You can feel good about yourself without dieting

‘I lost thirty pounds by living consciously’


Like every other girl, my body has not always been my most prized possession. However, my recent commitment to continuously making healthy choices every day has changed that.

In the past I felt as if my body was something I had no control over. I was unable to refine it to my exact liking, and so I gave up time and time again.

I tried every ‘perfect diet fad,’ and every ‘flawless exercise regimen’ – nothing seemed to supply the quick fix I was looking for. This slow process is something that many people struggle to overcome, and because of this, they fall back into their old routines of dieting, binging, and self loathing.

At the end of my freshman year of college, I was at my lowest point in terms of health.

I had gained significant weight (the freshman 15 is real), and I could tell that my body was working overtime. The evening I got home from college for the summer, I made a decision to eat better, workout more, and change my life.

I never thought it would be this hard, but I also never thought I’d be able to change my relationship with my body for the better.

I would be lying if I told you that my desire to lose weight didn’t root from a surface level desire to change my appearance.

Refining our physique is something that we all strive for. Because of this, I quickly realized that if my reason for dieting didn’t come from somewhere else, I wasn’t going to make it far. If it were as easy as wanting to change appearances, we all would have done it.

I decided to begin with celebrating even minor progress every day, and it didn’t take long for me to sense a change in both my body and my mentality. I was more active, because I was fueling my body with the right stuff, and I was happier because I was listening to my body – I was giving it what I needed to perform at its best.

Dieting continues to remind me of how important it is to exist in the present. I take every day at face value, and don’t stress too much about planning for a ‘better,’ future me.

When talking about dieting, you cannot avoid people asking “what is your goal weight?”

An honest answer for me right now is “whatever my body thinks is right for me.” I doesn’t need to be about a number or a size, it is about taking control back – about putting yourself on the right track regardless of what you want a year down the line.

I have lost thirty pounds and I am incredibly proud of myself, but I take more pride in remembering the steps I took to get there.

There is no perfect diet secret. Nobody is keeping the answer from you. Every body is different.

All we can do is try to understand these individual and unique bodies we have been gifted with. It’s pretty cool knowing that you can learn to understand everything that is going on in your body.

You will slowly learn to listen to your body and give it exactly what it needs. I now know exactly when I need to drink more water, and when I need more protein to keep fueling through the day.

This form of ‘dieting,’ also known as listening to your body, is empowering. It is something only you can have control over.

I think about the good I did for my body that time I chose shrimp over pizza at the party. Or that time I took the stairs to my 11th floor apartment. Living consciously and cautiously is invigorating.

I don’t feel the need for cheat days, because progress and change are more rewarding than temporary indulgence.

At this point in my life, I have never felt more empowered. I am driven and motivated to accomplish anything. For the first time in a long time, I am in control.

It’s not about whether or not I hated my body, but about the fact that I can let myself love it now.

Waking up everyday and thinking about what I can do to improve makes me happy.

Look at it this way: even if there is nothing else in this world that you can control, at least there is this one thing.

Take two seconds before every decision to see what’s best for your body and push it little by little. Have a few more sips of water before you go to work for the day. Take the stairs to your apartment next time. (On second thought that one hurts a little.)