Are you happy?

 

Forgive me bloggers for I have sinned. I want to start by first apologising for the lack of posts in the last week but my life just got a little hectic so I was trying to rebalance slightly and luckily I think I'm almost there.

I think what's crucial throughout any sort of lifestyle is happiness. As I left the gym yesterday I saw a guy sat outside Tesco's gorging on a family pack of donuts. Now usually I would pity him, but the sheer happiness on his face was too much to cope with.

I guess unfortunately for most of us, we do associate food with happiness. There are very little other things that can give us quick satisfaction like our favourite foods and let's face it - it is often the cheapest way to get a buzz.

Unfortunately though, once the initial rush has happened, when you've taken that big bite of something greasy you've been craving, it is often met with an overwhelming sense of guilt.

I believe making slow but steady progress rather than a quick weight-loss turn around, has allowed my mentalities towards food to change and I have created a long-term lifestyle which means psychologically I never feel as though I am depriving myself. I also happen to enjoy healthy eating and the way certain foods can give you a buzz without the crash you get with instant chocolatey fixes.

After experimenting for the last few years with fad diets, deprivation of food groups and other pathetic attempts at trying to fast-track weight loss, I finally believe I am in control of my eating and my training - fitting both around my lifestyle and therefore eliminating that overwhelming feeling of self-loathing from taking too much on at a time.

The hardest thing to grasp after a big weight loss is the smaller and less noticeable changes. As the weight drops off quickly, people start to notice, compliment and reassure you that what you are doing is working. Now I have lost the weight, I am at the maintaining stage which I believe is much more psychologically straining. I am not seeing huge changes to my size, and I sometimes feel dissatisfied that progress isn't as fast as it was years ago. 

As I've said before, the best thing I ever did was stopping weighing myself. I now focus less on losing weight, and more on losing my insecurities that I can hang on to from time to time.

I am pleased to say I haven't had a downer moment for some time now, I have a clear plan of each day ahead - (yes I'm one of those people!) Planning for me, stops me feeling overwhelmed with fitting training and eating healthily into a busy job and social life to boot.

We're only human, it's impossible to achieve all our goals right away. I am finally accepting the fact I need to spend a majority of my day working to pay bills, and the rest of my free time can be spent enjoying my new lifestyle, body and happier mind.

Truth is, all the hard work, sweat and stresses, they all become pointless if in the end you are unhappy. Do what makes you happy, always, even if that is eating a whole bag of donuts, or having one two many glasses of wine. I have off days, I have treat days, I have days where I feel like a whale and I have days where I think 'you're looking okay today Em.' I am human and I'm not about to deny living healthy can be hard work, but you put in as much effort as you can to achieve, and eventually the results will show.

Right now I have firmly found my happy place, and things look lovely from where I'm at.