It didn’t happen overnight that I put on enough pounds to have the numbers 203 show up on the scale and it didn’t happen overnight that I lost 77 of those pounds to now see the numbers of 126 show up on the scale. And where I am at mentally and spiritually didn’t happen overnight either. It has taken 8 years of work, stress, worry, and a health scare to get me to this place now. While people saw the weight I was clearly carrying on the outside, it in no way showed just how much weight I carried on the inside.
When I started on my weight loss journey, I never sought out to work on my mental and spiritual health (I was perfectly fine….nothing to see here 😉) but that is exactly what happened. I was introduced by a friend of mine to a company and a group of amazing people from all over that would lift you up and encourage you. This showed me a new way of seeing life along with myself. While on this journey I was able to drop from 203 lbs. to roughly 176 lbs. At this point I had hit a plateau and life was throwing some heavy things in mine and my family's way so I stopped what I was doing, went into stress/worry mode, and my diet and eating was horrible to say the least.
This led to some health concerns along with an unhealthy weight loss going from 166 lbs. to 144 lbs. in a matter of 6 months (this was not normal or typical for me). I decided to go see a doctor and with my concerns, what I was experiencing, along with the weight loss, his primary concern was cancer. While this was thankfully not the case for me, I know plenty of amazing warriors and families out there that have been affected by this and my heart and prayers are always with them.
If that isn’t a wake up call to change some things in your life, I don’t know what is. Losing the weight was not just a physical weight loss, it was also learning how to lose the emotional weight that I had been carrying for so long. Some of which I am still learning about to this day. I carried so much weight on my shoulders and I was the one who put a lot of it there. Whether it was mine to carry or not, I carried it.
My heart is big, I care deeply, and I truly do want to see others succeed and have happiness in their lives. With all of that being said, this is part of why I carried so much weight in the physical, mental, and spiritual sense. I have had to learn how to hold balance with these things. I had to learn and teach myself what was mine to carry and what was others to carry. This hasn’t been and isn’t always an easy task for me. Especially when it is someone that is very close to me and I love dearly.
By holding myself accountable and do my best to stay balanced is the key to what has brought me to where I am now. Again, it has taken me 8 years of working towards it and taking even the littlest of steps in the right direction. Reminding myself everyday that every single one of those steps no matter how big or small adds up to some really amazing results.
So give yourself grace if you are on this journey. Know you are so worth it and even when you think your steps are so small, remind yourself you are still moving towards what your goals are and it doesn’t happen overnight. Be patient with yourself and celebrate ALL of the things you do that are moving you in a positive way. You’ve Got This!!!
Much Love & Light Always!