Lessons learnt from the journey

I HAD to lose myself to find myself. Well, to be exact, almost half of myself. Many people may think it’s superficial to say that my whole life changed when I lost 40kg. But it did. And not just physically, but also psychologically.

I was recently asked to share my experience, so I narrowed my story down to a few valuable lessons learnt over the past two-and-a-half years.

Give yourself permission to pause

In a study by a US-based wellness practitioner, Dr Mariza Snyder, many of her 1 000 women respondents complained about being exhausted all the time, having brain fog and having weight issues.

Forget positive thinking – try truthful thinking

While it’s important to believe in yourself when chasing a goal, it’s equally important to learn to tell the difference between positive and truthful thinking, and how each one may impact your goals.

There is no direct path to success

Don’t expect change to come easily – or quickly – and there’ll be stumbling blocks. Learn to overcome or move around them and, if you fall, you only lose if you stay down. The key to your success will be consistency.

Fuel your own feast

While I do exercise frequently, I don’t believe I would have been able to lose weight and improve my health as dramatically as I have, had I not changed my diet. A major part of this change has involved cutting out convenience foods.

This is a summary of a chapter I contributed to a book. You can read the full chapter, published across a series of blog posts on www. editedeating.co.za