I should first mention that I have been overweight practically my whole life. Well, probably my whole life, at times, more than others, but nonetheless, self-conscious about 98% of the time. And let me tell ya, hard stuff. It isn't easy never feeling confident in the way you look or truly feeling the D.U.F.F. stuff. Not fun, and nothing against anyone.
For the most part, except for a few bumps in the road medically, this has been my fault.
I'm not going to lie, it gets old, you know, feeling down a lot of the time. It interferes with a lot — the sports you play, the activities that you partake in, the trips you go on, the things you're thinking about all the time. It's not fun to be stuck in your head instead of enjoying the moment because you're worried you might look fat doing something. It's not fun looking through the group photo and while everyone else might be worried about their smile, you cannot see past your size.
It's something I have worked on, getting past my image, and it is something I have gotten so much better about, but just like anything, there are good days and bad days.
Recently, my mom started selling Arbonne. Bless her heart, she finally did something for herself. She is loving it, and I couldn't be more proud of how hard she is working on doing it her best. Well anyways, she did a 30-day challenge back in April, and she saw incredible results. She felt great, slept great, ate great, and looked even better.
The challenge consists of cutting everything toxic from your system and rebooting your metabolism by balancing out the acidic levels in your digestive system. This requires you to cut carbs, caffeine, sugar, dairy, and gluten. Now most people usually say at this point, "So what can you eat?" At which point I explain that I can have any berries, practically anything green, any lean meat, any veggies, and a few vinegars, oils, and nuts. I also get supplements from Arbonne, and am drinking boatloads of water. The program helps you set guidelines and planning tactics, and really helps you to understand that change is in your hands.
It sounds silly, but this has probably been the best thing to ever happen to me. It has been hard, and I have had to sacrifice a lot, but combined with working out regularly, prioritizing sleep, and getting in some me time outside of work, I have truly never felt better.
I haven't measured my progress yet, I am waiting until the end of the thirty days, but 13 days later, I feel more energized than I ever could've with my regular multi-cup-coffee energy. I feel rested, I feel like my skin is glowing, that my eyes aren't as heavy, and that I am much less lethargic.
Shoutout to mom for being my number one cheerleader through all of this, You're the best.
Also, I am not paid to be endorsing this product or service by any means, I'm just a believer in healthy choices (but high-key it's changing my life for the better)