Showing posts with label body image. Show all posts
Showing posts with label body image. Show all posts

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Weight Loss and Happiness


What Makes YOU Happy?

When I was 250+ pounds, I was very depressed. I thought "if only I weighed 150...I'd be happy like everyone else." It took a lot of hard work but I reached 150. 143 was the lowest my weight got, and I didn't stay there very long.

I've previously mentioned that I put on about 15 pounds this year. In a few weeks I'm going to go back to weighing myself once a month again. While I was losing weight, I weighed myself twice a week. It was a good thing to keep me in check and when I lost weight it made me happy! Seeing a 2, 3, 8 pounds loss made me ELATED! On the flip-side, seeing no loss --or worse--a gain, I'd be depressed and beat myself up for what I ate. I didn't take into account that I was a woman and certain times of the month we can gain around 5 pounds due to PMS, bloat and water retention.

The reason behind weighing myself only once a month is because I don't want to get obsessed with the scale. I went through a phase where was I was. It's an easy trap to fall into but it's not healthy.

The hard part is learning to love your body no matter what weight you are at. Find joy in losing 5 pounds, being able to walk a flight of stairs without panting, running a mile. I struggle with this every single day. I have good days and bad days. I'm not worried about being "heavy". I'm athletic and will never be "skinny."

If you're having a bad day about how you feel about your body, take a few minutes to look up pictures of professional athletes. They are NOT skinny (well, maybe the marathon runners). My favorites are Michael Phelps and Serena Williams. Serena Williams is a massive woman. Have you ever seen her THIGHS? Dang! But you know what, she's healthy!

It's a hard thing to accept sometimes. Athletes aren't skinny. You need food as fuel. Simple, right? Then why am I so hungry all the time?!