Posting this picture is quite possibly the scariest thing I think I have ever done. But in order to understand the power of The Happiness Breakthrough Health and Fitness Plan that will be launching soon, I need to tell you my story and help you understand where I have come from.
I have battled depression and weight gain since I had my first baby 27 years ago. I have a really stubborn metabolism and even in my 20s when others would “diet” and the weight would fall off, mine would trickle off at best.
I, like so many of you, have tried EVERY diet out there. I have done Keto, Weight Watchers, HCG, Body for Life, Beach Body, Faster Metabolism, should I go on? I think you get the picture. Many of these Diets worked a little, some of them worked well, none of them lasted. Why? Because I hadn’t fixed the root of my problem. My self hatred for my body and my self sabotaging behaviors when hard times hit in my life. I was only committed to the physical results I was looking for, not the actions that would produce my results. So when times got tough, my depression flared, my stress hit the roof, and I wasn’t seeing the results I wanted, I gave up on me. Sometimes it was in small incremental steps, sometimes it was a swan dive off a cliff. But the end result was always gaining the weight back.
I have spent the past almost 3 decades trying to figure out the secret to feeling my best. The secret to having a strong and healthy body. The secret to keeping the weight off and feeling like I was showing up each day as my best self. I have read hundreds of books, adopted philosophies, implemented eating plans, and hired personal trainers, all the while, still having complete breakdowns in my closet every morning. Have you done that? Cried when you looked at your clothes and didn't want to put something on and loathe what you saw in the mirror starting back at you?
It was a terrible downward spiral that started last spring. I had been holding on strong for months and then I think perimenopause came to stay. My emotions became a constant mess of highs and lows; my body changed and my stomach clung to fat like never before. And the worst part was being physically miserable! I started having sharp shooting pains in my shoulders and chest that were reminiscent of a heart attack. In fact so much so that I even rushed to the instacare one day thinking that I must be having heart trouble. All of these symptoms caused my depression to flare out of control and all attempts at holding my physical well being intact were gone.
I'm not sure what that kind of self sabotage looks like for you but for me it went something like this...I ate what I wanted, gave in to my cravings, watched countless hours of Hallmark for months on end, and fed myself lies about how worthless I was and how much I was never going to succeed at feeling my best and looking my best. I literally gave up.
Luckily I have a very loving and incredibly intuitive husband that could see my spiral into the black abyss and never gave up on me. And luckily, I had a shimmer of hope deep inside me that things could be different if I chose something different.
Like the sun rising and melting the snow on a wintery white grave, I woke up one morning and was done. I was done with hating on myself, and done with feeling like the world's biggest couch potato blob. I was tired of watching everyone on tv have a life while I dreamed of having a life. I was tired of starting a new day, crying every morning, dreading the big dramatic morning event. I was ready to give my brain and my body another chance. I was ready to make a promise to myself and not give up on myself like I had done 3 gazillion other times. This time was different. I'm not even sure why my resolve was different, but something had shifted in the core of my consciousness and I was ready to listen.
I started asking Mark questions about fear and the leadership principles that push out fear. I started implementing the lessons in positive psychology that Mark had been teaching me for months and I had pushed away out of fear. I started listening to what God was teaching me about faith; faith in Him and faith in me. It took months of still being miserable but trusting that there was a way if I could just persevere. My health problems didn't change overnight, my pains didn't diminish immediately, but I was now in it for the long haul. I had given my life and my journey over to Him and implemented my new plan with a lot of patience.
However, It took an epiphany about 3 months into my new found momentum in a moment of pure inspiration to realize that I was going about the process wrong and it took a brilliant husband (@thehappinessdude) with a doctorate in positive psychology to help me refocus my efforts and put my brain on a path of success instead of focusing on failure. I had spent the last 27 years committed to the results. When the results didn't come in the timing I had deemed appropriate I would backslide. Why was I focused on the results? Surely they would come if I changed my mindset to being committed to the process that could produce the results!
In that moment I realized that this was true for all of life's challenges and that God had taught me the most profound lesson. If I wanted a healthier body, if I wanted a stronger relationship with God, if I wanted a thriving business, if I wanted_________ (insert anything here) I needed to be committed to the process instead of the results!
So, I committed, and have stayed committed. The story doesn't end there though, I'm still on the journey of health and fitness; but Mark and I realized that out of our hardships with weight loss and depression, we had created a powerful system that addressed the thing that usually makes weight loss unsustainable. Our mindset!
Together with Mark's expert knowledge of changing the mind, and my expert knowledge of how the body works, we created the perfect health plan. One that helps people just like me love ourselves again. One that teaches patience and mercy and trusting in the process. One that takes into account being a busy person with a real life and real situations that are out of our control like birthday parties and business lunches and vacations.
We are getting ready to launch a revolutionary Health and Fitness App!!! One that will give you fitness plans, nutrition and Macro recommendations, and most of all, mindset coaching. Do you want to figure out how to not use food as an emotional crutch? Do you want to trust in yourself again? Do you want to have faith that this time will be different? This is the program that will do that for you!
I'm on a journey. I'm not perfect, and I have inches to lose, but I'm emotionally strong and I have confidence in me again. It's an amazing feeling to believe in myself again. I'm passionate about helping you find that same passion and faith in yourself like I did.
Make sure you sign up for our Healthy Eating Guide for busy women and keep watching because announcements and giveaways will be happening soon!!!
♥ Becky
Comments