- Mood Swings
We already know that weight loss rarely follows a straight path, instead it roller-coasters!
I shall approach this one mainly from a female perspective given I am one! There will be days you won’t feel like leaving that bed better yet going to the gym. On some days the alarm snooze will piss you off, you will question why you have to go hard on yourself or willingly pay someone to torture your body …LOL. That time of the month doesn’t make it any easier; from feeling irritable, grumpy or agitated, to cramps, nausea, headaches and back aches. On some occasions you may not even want to look at any warm blooded mammal, worse still hear one tell you to squat lower. You may not have the grace to put up with that chatty or rude guy in the gym- you are like an explosive awaiting the slightest trigger to go off!
Some of these feelings are directly related to frustrations over not meeting your weight loss goals earlier than you had hoped. On some days the weight goes up, some days it goes down and other days, you have no idea what the heck it’s doing! Sometimes, the mood swings are triggered by a poor diet or unhealthy eating habits.
We shall also consider the fact that trying to lose weight often means saying no to emotional eating and yes to (many times painfully) a not-so-tasty or scrumptious meal. It’s no surprise that weight loss mood swings are a thing.
How I wish I could tell you that there is a one size fit all solution for mood swings! We are all wired differently. Personally, on such days, on some occasions I don’t do anything at all. I give myself time to go through the emotions and get back on track after. On other occasions, I surprisingly go harder- I channel all my negative discomfort, emotions and energy into workouts, sweat buckets and usually feel better after.
The support system I highlighted in one of my previous posts can also come in handy on such days.
Am curious to learn how the gentlemen deal with their mood swings, that’s if they ever get any….
- Body Insecurities
We all have them and have experienced them! That specific imperfect spot, corner, extra fat, the one you always double check or tuck in to ensure it’s under good cover each time you get dressed. I mean that one you deeply wish it looked a different kind of way. We all have days we feel or have felt semi-comfortable with how we look, or when we’ve felt that nothing looks right on our bodies.
Many a times, despite starting to lose weight, the voices of self-doubt and body insecurity can be loud, persistent, discouraging, moods-dampening or even destructive to our efforts. We can all resonate with the poisonous self-talk that invades different areas of our lives particularly body shaming. The vitality of self-esteem in achieving life goals, including weight-loss, is immeasurable.
Looking good is one of the biggest motivators for weight loss or body toning . Seeing the results in the mirror, receiving compliments from other people gives many of us the willpower to keep going. Yet, many of us find that weight loss is not the cure-all for our insecurities. It’s possible to lose weight and still feel terrible about oneself. Many of the insecurities we face manifest in our own appearance. But, they are often so deeply rooted that even a significant physical transformation cannot relieve them entirely.
Embarking on your weight loss or fitness journey will even open your eyes to more body insecurities you have perhaps not necessarily been keen to notice before. As much you will start to embrace and love your body on a new dimension, the temptation to want it a certain way, close to perfection becomes real. At first, you may probably have made peace with looking the way you looked, with the thought that change was impossible. This may change when you start getting results; it finally hits you that you actually have a likelihood and power to get that dream body. It’s no brainer that some of the best Hollywood bodies and shapes are built and maintained in the gym. By now you know that it’s possible to build ‘Mitchell Obama’ arms, a J’Lo booty with killer glutes, a perfect waistline and seamless back in the gym. You start getting obsessed, you want a perfect body. The seemingly flawless Instagram models on your timeline won’t let you be– you compare your body to theirs many a times. You even have a particular one “body goals”. You start to feel insecure about yourself. The more imperfections you see each time you look in the mirror, the harder you go on yourself.
Drawing inspiration from another person is healthy but comparison is unhealthy. Heard of ‘comparison is the thief of joy’? Some of the picture perfect Instagram models virtually feasting on your self-confidence are most probably not even real. Could we take a minute to talk about perfecting the art of taking photos from all the right and strategic angles? There is always more to it than what’s presented on your timeline. Truth is we live in an Internet age, where everyone always puts their best foot forward. Before you lose sleep over some random Instagram model, just remember, no one posts their imperfections. I am here to remind you are fearfully and wonderfully made in God’s image.
Aim for progression, not perfection….
“The pursuit of thinness hurts our culture because it instills the idea that the size of one’s body is what makes them valuable, which distracts us from finding and pursuing our true potential in life,” Jenna Doak
Along with weight loss, it is imperative to retrain your brain to look at yourself without placing such heavy importance on your looks. You need to understand being thin does not mean being perfect. It will go a long way to helping you reduce your insecurities, regardless of your BMI. Losing weight is a great start to providing yourself with a physically healthy life, and it might limit certain insecurities for a while. But, if you are not prepared to face yourself and your continued challenges after weight loss, you might see those insecurities are not shed with the extra pounds.