The big secret for lasting weight loss and long-term health

I figured it out.

I had tried for over 10 years to diet and exercise to lose weight. I had been miserable in my body and to my body; punishing myself at the gym, counting calories and points, but nothing ever helped. And then one day I somehow made the switch and the weight practically fell right off. How did I do it? What changed?

No, for once I’m actually not talking about cutting processed food.

Yes, of course, cutting processed food was absolutely critical in my transformation, and all this time I must admit that I thought that was exactly what I had done, that it was the one and only key to my success. It wasn’t until recently that I realized that there was something more, something deeper that I had done, without even realizing it.

So, what is my secret? 

It’s simple. All those years ago, when I looked in the mirror and was repulsed by what I saw and decided a change had to be made and now, I made the decision to love myself. Yes, I just got all hippie crazy on you, but hear me out!

Let’s talk about the power of love!

For years I treated myself badly. I would punish myself for eating that second brownie by putting in an extra hour at the gym. The inner voice was nonstop sometimes, “Those pants look terrible on you!” “I can’t believe you let yourself get to be so disgusting.” “Can’t you control yourself at all?” “You might as well just eat all the rest of the cookies, too, it’s not like you’re ever going to be able to lose this weight anyway.”

When I made the decision to change, I also slowly kicked this critical voice out of my head and replaced it with a new attitude. Instead of exercising because I had eaten too many cookies the day before, I was now exercising because moving felt good and I deserved the gift of daily movement. I exercised because turning on great music and dancing just feels so incredibly good. I loved my body enough to make it strong, and I was patient with myself in the process.

As I chose to consciously show myself love; instead of punishing myself with tasteless “diet” food, I treated my body to delicious, home-cooked, nourishing, and of course unprocessed foods. I would relish each bite because I deserved it, and in doing so I was satisfied with less. My food was higher quality, lower in quantity. I treated myself to healthy food because I deserved to have lots of energy, to have good moods, and to just plain feel good every single day.

I also showed myself love by pursuing my new passion, by setting my fears aside and enrolling in my amazing school, allowing myself to gain the tools I needed to share my message with the world.

Do you see the difference? How can you do it, too? 

First and foremost, please remember that love is a verb. It doesn’t mean sitting around thinking about how much you love yourself, it means taking actual actions to show yourself love. Exercise and eating healthy food can be a form of showing yourself love, depending on the attitude you have as you perform those actions, just like in my example above.

Another great way to show yourself love is to treat yourself.

How about an evening bath to wind down? Why not buy yourself a beautiful bouquet of flowers? Would you like to spend some time reading a good book or enjoying a new movie? How can you give yourself a little treat today and show yourself love?

Even if you aren’t happy with what you see in the mirror, even if you don’t feel valued or loved, I promise you that there is something incredibly unique and wonderful about you, just the way you are right now.

The ironic thing is that the more you learn to love and accept yourself the way that you are right now, the easier it is to change, to grow and become an even more incredible person.

I want you to start with one loving action right this very moment. Leave me a comment below and tell me one thing that you love about yourself. Even if that something is small, something like, “I really like my shoes today,” that’s a step in the right direction and I want to hear it!

What do you love about yourself, or what is one way you will show yourself love today?