How to Look Good Dressed!

 These are some paragraphs from my book – “Low fat food for your mind, body and soul” about my choice of clothes and how I felt about the way I looked dressed ( when I was 21 kilos overweight)!

 “I was still overweight (after my pregnancy). But instead of going to find some nice clothes in whatever size I was, I continued wearing my maternity outfits that had elasticized waists (mistake number one). I told myself I would not buy any clothes until I had reached my goal weight. I never noticed when my weight shifted upwards because my clothes expanded with me! I tried several times to go on a weight loss programme but was unable to stick to any of them for more than a month.”

 

“I have always been a sociable person. I love being around my family and friends and although I didn’t verbalise it at the time, I was becoming more and more unsociable. Part of my problem was that I had always taken pride in how I dressed. I dressed for myself and enjoyed feeling good about how I looked. Now I didn’t feel like going out because no matter what I wore I felt that I never looked nice. I eventually went out and bought new clothes in a larger size but I still didn’t feel good about how I looked (I chose the wrong clothes for my shape). Needless to say my confidence and self-esteem were at an all time low.”

 

“I was now 21 kilos heavier and feeling more uncomfortable than ever. I was bursting out of my clothes (I was two sizes larger than when I got married) and I knew that if I didn’t do something about my weight I would soon have to go and buy new clothes that would be three sizes larger than what I used to be. This gave me a huge shock.”

 

“Besides being almost 3 sizes larger, I felt old. I did not recognize the person whose reflection I sometimes caught in a shop window. I felt at least fifteen years older than I was, and it seemed like a hundred years since I had last worn a pair of jeans.”

 

 Clothes wise I made all the wrong choices. I tried to hide my weight by wearing baggy, shapeless, oversized clothes in dark colours which only made me look larger. Looking back I wish I’d had some advice on how to dress for my size – it would have given me a lot more confidence in myself. So for all of you out there who may be struggling with how you look dressed, take some advice from Gok Wan and read my post Tips for Confident Dressing.

 

Finding Balance and Having Fun!

In the same way that you need to find balance when you take into account the food you provide for your body, you also need to find balance in feeding your mind and soul.

Most of you lead busy and stressful lives. You have so many roles to play – spouse, sibling, parent, boss, colleague, friend, child……the list goes on. With each of these roles come many responsibilities and duties which often result in an enormous amount of pressure. As you get busier doing everything for everybody else your own needs take a back seat and you’ll suddenly find that you have no time to do anything for yourself.

It is often in this situation, when you are tired and stressed, that you tend to overeat or make the wrong choices. The result is that your weight increases and your clothes become uncomfortable. Equally important is that because you are eating incorrectly, you become lethargic & suffer from lack of energy. These issues affect your self-esteem and moods and there is no doubt that this has a negative impact on your happiness and that of your family.

So what’s the solution?

Make a date with yourself! Yes you heard me, just as you would schedule an appointment with a friend or colleague, so you need to make an appointment in your diary at least once a week to do something that you enjoy, find relaxing and that is FUN.

What kinds of things you do, depend on what you enjoy. Make a list of 5 things you would do if you had all the time in the world. It may be taking a class, having a massage, painting, dancing, going to gym or even just sitting on a bench and watching the sea. Whatever it is do it and do it now.

Remember when you learn to make time for yourself and do things just because they’re FUN you generally have more energy, feel better about yourself and get even more done! This has a domino effect because when you’re feeling better about yourself, you are usually more focused about what you eat. You’ll find that you make time to shop for healthier food and eat three meals a day. You will also make healthier choices more often.

Pamper yourself you deserve it!

How To Stop Low Self-Esteem Making You Fat

How many times have you tried following a healthy eating programme to lose weight and either put on weight or stayed the same?

Often a healthy eating plan (on its own) is not enough – it is only when we “get our mind right” that we will start to achieve success. Having low self-esteem is just one of many things that can stop you from achieving your weight loss goal.

What exactly is self–esteem? It is the feeling of worth you have about yourself. It has two facets – your self image and your self confidence. Your self-image is your perception of yourself and it can either be accurate or quite misleading. Self confidence on the other hand is your belief in your ability to achieve the things you want to.

Often people have high self esteem in one or more aspects of their lives and are therefore highly successful in those areas of their lives while they may have low self-esteem and therefore do not achieve in other areas of their lives.

The most important factor determining whether you make a success or not is recognizing that you have a poor self image and understanding it are the first steps in correcting it.

So is low self-esteem stopping you from losing weight? Do you believe you can’t? That your age, your hormones or the fact that you’ve always been overweight are the reasons you can’t achieve your goals? Actually it isn’t any of these things it is your belief, your perception of yourself in other words, your low self-esteem in this area of your life that is holding you back. Until you change your thinking, you cannot change your body.

There are a number of tools you can use to improve your self-image, visualization and affirmations are just two. Improving your self image or believing you can lose weight are skills you can acquire. The more you practice them the more you will start believing in yourself. Your perception of yourself will improve and so will your self esteem.

Start with small steps. If you have a lot of weight to lose and you don’t believe you can lose it all let your first goal be losing 2kgs. Find a healthy eating programmed that fits in with your lifestyle and lose 2 kgs. As you achieve the small goals you set for yourself your self confidence and self image will start to improve. Then set a second goal which is to lose 5 kgs. By now people will start noticing a weight loss (they usually notice after 7kgs) and will be paying you compliments. This will also improve your self esteem. You will havebroken the negative cycle of a poor self image.

You can train your unconscious mind to think about things differently.

Try this exercise which can be used as a start to changing the perception you have of yourself about not being able to lose weight.

Start by making a list of all the things you have done successfully, then think of any areas of your life (parenting, career, work within the community, etc. where you have been successful or achieved something that you set out to do. Write down all the characteristics that you currently have, as well as all the skills and knowledge, which you have acquired in an area where you have been successful. Looking at the list, what skills, knowledge and characteristics do you have that you could apply to losing weight?

Now paste the list up somewhere where you can see it and look at it every time you think that you cannot achieve your weight loss goals.

Low self esteem can “only make you fat” if you allow yourself to believe that. If you change your thinking you can change your body. High self esteem has many benefits. It promotes good relationships, a positive outlook and good health. You feel happier and more in control of your life.

A bit about me . . .

I am a Lifestyle Consultant, author, facilitator and motivational speaker. I head up Unique Lifestyle which specializes in holistic weight loss, lifestyle programmes and health products.

Through my business I have helped hundreds of clients solve their weight problems. A few years ago I lost 21 kilos- weight which I had struggled to lose for 9 years. After which I decided to focus my knowledge to inspire and motivate others. I now utilize the skills and tools learnt during my own weightloss journey to help my clients lose weight.

I sincerely believe it is possible to lose weight using holistic methods rather than just dieting alone. I want others to gain insight into the barriers that prevent them from achieving their goals.

Regain your self-esteem, boost your confidence and live the life you want to live, is my mantra to all my clients!