I am supposed to be writing a blog post about health, yet I decided to write this way past my bed time (It’s a little ironic). I’ve been wanting to write a post like this for a long time. In fact, I have about five drafts – all of which are attempts to somehow summarize the point I want to get across about health. For those of you that don’t know, I lost about seventy pounds in the past two years. This weight transition was a lot for me to process, and in all honesty I am still processing it.
I think for a long time, I was motivated to lose the weight because of several external factors. Things in my life felt that as if they were lacking, and I started to look inward for self- acceptance and drive. I began to realize I held a lot of unnecessary negativity towards things in my life I couldn’t change. I was so sick of holding onto this resentment and guilt. Furthermore, I knew that things would never improve if I did not start to make some changes. That was my tipping point: I saw that I needed to make changes and see the good in my life. Frankly, I’m thankful that my choices allowed for a negative situation to become a positive, beautiful one. Because of my bottled up feelings, I discovered the gym.
First and foremost, the gym is my ultimate sanctuary. There have been so many days where I think to myself, Ugh life is a challenge. As soon as I finish up my workout, however, those feelings quickly dissipate. The gym helps keep me grounded. We all need grounding in some way and exercising is where I found mine.
The second thing I started to do was recognize my self-worth. I’d just like to say… If you are putting energy into a one-sided friendship, it can leave you feeling empty at times. Once I recognized my worth as a person, I felt content with myself. I’m not quite sure that sentence made sense, but hopefully the main message is evident. I think it is important to give just out of the goodness of your heart and not expect things in return.
Perhaps I failed to recognize that sooner in my life; that I had one-sided friendships. My problem was that I failed to acknowledge the things in my life I needed/ deserved, and ultimately that is what made me decide to expand my community. Side note: I am not very fond of change. I dislike the concept of change like I dislike brussels sprouts (Sorry for all the brussels sprout lovers out there). The funny thing is that change is inevitable. My biggest struggle was learning how to cope and adapt with change.
My five other drafts all talked about healthy eating, which is important. Yet, I found in my weight loss journey other surprises as well. I found that without a supportive community, it will be hard to accomplish your goals. I realized that in order for me to fully accept myself, I needed to accept the community I deserved. I discovered I was worth more than the original standard I set in my life at the time. I learned that health is a mere universal aspect- that the term “health” is applicable in all aspects of life: physical, mental, spiritual, etc. and that each of these branches are important to maintain in our lives. If one brach is lacking, it’ll be hard to have balance.
Don’t expect a free ride from no one
Don’t hold a grudge or a chip and here’s why
Bitterness keeps you from flyin’
Always stay humble and kind.”-Tim McGraw
These are some thoughts I’ve been trying to type out for sometime now. I know this blog post might not be as interesting as the others, but I felt it was something I wanted to write/ share. I always get questions on how I managed to successfully lose the weight and keep it off. These things I mentioned above made a significant difference in my life. Yes, eating right and exercising are two big things to follow through with. But the question I had to stop and ask myself was, Do I like the life I’m living? I looked deep down and realized that I did not like the place I put myself. (Clearly there are other reasons as to why I gained the weight in the first place.) Everyone is different when it comes to weight loss.
I hope everyone is doing okay. The biggest thing I’ve learned from my weight loss is that life is too short to be anything but happy. If something isn’t going right in your life and you have the opportunity to change it, change it. Our time is limited, so live life the way you want. Sending good vibes to everyone!
-Elizabeth Ekman
Ps. My tonsillectomy recovery has been a little rocky. Yesterday was really bad in terms of lack of energy and health. I was getting sick from my pain medicine, so that was frustrating. Plus, I had to deal with the pain, knowing there wasn’t much I could do for it other than ice my neck. I’m doing somewhat better today, so hopefully my recovery improves from this point on.
elizabethekm.com 
You must be logged in to post a comment.