I’m not skinny, I don’t have a perfect body and I don’t live on lettuce. I’m a real woman, who faces real challenges has a body that needs some work and I like food!
Recently people who know me keep asking me what I’m doing and how have I lost so much weight…it feels great but what feels even nicer is sharing and that’s the reason I am writing this post so that others can perhaps gain the same, similar or even better results than I have…
For those who know me, I am big on the concept of challenging yourself to be the best you can be in every aspect of life to create a balanced and harmonious self – mind, body and spirit!
This will be the first of a series of posts as I have not quite finished yet 😉
But for starters I thought I’d give you some background and how I got here.
In my twenties it was easy to just eat anything and everything without having to worry about putting on weight. Friday night movie and chill consisted of a large pizza…to myself of course, a bottle of coke, a large chocolate bar and hey, why not, some butter popcorn and a tub of ice cream…don’t stop there…hot chocolate with cream and chocolate and a brownie to go with it? Bring it on!
Then I entered my thirties, still in pretty good shape so I never really worried about diet, calories or macros or the difference between high and low carb. Food was yummy, I ate it and that was that!
In 2015 things changed, I had just moved to London from half way across the world, started a new job in an industry I knew nothing about, had no friends or social life in this new city, I lost my dad, 5 friends and my dog – so all in all not exactly the BEST year of my life!
I hadn’t realised it at the time, but food had become my best friend and my painkiller, a coping mechanism! Whenever feelings got too difficult to deal with I’d stuff them back down with a brownie. Feeling overwhelmed….a cookie or a few could sort that!
My mind finally caught up with what had happened at Christmas that year when I went home to visit my family and everyone, EVERYONE kept commenting on how much weight I’d gained.
2016 and I realised something had to change and I had to do it myself, the weight was not going to fall off on its own! Not having had much experience with the whole diet thing didn’t exactly help the situation. So I thought I’d consult the know-it-all, Google! Why not, right? As good a place to start as any, I figured. So I’d Google something, try it out for a few weeks, step on the scales, figure out it didn’t work, try something new, step on the scales, it didn’t work, try something else….that went on for quite a while!
Not to be totally ungrateful though, I did lose some weight with my diet experiments, but I still didn’t look like the me I knew, I didn’t feel like the me I knew…I felt like a prisoner in my own body, trapped! What’s worse was that I didn’t know how to shift it. So the search began once more and Google and I had a love hate relationship as more trials ended in minimal results.
I got fed up! I decided to just make peace with the weight and focus on other areas of my life…I started focussing on meeting new people, making new friends, dressing right for this new body type and learning to just surrender the weight loss thing.
I asked the Universe for a solution and just let it go, I knew when the timing was right the solution would present itself. I learnt trust, faith and a lot about life during this time, and about myself too. I really began to appreciate the person I was on the inside, grief changed me but I liked the way I had changed, the loss I felt had given me insights and perspectives I had not known before, my capacity for love, compassion, patience, empathy and understanding had grown. My appreciation for life itself grew. I was stronger emotionally, mentally and spiritually. I had dealt with the loss, hurt and the grief. I’m not saying the hurt has vanished, I still feel it when I think of a loved one that I’ve lost and it really hurts, I just don’t stuff the feelings down with brownies anymore!
2017 began and I made a promise to myself to make it the year I start creating a healthier, happier me on all fronts, work, relationships, mind, body and spirituality.
I love my work, I love being a coach, I love everything that goes with it, the smiles, the tears, the triumphs so I knew I had that sorted!
My work with my grief counsellor helped me feel emotionally like me again and not feeling guilty every time I smiled, laughed or actually enjoyed myself. Relationships were great, I had made amazing friends, I was dating and meeting new people, mentally I was stronger, spiritually too! The only thing that I had still not quite figured out was the body bit but I continued to have faith that the Universe will present the correct solution by grace and in the most perfect way!
In September I returned from a trip to find a new housemate living in our house share! Her positive energy and vibrant self was and still is quite mesmerizing! She ran and trained at the gym religiously and one day, we got to talking, I told her about my weight loss journey and she opened me up to the idea of a personal trainer – the seed was planted!
I thought about it for a while and I figured, when you need something done right you hire an expert right?!
So one day out of the blue she arrived home with some snapshots of the bios of trainers at the gym – she read through them one by one and told me to say stop when I heard something that resonated with me so I asked the universe for a sign and I listened.
I heard one of my Dad’s favourite quotes by Socrates – ‘The secret of change is to focus all your energy, not fighting the old, but on building the new’
This was my sign!
I didn’t hesitate I called the number, booked a consultation and signed on.
It was October, I finally got working on the one area of my life that needed some serious work. About time! I got a personal trainer, I joined the gym and I have a healthier and happier relationship with food now. I eat more now than I’ve ever eaten in any of my ‘diets’ and I lose bodyfat not just on the scales but in centimetres too!
I’m 7 weeks into my training program and 7kg’s down. I’ve lost 2 dress sizes and almost in need of a new wardrobe, my skinny jeans have pockets of air in them and just aren’t skinny anymore and my bodycon dresses don’t hug anymore – they hang! I have a date tonight and I had to go out and buy a new black dress – in a size 10….I had to read the label a few times before it sank in!
I’m nowhere near my goal weight and it’s OK because I know each day that passes I am one step closer by grace and in the most perfect way. I don’t need to think anymore, I don’t Google diets or weight loss, I don’t Google quick, fast weight loss tips or appetite suppressants. My personal trainer does the thinking and the planning for me, Alexis has helped me not just shed the weight and strengthen my body, he’s helped me change my entire mindset, he’s helped me find exactly the foods and exercise that work best for me and he keeps me on track and totally motivated. I’m not going to pretend it’s easy breezy….it’s NOT! But it IS worth it!
Body transformation takes discipline and determination, it’s not something you do half-heartedly and hope for the best. If you want results you have to work your butt off and give 100% no slip ups, no cheating, no excuses, no complaints that it’s too cold to get out of bed at 5am!
Everything in life worth having requires some effort and sacrifice – I’ve still got 5 weeks to go of my body transformation challenge but if the first 7 weeks are anything to judge by, I am certain I will be grinning at the before and after photos!
I’ve been documenting and compiling EVERYTHING in order to help others who are also struggling to achieve great results!
Once my 12 weeks are complete I will be sharing more about my compilation but in the meantime if you have any questions for me or if you would like to get in touch with my trainer and see if he can help you too (he does Skype consults) then do let me know and I’m happy to share his contact details or if you prefer you can connect with Alexis directly via social media – don’t forget to say I sent you! 🙂
Facebook: www.facebook.com/FitandMettle
Instagram: www.instagram.com/fit_and_mettle/
If you would like to connect with me and follow my journey on social media my details are:
Email: nadiajoydating@gmail.com
Website: www.nadiajoydating.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/nadiajoydating
Instagram: @nadiajoydating
Twitter: @nadiajoydating
I look forward to hearing from you!
With Love,
Nadia
xXx
Nadia Joy 