A few years ago I saw a meme that really hit home, “I wish I was as fat as I was the first time I thought I was fat”. Until I was 12 years old, I was a skinny kid.  I remember developing curves and starting to think of myself as fat. 

Over the next few years, I stopped listening to my body and jumped on the diet bandwagon.  You know what I mean…you have to enjoy the chips and chocolate bars because the next diet was starting on Monday…then by Tuesday or Wednesday, you’re back to having treats and the diet will start again the next Monday.  And I felt bad about myself because I couldn’t stick to a diet.

Over the years, I joined Diet Centre or Weight Watchers and was successful for awhile.  That felt great while I was “on the program”, but then for whatever reason I would stop and begin to overeat again. Then I would feel even worse because I knew I could do it and couldn’t figure out how to get myself back there.  It was a vicious cycle!  

It’s Not About the Food!

In January 2018, when I was at my highest weight ever, I began a journey with Sara Best that has changed my life.  Since then, I have lost 100 pounds, become more active and gained a “skinny person’s” relationship with food.

Sara taught me that IT’S NOT ABOUT THE FOOD!  It sounds counter-intuitive but shifting the focus from what I was eating to why I was eating was the key to changing my lifestyle.

I used to be so envious of skinny people who could eat whatever they want and stay skinny, but most of them do a few things that I had to learn:

  • I learned to slow down and mindfully enjoy what I eat. This allows me to enjoy a small serving of yummy food without needing seconds or thirds AND to recognize the signs from my body that it is getting full.
  • I identified the many habits I had around food and learned to eat when I was hungry, rather than when I was in my car…or the office…or the kitchen…or really anywhere at all!
  • I learned to get curious about the “why” behind my behaviour, rather than beating myself up.
  • I figured out which foods make me feel good and which make me feel rotten; this has allowed me to make an informed choice when I want to indulge anyway – I LOVE food and definitely want a world with chocolate and salty treats, but I don’t need to eat them all the time and I can mindfully eat a little bit and truly enjoy it, rather than eating until I’m way too full.

Meditation, Journaling and Visualization?

Any other time I lost weight, it was really easy to explain how I did it when people asked; they understand when you say you were on a diet, but tell them that you did meditation, journaling and visualization, and they look at you a little funny!

But that has truly been the secret of my success!  The hard work was learning about ME and what I want my life to look like, which in turn led to changes in how I eat and move.  I now consistently meditate and keep a gratitude journal and I have learned the power of visualization.  In the first year, I would visualize how I would feel when 2 things happened:

Hiking Wilson’s Falls Trail with my family for the first time
  1. There is a beautiful trail near our home that my whole family would hike on a regular basis, but I had never felt confident enough to try it.  I would visualize how it would feel for all of us to hike it together.
  2. My son, Max, was getting married in March 2019, so my second visualization was of us dancing together and I was wearing a “regular-sized” dress.
Dancing with my son at his wedding

Over Christmas 2018 we all hiked the Wilson’s Falls Trail and in March 2019, I danced with my son wearing a dress that made me feel beautiful!  I can’t even describe how good it felt to see my visions come true!

I will never be “model-thin” and my weight has really stabilized over the past 6 months when I would still like to lose 25 more pounds; but the difference this time is that the number on the scale really doesn’t matter that much.  I feel good; I eat whole, nutritious foods MOST of the time and I move every day.  I buy clothes from stores like Joe Fresh and Old Navy; and when they come in, I look at them and think they’re way too small…and then they fit!  The journey has been about getting healthy and that journey will go on forever.  With diets it was always a matter of reaching a certain goal so I could go back to “normal”.  This time, it’s about the journey and there is no finish line; this is my “new normal”.

Sara Best offers a lot of different programming, much of which is free. If you would like more information, please visit her website or request to join her free Facebook group, Conquer the Food Fight.