By *Disclosure: I only recommend products I would use myself and all opinions expressed here are our own. This post may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission.
Why am I focusing on wellness instead of weight loss? Let me give you a little back story. After quitting smoking several years ago, I added on some extra pounds. Like 50 of them. It didn't help that I was sitting all day working from home. I was not motivated to really do much of anything other than what was absolutely necessary. Not realizing at that time I was suffering from depression.
Over the years I have tried many times to lose the weight. Trying many different diets and fitness programs. Many of them worked very well. The Keto diet was great for helping me lose almost 30 pounds. However, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer and had to undergo surgery I stopped Keto.
And as expected some of the weight came back. Not all of it but some. I am now on a mission to lose the 30 pounds left that I want to drop. But I have been reluctant to jump right back onto the keto deep end again. I have been dipping my toe into the pool but not taking the plunge.
What is stopping me???
I spent several days trying to figure out why I wasn't just diving right back in since it was so successful for me last time. After a bit I realized that while the keto diet worked and I really didn't mind it…my weight loss wasn't the biggest thing I wanted to focus on. Wellness was.
It would be great if I lost the weight but would it help me feel better all around? The answer was no. Wellness was something that I needed to start focusing on. Because wellness is something that helps you feel better all around. Not just losing weight but feeling good inside and out. Weight loss alone wasn't going to achieve that for me.
Don't get me wrong it is definitely part of it – but it isn't all there is for me. After spending a year recovering from surgery after surgery I needed more for myself. I realized that there was a bigger need than just fitting into a smaller pair of jeans. I wanted to feel more content. To feel like I was paying attention to my wellbeing not just the numbers on a scale.
So I decided that I needed a more wholistic approach to my wellness. Not only would I be feeding myself more healthy foods I would also feed my soul. I know that sounds really cheesy but it is truly what I was lacking. There was this feeling at my core that something was missing for me. I had a small voice that was calling out for more out of my life.
Focusing on Wellness and Wellbeing
Making the decision to focus on wellness made me take a look at the bigger picture of my happiness. It wasn't just looking better that was going to make me happy. I needed to FEEL better all around. Simply changing my diet wouldn't do that. Here are some things that I added to my wellness routine that have had some amazing results for me:
- I added daily meditation to my routine to help my focus and mental state.
- A daily practice of gratitude
- Walking for at least 30 minutes 5 days a week
- Taking daily vitamins – I started using Persona vitamins to help with specific things I was struggling with
- Getting more sleep – going to bed earlier and using sleep meditations to help me fall asleep faster
- Making healthier dietary choices – eating less processed foods and almost no sugar
- Committing random acts of kindness – buying a strangers coffee, giving a $20 to the man on the corner who is down on his luck etc.
- Donating my time to local charities
There are so many little things that I have changed to help with my overall wellness. These little things have made me feel better all around. No I may not be losing weight really quickly but that is ok. Slow progress is often lasting progress. I would rather feel good all over and let that help me lose the weight that I need. The best part is that BECAUSE I feel good all around I am not beating myself up about the weight.
What do you think?