As we close out Mental Health Awareness Month and at the encouragement of my tight circle of loved ones, I want to share.
I began a journey toward health and wellness for me!!! I didn’t intend to become an influencer or inspiration. However, I know that people need to see a model of this kind of success. I’m happy to be an example of how clean eating, fitness training, and an all-around healthy lifestyle can enhance your life. Additionally, I firmly believe that John and I have developed a great program that has helped many and will help many more.
This is all in God’s plan for us. I’m so excited about the process and the future.
And then there are all those old feelings of self-doubt, unworthiness, fear, and failure. These feelings are so paralyzing at times that I decided to be proactive and chase my mental health with the same intensity as my physical health.
I ripped off the bandage and began therapy with an amazing doctor. Together we are peeling back the layers and working toward greater healing. Our work is far from over, I’ll probably be her patient as long as she’s in practice! That said, weekly, I’m discovering new power and new purpose and understanding me and my mental health a lot better.
As we say often, none of this program or our choices are done without research. I’ve been following people who had huge weight loss transformations for years now and reading up on the psychological effects of weight gain, overeating, and weight loss. Initially, I did this as a way to safeguard against gaining the weight I lost back. It’s become so much more.
Being overweight allowed me to sort of escape the triggers of my pre-mom life. And considering I became a mom at 21, let us just say childhood! I always wanted to be the fierce and fine girl that I now only see in pictures, but inside that girl was broken. I built such a great facade over the years that I forgot all of the stuff bubbling deep inside.
In the past 20 years, I’ve been a single mother of two, gained 40 pounds, struggled at times, depressed at times, scared all the time. I mastered procrastination, self-loathing and avoidance. Took loyalty to a fault to a whole new level! I tried and failed at several business ideas. I met and married an amazing man that quite honestly I never felt like I deserved. I had two more children, gained 50 more pounds, started different businesses, tried harder not to fail, learned to hide a mess and show up for pictures, etc, etc, etc.
Now I’m stripping all the icky stuff away with the hopes that soon I’ll replace it with a story of triumph! So this StillFit360 thing for me is something so incredibly special and necessary that I knew it had to go deeper.
In the past 2 years, I’ve lost 95 pounds! I’ve been celebrated, helped others and I celebrate them. I’ve learned that my husband was tailor-made for me and that together we can do amazing ish…! I’m working on being a mother who practices what she preaches and shows up wholly for her children. They see me transforming, that is my gift to them. A gift I’m able to give because God gave it to me. I literally feel like I’ve been given a second chance at life. I refuse to abuse it so I’m working hard to make it all make sense with the help of the StillFit360 program, a trusted doctor, my faith in God, my amazing circle and ME!!!!
So if you are on a health and wellness journey like me, I implore you to tap into your mental health benefits right away! You simply can’t have one without the other!