She Believed She Could

so she did! But first, she failed 672 times, picked herself up, and nailed in on the 673^rd!

-Kristian Weigman

I have mentioned more than once that I reached an epiphany that if I wanted to feel better about myself, I needed to put in the work. I have had a few acquaintances ask, “But, Kristian, how did you get to that epiphany? How do I achieve that for myself?”

Unfortunately, I don’t have that answer because we each have to turn on our own lightbulbs. However, I can say it requires letting go. Letting go of negativity, self-loathing, and toxic environments. Once you learn that you cannot achieve your goals if you do not believe in yourself, you gain new power.

For me, that belief finally came when I graduated college. I earned my Bachelor of Science with a 3.9 grade point average, all the while trying to improve my health, be a caregiver, errand-runner, homemaker, cook, friend, et al.…

I do not say this to brag but to finally acknowledge my strength. That’s a significant achievement! I deserve to celebrate and be proud of my success, but most importantly, it made me realize how unstoppable I am once I put my mind to something. Once I utter the words, “I am going to make this happen,” you can bet money that I will!

Mindset is Everything

One day everything just clicked. I realized I could keep belittling myself for my body shape, which is not my fault, or I could embrace my body. I stopped comparing myself to other women and started appreciating who I was. Who I am. When I started loving my body, I wanted to take care of it. I do not need to be tiny to be accepted, beautiful, and, most importantly, healthy.

The same goes for you! You do not need to fit into a size two dress, have a perfectly flat stomach, or ballerina’s legs. You do not have to be chiseled, have six-pack abs, or Henry Cavill arms. The truth is even Henry Cavill and ballerinas have flaws.

Once you realize that you are worth the effort and are determined to get whatever you dream of, you have to change your behavior with whatever has stopped you from achieving your dream.

In my case, it was my relationship with food. At my lowest, I turned to food for emotional support. My mother did it, and I saw it and started doing it, too. Fortunately, it turned out to be a motivator because I did not want to be like my mother. Please do not get me wrong, I loved my mom, but she and I did not always see eye to eye. Anyway, I exchanged food for exercise, which actually helps because stress raises cortisol levels, and when cortisol is high, our body needs to move to stay in “fat-burning” mode, but I will get into that in a later post.

When I first started, however, I made a terrible habit of not eating, and I still need to be careful with this. I tend to focus so much on trying to reduce the stress that I do not think about eating, and before I know it, an entire day has passed. This is not always a bad thing. I do intermittent fasting, and I typically do a prolonged fast one day a week, but making a conscious decision to not eat and forgetting to eat are two entirely different things. I am better than I used to be, but I still need to be mindful of it.

When I first started trying to lose weight, I restricted my calories to only 1,000 a day, which is too low, especially since I work out five to six days a week. I cut out most carbohydrates, including fruit, and naturally, I failed because it was so restrictive, it was not feasible to stick to.

Then I started allowing myself to have “cheat days,” but I would binge and hinder the progress from the previous five days. I realized I was looking at food in all the wrong ways. Food can be enjoyable and healthy, junk food is still okay in moderation, and food is not a reward. It is fuel. It is a necessity.

I will break down the science behind the types of food I eat and why in a later post, but I wanted to focus first on changing my relationship with it.

This is an important factor because we cannot expect results with the same behaviors that got us into the situation we want to escape.

Who says salads have to be boring?!

Today’s Questions:

1. What is holding you back?
2. Is there something you cannot forgive yourself for? Why?
3. If you could go back to your younger self and give them one piece of advice, what would you say?

Thank you for hopping on my wellness ride. Keep your hands inside at all times, things are about to get bumpy!

Love and life lessons,

Kristian

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