Why I Chose Gentle And Faith Filled Weight Loss (And What that Means)
If you ever felt completely defeated and felt like you had no idea where to go from where you are in your wellness or weight loss journey, I’ve been there too. I had finally had my second child; the pregnancy was really hard mostly because I had gained so much weight things had become such a challenge. After I had my baby, I braced myself and stepped on the scale. When I looked down at the number on the scale I actually flinched at the sight, I was stunned, 225lbs. I’m a short woman, so this was very heavy for my frame.
At first, I had started trying to weight lift and do the calorie counting thing, but if you have ADHD like me, you know how impossible a task that requires remembering is to do. I kept trying and failing, over and over and over again this went on for about 4 months I had barely made any progress. I think the total loss was a grand total of 2 lbs and I had gained it back while I was struggling with ADHD, Postpartum Depression and undiagnosed PCOS and insulin resistance at the time.
I was so tired and burnt out from the whole experience that the things society tells us to do for health and fitness were NOT working for me. It was so discouraging, what was I going to do? I felt doomed to be overweight and in pain. Restricting my food, exercising 5 days a week, shaming myself was not good for my mental wellness or my physical wellness and with all the health issues I was experiencing, it made it worse. Traditional Diet Culture was NOT it for me.
What Gentle Weight Loss Means to Me
The journey to this point now has not been all rainbows and butterflies, I’ve shared in a previous post the things I have gone through to get where I am in my wellness journey today. After years of health complications, discovering allergies that changed everything, I found what works best for me.
When I started to lose the weight again was when I began to prioritize rest and my mental and spiritual well being. This is what gentle weight loss means to me:
- Nourishing my body with whole foods and not restricting it.
- Moving my body for the sake of getting stronger and because it’s good for me, not a punishment
- Honoring my energy levels and my cycle
- Fasting according to my cycle and listening to my body
- Focusing on long term physical wellness and healing trauma, rather than pushing my body for “rapid weight loss”
- Got myself into Therapy and found a church to call home, realizing that it was hard at one point for me to release the weight because the traumas I hadn’t healed from weren’t released.
- Journaling my thoughts, emptying my mind and organizing my thoughts were a game changer.
This has been the most sustainable way for me to stay on track, focusing on rest and whole foods, healing trauma. I have lost close to 40 lbs so far and I have about 40 lbs more to go. The most life altering thing that I am able to do everyday consistently is write in a journal with ADHD and being a mom this is so helpful when I am overstimulated and need to organize my thoughts and slow down. HERE is one of the journals I use to calm and de-clutter my mind. This FREE Calm Your Mind Journal has been very helpful in organizing my thoughts and helping me create a routine for myself in the midst of everything else in my life.
The Role of Faith in My Healing and Weight loss
Getting closer to God in this journey has brought so much peace and love within me. This is the first season of life where I can say and mean that I have respect for myself. True “self love” for me is creating boundaries or guidelines for myself and following through with them. My relationship with Jesus has greatly helped me with that. I understand that others might choose a different path than me, that’s fine. I am here to share my journey and hopefully inspire and encourage others in their healing journeys also.
Getting back into church and becoming closer to God is what helped me keep going, every time I fell I was lifted back up and I am filled with joy and gratitude. God’s grace and word reshaped my approach to everything in my life, especially my wellness. Whenever I was insecure about my body or started to “body check” in the mirror, I would read scripture to counter that. Jeremiah 1:5 “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born, I set you apart”. It has greatly renewed and transformed my mind and how I approach weight loss and wellness for myself.
How ADHD & Autoimmunity Shaped This Path
With all the hardships I have experienced, my nervous system has been set to survival mode. Continuing with the Diet Culture approach would’ve been even more detrimental to my health and wellness journey. Finding a healthy balance of things I enjoy and foods that are good for me and cause the least amount of reaction in my body is my priority. I’ve found ways that help me work with how my brain thinks rather than what works against it. These things all by themselves have created a space for my nervous system to start relaxing more and have healed many triggers that survival mode naturally put within me.
For me, I have an ADHD mind that NEEDS structure or else I am off in Lala Land starring in a musical. In simpler terms, it is a mess, it is failure. I use printables, visual aids, journals and vision boards and hang up my routines to keep me motivated and refocus. My FREE Calm Your Mind Journal is very helpful for organizing my thoughts and goals. If you would like your own Copy of the journal here is the link.
I do include strength training again in my schedule but instead of 4-5 times a week, I do 2-3 times. This has allowed my body to be able to fully recover between strength days. In between those days I choose a movement that I enjoy which is Taekwondo, Rebounding, Pilates or Dancing.
Walking is something I do every day, and I don’t aim for 10k steps a day, I aim for 5k steps a day. I do this for focus purposes 5,000 steps a day is A LOT less intimidating or overwhelming than 10,000 steps. When I focus and hit that goal of 5,000 steps early in the day, I usually end up collecting about 3,000 or so more after just doing daily tasks like cleaning and playing with my children. Finding what works best for you and your body is what is most important.
The Results of my Gentle Wellness Approach So Far
Although I have yet to reach my weight goal, I have had many other small victories along the way that have made the process worth it. I am able to stand for longer periods of time, walk longer, I have way more energy and can keep up with my children AND my clothes fit more comfortably on me. It’s the little victories and my reliance on God that have kept me going. I am so happy and grateful now that I am on the right path to hitting my weight loss and wellness goals.
What I Hope For You
My first hope for you, is that you will be gentle with yourself. Making ourselves feel bad and shaming ourselves in the mirror or for eating our favorite food is an easy trap to fall into. But don’t you know, you’re a miracle? I truly mean that, it’s a miracle that earth exists and it’s a miracle that we all exist here together at the same time. We are all beautiful, it is what makes us unique and sets us apart from one another that is so special.
Give yourself grace when everything becomes overwhelming and discouraging. It’s important to do things that are good for us as individuals as opposed to what others do for themselves. Everything I have mentioned in this post is what works for me and has supported my journey. I encourage you to find what works for you. Let your light shine and flutter your wings, Butterfly.
What’s Next
In future posts I will be talking more in depth about the top 5 tools that I’ve used and have supported my weight loss journey. I have mentioned some in this post and previous ones. But there are some I haven’t shared that are so much fun and that have been so good for my mental and physical well being.
I hope you continue to follow my journey and see what’s next! Here is a Free Calming Your Mind Journal that is a great way to support yourself in making a routine and organizing your goals, you will also be asked to subscribe to my email list. Where I will continue to share encouragement and resources that I use to support my journey that might also work for you!
Flutter on,
Riah Brea
The Green Kaleidoscope
Disclaimer:
The content shared in this blog post is based on my personal experiences, opinions, and journey. I am not a licensed therapist, medical professional, or certified expert. The information provided is not intended to replace professional advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Please consult a qualified healthcare provider or mental health professional for support tailored to your individual needs.