It’s been three weeks now since my husband and I had a big heart-to-heart about my weight and I recommitted to my health.  I am so happy to say that I have kept this promise to myself and continue to track in my food journal and be active every day.   While I did weigh myself the other day (and am down 5lbs!), the number on the scale isn’t my primary focus because I am so pleased with the effects it’s had on my mental health and overall well-being.

The biggest result I have noticed so far (after 3 weeks of re-introducing healthier eating and regular activity) is the overall improvement in my mood and level of motivation.

I’ve always known that physical activity has been proven to affect one’s mental health and overall moods, but I had never really paid attention to it before.  Over the course of the last year and half though, as I let my good habits slip, and virtually became a couch potato, I also increasingly suffered from low energy levels, major lack of motivation, and general feelings of tiredness and unhappiness.  At one point, I even suffered from a mild form of depression and had to take a stress leave from my part-time job.

But now, after only three short weeks of recommitting to healthy habits, my moods have changed drastically.  Day-to-day my energy levels are significantly higher which means I get a lot more done (with less effort), and this results in a feeling of accomplishment (which for me, always makes my day feel complete). In addition to this, my overall feelings of happiness and self-confidence have also increased significantly.  Even though I know I still have a long way to go with my weight loss and fitness goals, the feelings of self-pride and satisfaction after every little milestone met, continue to drive my motivation, which leads me closer and closer to meeting these goals.

I don’t know why all of this comes as such a shock to me but I really am having a hard time believing the big results (mentally, emotionally, psychologically) that such little changes have made.  The other part of me continues to question why I waited so long to re-introduce these healthy habits back into my life.  But that doesn’t matter now anyhow. What matters is the change has been made, I am feeling big results, and my motivation continues to be high.  And the most exciting part is that I know as I continue to see results (mentally and physically) my motivation, feelings of self-worth, and overall happiness will only get better. I am so glad I have found myself again 🙂