Self-Love during the journey
Loving yourself while losing weight legit can seem so illogical, right? Because it's like, "how can you love yourself when you're trying to change yourself?".You wanting to be healthier and wanting to change your lifestyle all together is the main reason you should acknowledge that self-love as you want better for YOU.
Think of more than just how your dress fits or what you see in the mirror and focus more on your overall well-being.
Kicking off your journey should absolutely inspire you to be more energized, and you should feel 1000% proud of yourself. No one will lose 30lbs overnight, so having the patience and putting in the effort is all the more reason to pat yourself on the back. This is hard work!!
JUST SO YOU KNOW: When you embark on your journey, loving yourself and accepting everything that will come with all of this, you will find that your goals will be more realistic, you will be more understanding of the scale doesn't move as fast as you'd want, and you will be prepared for any stalls that will indeed come throughout your journey.
I struggled with this for a while, so I am speaking first hand. I found some ways that have helped me tremendously in ways you wouldn't even imagine:
Start every day like it's the 1st day, and do not worry about what happened yesterday. Give yourself daily affirmations and allow yourself a fresh start.
Self-acceptance. We are all different, and that's the beauty of this whole thing. Who you are makes you unique, and your journey is about being overall healthy, not someone else's opinion of what you should look like.
Setting achievable goals for yourself. We must go into our journey with realistic expectations and patience. The worst thing you can do is set a goal to be X amount of pounds lighter in 2 months. So what happens when those 2 months are up, and you are 20 pounds shy of that goal? Then you feel like a failure, you are pissed off at the scale, and you go and eat ice cream and sulk in bed. We will not set goals that will take us back to square 1. Try setting goals like trying a new exercise this week, trading regular treats for a healthier one. This respects your limits and protects your emotions.
Understanding the benefits of exercise and what it does to your body overall. Physical activity stimulates chemicals in your brain to elevate your mood. Sometimes finding the joy to workout isn't the easiest, and I will not lie and tell you that I get a kick out of working out all the time. BUT.... having a workout buddy really makes the workouts fun, and it helps motivate for sure. It's something about doing something with friends and holding one another accountable.