I have learnt after a massive fail

Over 12 months ago I started a journey, where I was suddenly eating healthy, and addicted to the gym, I lost 20kg without the advice of a PT or nutrititionist, I just used common sense....ditching the takeaway, sugary and fatty foods, and I didn't actually deny myself of these foods, I just told myself rather than giving into the instant gratification of a sugar hit, I would tell myself I could have what I was craving if I still felt like it later. 95% of the time the craving past. In fact one night I remember watching Jnr Masterchef watching the kids make the most scrumptious looking chocolatey cakes and wanted nothing more than that chocolatey cakey goodness.

I told myself I could have a piece of cake if I went for a walk first. So I got up went for a walk, and on the way home I actually started craving watermelon instead. It was the best damn piece of watermelon I had ever eaten, and no chocolate cake could have given me the satisfaction that watermelon did. I was amazed at how my body started telling me it no longer wanted poisonous and processed foods, but healthy and natural, clean foods!

Where I went wrong....I was so obsessed at the gym, getting really competitive, and LOVED working out. I was addicted to cardio, and not really into weights, which I knew I needed to incorporate, but didn't want this to take away from my cardio and boxing worksouts. So I let people convince me that although it was great I lost 20kg, I needed a PT to help with the rest (I wanted to lose 40kg in total).

I went to a couple of PT's and they had the same approach, and all that I had read indicated what they were doing was what I needed to do for weight loss....however this became too difficult to maintain, as it didn't motivate me or inspire me like my own way had done. I found myself all of a sudden feeling like I was failing as I found it hard to whip up eggs in the morning as opposed to a quick bowl of cereal, which was still better than the banana bread/muffins or even worse - nothing I had in the past! I found I dreaded going to the gym to do these weight heavy workouts. I gradually lost motivation and no longer felt good about the changes I had made. I moved, lost routine and eventually slipped back to old habits.

Only yesterday, did I wake up and the old me had whispered in my ear, today is the day we regain that motivation and love for life, lets get your body healthy again!!

So I am back, eating healthy without limitations, and going to the gym and being active in whatever way I enjoy. After all, if I had of stuck to my way I would have been at weight goal or at least much closer and much healthier as opposed to slipping back.

I am not going to let people get in my head this time about if I really want to lose weight you have to do it this way, because I have already tried my way vs their way and my way won, their way I failed. They were all just being helpful, but you need to stick with what works for you.

I just wanted to share because it is easy to lose motivation, we all can have our massive wins and then massive falls, but we need to trust we know our bodies best, and small steps leads to big changes. I started off cutting out certain foods and then got to a point of eating clean with the exception of cereal, and anything processed including chocolate eventually just tatsted bland and like fat. I want to get back to that state of mind!

Good luck everybody and never give up! No matter how long it takes to get back on the horse!

Narelle xx