One Step At a Time

Every now and then there comes a moment in your life when something that seems ordinary at first, eventually becomes ‘the thing’ that changed you from the inside. It may not be a specific moment, but in the future, you will define periods in your life as before or after this change. It’s happened to me a few times; the latest being August 2018.

Those who know me personally, know that I have been struggling with being over weight for the last 20 years or so. Various attempts at gyms, trainers, diets, etc worked for a short time and then the weight was back. Here’s an unhappy statistic: about 90% of people who lose weight are going to put it all back on. I wasn’t any different.

There were times I didn’t even bother and one day, in June 2018, the weighing scale gave me such a shock, I didn’t know what to do. I was at that stage where I was ready to give up completely because I know that the task ahead was so huge, there was no way I was going to accomplish it.

I had hit rock bottom! But that meant the only direction I could go was up! I had to give it one more shot. 

I chose the easiest form of exercise there is - walking. I told myself I would walk a certain number of steps a day and that’s all I needed to track. I managed to achieve my own goals over 75% of the time and that was fantastic.

Then in August, my sister invited to join a ‘walking challenge’ for 5 days, where the competition was to see who walked the most and at the end of the 5 days, I came in 3rd place.

I found I had walked more than I thought I could and it was really fun, so the next week, I decided to try and do a little more. I managed to touch 15,000 steps rather easily and just seeing those numbers felt so good, that I wanted to do it again and again.

When I started this journey, I didn’t look at the end goal. Honestly it was so far away, the very thought was overwhelming and daunting. Instead I concentrated on the process, in the hopes that I would change bit by bit and become a better version of myself. I refused to think about weight loss and only focused on a life style change.

I started seeing results and getting compliments on what was visible weight loss in just 2 weeks of this mental shift.

At this time, I had one focus - to beat my previous week’s achievements this week. I didn’t need to look at or compare myself with anyone else. Each morning I would remind myself to work a little harder than I did the day before and that’s what I did.

I used the statistics to keep me moving. I concentrated on the numbers and used that to push myself when I was tired. It was literally ‘one step at a time’. Changing your life style and moving out of your comfort zone is hard, but not giving up and sticking to it is even harder.

Then a few months later, a friend said to me - Walking has made you lose weight, but it has done so much more. You seem happier with life itself and you seem to be at peace.

I am really glad someone noticed this and mentioned it. Yes, I started walking to lose weight and bring myself to a better level of fitness, but that’s just part of the story.

The rest of it is about being stronger from within, being honest and kind with myself, respecting myself and very importantly being happy. The fact that it is visible on my face, tells me that the changes I have made in my life have worked very well.

It may sound like a lot, but it really isn’t. All it took was small changes, small choices and a belief that I can do it and will! Yes, the occasional big step is needed, but everything else you are doing, is giving you the strength for that big step!

I am now a happier & stronger person than I have been in years, you can be too..