Like many people, I believed that if I just exercised more, the weight would disappear.
Looking back, that was my biggest mistake.
Whenever I decided to lose weight, I went all in.
I wanted to exercise every day.
Sometimes I pushed myself far too hard because I thought that the more I trained, the faster I would see results.
But there was one problem.
I wasn't paying enough attention to what I was eating.
I wasn't eating terribly, but I also wasn't making the best choices consistently.
I expected exercise to do all the work.
Over time, I realised that it doesn't work that way.
You can't out-train an unhealthy diet.
That was probably the biggest lesson I had to learn.
Exercise is incredibly important.
It makes you stronger.
It improves your fitness.
It helps your mental health.
But if your nutrition doesn't support your goals, progress becomes much harder.
Today, my mindset is completely different.
I'm still working on losing weight, but I'm no longer chasing quick results.
Instead, I'm trying to build a healthier lifestyle that I can actually maintain.
That means making better food choices most of the time instead of trying to be perfect.
It also means exercising because I enjoy it, not because I feel like I have to punish myself for what I ate.
If someone asked me today how to start losing weight, my advice would be very simple.
Just begin.
You don't need an expensive gym membership on your first day.
You don't need fancy equipment.
Start with a walk.
Exercise at home.
Take one small step at a time.
The most important thing is to keep going.
Looking back five years, my life was very different.
I lived on a farm and spent much more time outside.
I had two large dogs, and I walked with them every day.
Without really thinking about it, I was constantly moving.
Today I live in an apartment, and daily life looks different.
I have to make a conscious effort to stay active.
That doesn't make it impossible.
It simply means I have to plan it.
One thing I no longer believe in is perfection.
There will always be days when I eat something unhealthy.
There will be days when I don't feel like exercising.
And that's okay.
One bad meal doesn't ruin your progress.
One missed workout doesn't mean you've failed.
The goal isn't to be perfect.
The goal is to keep going.
If there's one lesson I've learned, it's this:
Losing weight isn't about exercising as much as possible.
It's about creating habits you can live with for years.
Because the best diet isn't the fastest one.
It's the one you can still follow next year.
And that's exactly the journey I'm on today.
Love,
Shavida
