way I feel about MYSELF! When once I would have rewarded myself by enjoying a block of chocolate while watching telly when the kids are in bed, I now see that I was sabotaging my own happiness. Because it all runs in a cycle – eat chocolate, feel guilty, no confidence, letting the inner victim have a voice sooooo eat chocolate, and it begins again.

Now I realise that my health and my happiness is more important than that block of chocolate. Of course I still have moments when I desperately WANT it, but I am feeling confident enough now to realise that I don’t NEED it. It won’t make me happy, it won’t make me feel better about myself, it won’t give me the energy I need to be fit and active with my children.

And so I make a choice. And I choose happiness. I choose happiness over the chocolate, I choose active over lazy, I choose healthy over unhealthy, I choose LIFE!

I feel so grateful that I have that choice. That I can go to the shops and fill my trolley up with fresh and delicious foods. I feel grateful that we live in a country that has beautiful weather 99% of the time, which encourages us to be fit and active outside.

And the healthier and fitter and happier I become, the less power I give to that block of chocolate. It’s just not worth it anymore.

What motivates me to keep going is the thought that if I feel THIS good now, imagine how I will feel in another 6 weeks!

I’m chasing a dream right now and it’s in my grasp. But for once, I am not focused soley on the destination. Because every day I am relishing the small wins, and I am enjoying the process. I am becoming ME, and that feels AMAZING.

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Kate Says Stuff and I are hosting the 12 Week Bloggers Transformation blog hop every Fitness Friday. It’s wonderful to read about how everyone else is going, and I’d love you to share your story! Just enter your post below and add this gorgeous button to your blog!