A Peek Into My Weight Loss Journey

It had been four months since I had my baby, and I was still sitting at the same weight I had been since the day she was born. Not only that, I was sleeping terribly, my body was always so incredibly sore, my anxiety level was consistently elevated, my brain was very foggy to the point it was hard for me to put sentences together, I was exhausted and out of energy before the day even began, my hair and skin were super dry, and I felt stuck. My weight consumed my thoughts, my self confidence took a hit, I wanted to hide in my clothes, and wanted to hide from the world.  Being overweight is a struggle because it's not something you can hide and no one will know about. You literally wear your problems on the outside of you for everyone to judge, or at least that's what it feels like. Honestly, I felt very hopeless because I knew where I wanted to be, and it felt SO far out of reach that it didn't seem attainable. 

It was around that time that my mom had asked me if I wanted to try out a few sessions with a health coach she had heard about from her best friend. I didn't even think twice and jumped right in, hoping that this would be the push I was needing to get to work. To make a long story short: It was! 

Here's just a little breakdown of the things I learned over the past 8 months.

1. The first thing my health coach had me do is think through who my "ideal Whitney" would be. To rephrase, at the end of our sessions, how would I like to see myself. I said, "I want to be colorful, carefree, less stressed, energetic, and free." I didn't understand it at the time, but this was extremely important. Never once did I say "skinny". The words that I used to describe my ideal self were then how I'd measure how I was doing; the scale no longer carried the same "weight" or burden. My focus was now on how I was FEELING not on what I was weighing.

2. I said goodbye to sugar.  I knew from past experience that I needed to get off sugar and carbs because it was the first thing I'd run to if I was going to binge. Getting "detoxed" from sugar was one of the singular most significant changes I made, and immediately helped to clear my brain, lift my mood, and helped me climb out of the black hole it felt like I had been living in. 

3. Eating healthier doesn't have to be "all or nothing". I have a perfectionistic personality, so If don't quite meet the mark, I have guilt and shame and then want to turn to food to numb the feeling of not exceeding my expectations. This cycle of thinking and behavior was what was keeping me stuck. Perfection isn't attainable, so don't strive for perfection. Just understanding this helped me give myself so much grace and really helped me champion my efforts and be happy with what I HAD done instead of what I HADN'T done. My health coach told me one week, "Whitney, have you noticed that it's maybe your perfectionism that is keeping you from being truly free." 

4. Once I felt that I had a handle on keto for a few months, I switched to intuitive eating. Just like how I knew sugar negatively impacted my body, I began to notice other reactions to different foods. Dairy clogs my sinuses, makes me feel like I constantly have to clear my throat and my skin to look textured. Gluten makes me bloat and makes my joints ache. Corn actually causes my eczema to flair up, and my body to feel achy. I slowly started to remove those from my diet and find replacements. For example, I now put oat milk and coconut milk in my coffee instead of heavy cream. Once I started to listen to my body, I actually noticed a huge drop in my weight, my inflammation lessened, my muscles recovered a lot faster when working out, I slept better, my skin cleared, my mood improved; you name it, it was better. This is a huge motivator for me to this day to continue with eating what my body likes, because in turn, my body and health continued to improve and I felt SO much better.

During my last health coaching session, she asked me, "Do you feel colorful, carefree, stress free, and free?" I knew right away that I did! A physical and mental weight had been lifted, and I no longer felt hopelessly stuck, but joyfully free!