Hey there. I want to talk about something that quietly shapes a lot of our choices. I call it the web of approval. It is that invisible pressure that makes you second guess yourself because you are worried about what someone else might think.
Read MoreHey there. I think about time a lot more now than I did when I was younger. I am in my forties, and it feels like the years move faster every time I blink. I have good memories. I hope I still have a lot of good life ahead of me. But I also see clearly that you do not get time back.
Read MoreHey there. I want you to think about the story you are telling yourself in your own head. Not the story you tell other people. The one that plays quietly when you wake up, when you look in the mirror, when you get dressed, when you think about your goals, when you decide what you will or will not do today.
Read MoreHey there. I want you to think about how much time and energy you have spent picking yourself apart.
How many mornings have you stood in front of the mirror, scanning for what is wrong, what needs fixing, what still is not good enough?
Read MoreHey there. If you are holding on to resentment, I want you to pause for a moment and ask yourself a hard question. What is that resentment giving you?
Read MoreHey there. If you have been on a weight loss journey for a couple of years or more, you probably know this feeling. You set a plan. You get excited. You promise yourself this time will be different. Then a few weeks later, maybe even a few days later, you feel like you already messed it up.
Read MoreHey there. For a long time, I believed there had to be one right way to do fitness and weight loss. One right plan. One right diet. One right workout style. If I could just find the perfect system and follow it closely enough, everything would finally click.
Read MoreHey there. I want you to stop explaining yourself so much.
I see this all the time, and I have done it myself. You share your plans, your goals, or the changes you are trying to make, and when someone questions them, you immediately feel the need to justify every detail. You explain your thinking. You plead your case. You hope they will understand.
Read MoreHey there. I want to nudge you to start keeping promises to yourself.
Not big promises. Not dramatic ones. Small ones that you make every single day, often without even realizing it.
Read MoreHey there. You get to choose where you go from here.
That might sound obvious, but it does not always feel that way when you have been stuck in the same patterns for years. Especially if those patterns are tied to weight loss, body image, or the belief that you need to fix yourself before you can live the life you want.
Read MoreHey there. Where you are right now did not happen by accident.
I know that statement can feel heavy at first, especially if life has dealt you some unfair cards. I am not pretending that everything in your life was chosen. A lot of things were not. There were circumstances, decisions, and situations placed on you that you had no control over. That matters. It deserves to be acknowledged.
Read MoreHey there. Who are you for yourself?
I ask that question a lot, and every time I do, I notice how uncomfortable it makes people. It used to make me uncomfortable too. We are so used to defining ourselves by roles. Parent. Partner. Caregiver. Employee. Boss. Friend. The dependable one. The strong one. The one who keeps everything moving.
Those answers come quickly.
Read MoreHey there. For a long time, I thought taking responsibility meant blaming myself for everything that went wrong. If something felt off in my life, my body, my relationships, or my work, I either beat myself up or pointed the finger somewhere else. Neither one ever helped.
Read MoreHey there. There is a quiet way people lose themselves, and it rarely looks dramatic.
It usually starts with good intentions. You want to help. You want to be supportive. You want to make things easier for the people around you. If you have spent years being the dependable one, the accommodating one, the one who keeps things running, this probably feels familiar.
Read MoreHey there. There is a moment that shows up when you start doing things differently. It might be changing how you eat after years of dieting. It might be lifting weights in a way that finally feels supportive instead of punishing. It might be stepping away from extremes and deciding you want something calmer and more sustainable. That moment often comes with confusion from other people.
Read MoreHey there. There is a moment that shows up any time you start something new or return to something after time away. It feels awkward. Unsteady. Almost like you do not belong. Most people label that feeling as imposter syndrome and immediately assume it means something is wrong.
Read MoreHey there. For a long time, I thought having a solid plan meant having control. If I could map things out clearly enough, stick to the plan, and follow it step by step, everything would work out exactly the way it was supposed to. That belief showed up everywhere in my life, especially in fitness and weight loss.
Read MoreHey there. I want to ask you a simple question. What are you avoiding?
I am not asking this in a dramatic way. I am asking it because the thing you keep pushing aside is not neutral. It is quietly taking up space in your head. It shows up in your thoughts when things get quiet. It shows up in your energy. It shows up in the way you make decisions, even when you pretend it is not there.
Read MoreHey there. For a long time, I thought there was something wrong with me. I had interests, goals, and ambitions that did not line up with what most people around me seemed to want. In fitness, in work, and in life, I constantly felt like I was trying to squeeze myself into a version that made other people more comfortable.
Read MoreHey there. For a long time, I believed that fitness and weight loss were mostly about doing the right things. Eat better. Exercise more. Stay consistent. If I could just line up the habits, the results would eventually take care of themselves.
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