I love the success stories, especially the ones where someone says it was so easy. Hearing this always reminds me that sometimes it truly is the most basic of things that can transform us in a new way. The easy part though is what makes me wonder. If it were easy wouldn’t everyone do it? If it worked that well with being easy why do we not have more success stories? Is it truly easy or is this a case-by-case situation?
It never occurred to me there was simpler way to lose weight. Sure there are success stories of people losing weights doing a variety of things and I’ve tried a few of them with varying results. Nothing ever seemed to stick though and soon after I’d be right back where I started or worse off with even more weight to lose. Or my favorite is when I weigh myself religiously week after week and see gains despite working really hard that week at what I eat. As I got older it seemed I wasn’t ever going to lose the weight that was slowly piling on. I’d give up at times feeling defeated for awhile before I’d try again in a vain attempt to find this illusive easy success. I wasn’t looking for quick but rather just hope. Just a sign that something, anything was working and I was at least on the right path.
In May of last year I signed up for a 12 week virtual personal trainer program that my work was offering for free. I don’t know what made me hit the button to sign up as I’ve never been one that loved working out. It however was just the right moment for me to try something, anything once again to try and work on this weight of mine. I was tired of my clothes not fitting and the ones that did feeling snugger each time I got dressed. I was tired of being tired too. With being stuck at home due to COVID, I thought why not.
I diligently followed every single instruction each week with Abby with three exceptions. First, I didn’t take my measurements and I didn’t weigh myself at the beginning of the program. Secondly, I didn’t change my eating. Third, I did take my doTERRA natural supplements consistently. Everything else was the exact same and this was simply an experiment to see if I could make it all 12 weeks. Plus I figured I could just notice if my clothes were fitting better as a sign of progress. It was all just to see if this gave me a kickstart of something I could stick with that would give me a small sign of progress along the way.
None of it was graceful but I got through each workout feeling my muscles tingle and sweat everywhere. I would often find myself laying on the floor afterwards feeling like I was never going to be able to move again. Yet I would move eventually out of thirst usually. The weeks passed and while I never looked forward to the workouts I eventually found I didn’t mind them either. By October, Abby asked if I wanted to expand them from 3 days a week to 5! She said my consistency was positive and while I was still modifying some of the exercises I never gave up. I had made it though the 12 weeks! Well, that wasn’t so bad I remember telling myself so I did sign up for the continuation of the program and increasing my workouts to 5 times a week.
It was after the initial 12 weeks that I finally took my measurements and weighed myself too. The scale had not really moved from what I remembered a few months ago and I had no idea if I lost inches or not. It didn’t matter though. None of the typical markers of success for weight loss were of importance to me by this point. What I felt instead was confidence. I felt stronger from the work I had done and I felt positive about where it could take me. I felt more energy in my day and I didn’t dread as much the days that were now my consecutive workout days. The experiment worked and I considered it successful progress on my health journey.
I believe knowing the numbers are good but too often we feel like if they are not moving steadily we are not accomplishing anything. If we’re not losing 2 pounds a week then are we even really trying right? Maybe I didn’t accomplish anything in that first 12 weeks that on paper would have amounted to much someone would look at and agree I had won the weight game. Yet at the end of it, I agreed I was ready to start working out 5 days a week instead of 3 and I began cleaning up some of my eating. It became more interesting to me the changes I could make a little at a time that would support me in losing weight. I didn’t give up and by far that was the biggest transformation in this experiment that paid off richly.
With the calendar now on January, I continue to work out 4 to 6 times a week with Abby. She continues to add new challenges to my workout list to try. What’s interesting is I don’t often lay on the floor afterwards wondering if I can move anymore. I also don’t dread it. There are days I don’t want to but I’m past the point of finding excuses to skip it. It has become something I know I want to do even if it takes me a bit to warm up and into it. I also still don’t get on the scale much because I know what I’m doing is ultimately going to pay off without me watching it creep along from the lit up numbers my scale presents. Basically, it works.
There are two secrets about weight loss. The first is it is our own journey but when we align with our own convictions of what is possible we start to see nature step in to support us. We see what is already available to help us stay the course, draw from our own energy and rebuild the health that we are seeking. It becomes less about what is going on around us and more of our own personal journey that feels liberating and natural. Through this connection we find the motivation to continue even on the days when temptation is knocking at our door and we dread putting on our sneakers.
The other secret to better health, losing weight and feeling better is as easy as not letting the standards of what success looks like along the way limit our own journey. When we feel courageous enough to try and see where it can take us without expectation of how quickly or easily it happens we begin to see the possible of an impossible situation. We awaken our own curiosity and confidence to forge ahead and numbers to gauge our progress can be seen as more than just slow creeping up and down marks. Part of this weight loss journey is in fact letting go of the expectations and standards we have let become applied to our own being and learning to let our own heart guide us forward.
For information about the natural supplements and natural products I take every day to help on this journey, please visit dragonspitapothecary.com
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