Hi Everyone,
Today I am featuring my first ever guest post on the blog. It is a very open, honest and real life story which is inspiring and motivating. A lot of us can relate to this so I think you will enjoy reading it. Check out Anita’s blog if you get a chance!
Guest post by Anita Chitnis from Unstick Your Life Now
As I scroll through Instagram I watch all these people get their lives together. People are losing weight left and right as I sit here with rolls on my body. I have been ashamed my whole life and will continue to be ashamed for the rest of my life. “My body will never look bikini ready,” I tell myself. I had been one of the many who had engaged in yo-yo dieting and diet fads in order to lose weight. I had been someone to say I wanted to lose 10 pounds for an upcoming relatives’ wedding and then proceeded to gain 15 after the wedding was over. In the past I had lost weight, sometimes up to 20 pounds at a time but it never lasted. I was unmotivated, lazy, and quite honestly, ready to quit hoping for a better future.
I always lacked accountability and once I realized I failed and didn’t meet my incredibly high standards I would fall into a sadness that would haunt me. I would treat myself with a whole sleeve of oreos and wash it down with a soda. I had created a vicious cycle of self destructive behaviors and I desperately wanted to escape.
2017 had begun and as usual for the first two weeks I had convinced myself that this year would be the year I would lose weight. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect since I had failed every year before. I had watched a video of this woman who had the same story as I did. She had failed so many times in the past but this year she was going to try a different method. She was not going to dive right into it, she would not be eating salad everyday, she would not be going to the gym everyday. She simply said that in the month of January she was going to go for a 30 minute walk every morning and have only one teaspoon of sugar in her coffee instead of two. I decided this was my best shot at getting to my goals.
Every single day of January I went for a walk. I put on fast paced music and before I knew the 30 minutes were over. I had never been one to enjoy working out in any sense of the word but I found myself trying to finish longer distances in 30 minutes every few days. I found myself starting to jog even though I would be out of breath after 45 seconds. I bought 5 pound weights and started to look up youtube videos on how to use them. After about a month and a half of doing this I realized I was actually looking forward to working out. To add to this, every day that I was not doing well, the days I cheated, the days I didn’t wish to push myself I forgave myself and wouldn’t be so hard on myself. I was only human after all inevitably there would be days I did not wish to be my best or could not due to circumstance.
Going on further, I decided to do what scared me the most, I joined a gym. I still remember walking in that first time terrified. There were people lifting 300 pounds and I was over here sweating bullets with 5 pound weights. There were people sprinting on treadmills but I couldn’t make it past the first 3 without almost fainting. I decided to swallow my pride and go in anyway. I wanted to wear a crop top outside my house and feel good about it. I wanted to make heads turn and I wanted to be the kind of girl that guys walked up to at a bar and said hi to. I wanted to feel good about what I saw in the mirror and I wanted to not be winded going up one flight of stairs.
I made a schedule and I went to the gym 3 days a week. I started to try out different machines and made sure on the days I was not supposed to go to the gym (according to my schedule) I actually did not go. I had to stick to a schedule and did not want this to turn into a schedule of only going when I felt good. The more I got into working out the more I realized I was starting to achieve more in other parts of my life. I was more willing to go out with friends, I was more focused at work, I was feeling good about myself. There is no doubt that I used to cry at the gym, be sore as hell and want to quite almost daily but I was starting to see results. I stopped seeing the number on the scale drop but I started seeing a difference in the way my clothes fit and I started noticing a was walking taller. I was suddenly ready to go out on a date and make eye contact with people.
I used to think that people who liked to work out had always been that way. The only people I thought liked to work out were athletes or those in the performing arts. I did not comprehend that it was a way to relieve stress, feel more confident and work toward a goal that had only to do with you. I wasn’t afraid to look in the mirror anymore. I wasn’t afraid to speak in front of other people. I was not afraid to take chances. I wasn’t afraid because I believed in myself. I had finally broken the cycle of diet fads and binge eating. That was one of the hardest things I had ever done in my life and if I could break that cycle I felt like I could do anything in the world.
Working out has not only changed the way I look and feel physically but it has also changed the way I go about my day. Like I previously mentioned I was more focused and more likely to take on a challenge. (It didn’t hurt that I also liked looking in the mirror every once in a while too). What I learned was once you start to prove to yourself that you can do something the more you believe in yourself in every part of your life. More importantly be forgiving of yourself on the days you don’t do as well. Once I realized I had broken this cycle of self destructive behavior I started to like myself more!
If you want to read more on confidence building, self reflection and transforming into a true badass be sure to visit my website www.unstickyourlifenow.com and subscribe to my email for tips to implement every day straight to your inbox!
Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
Cya next week x
Check out some at-home fitness tips for people with limited time here
