Tonight marks the start of a very new and exciting group I have created called Naturally Slim. This program is about loosing weight and getting healthy in  a natural life long way.

This is not a diet. This is about healthy eating for life.

I plan to launch this program online in about a months time ( for a pre christmas health boost ) where you can join in and be part of the healthy fun, but today I am running a live one here in bonny Scotland with a small group of 6 wonderful individuals who will begin their road to increasing health.

Setting up this group has been amazing at allowing me to see how far I have come in terms of my mindset and eating healthily! I am living proof that transformation, permanent weight loss and health is possible. Yes I still have insecurities running across my mind that sound like  ‘shouldn’t  I be really skinny if I am running a weight loss program?” or ‘what if I am really fat and no one is telling me that?’  but I am sure I am not alone in my illogical insecurities! Thankfully I have just learned to boot them out my mind and learn to meditate on true things.

Because of my own experience I wanted to do something to support people to lose weight and get healthy for life. Without meal replacements , funny teas or hiring a personal trainer. I wanted to inject a healthy, natural approach to weight loss in our nations obsession with being a size 6/8 and ‘dieting’.
So Naturally Slim was born. 
No dieting, just creating healthy habits for life! I will let you know how our progress goes and how you can be a part of Naturally Slim very soon!

Naturally Slim’s Prelude

What do I know about losing weight? Well, I have been at a healthy weight for over 10 years now after losing an initial 2 stone and although I began with a slimming group I quickly drifted away and created my own way of eating that not only meant I lost weight but dealt with root issues and  healed my body.

My own journey of weight loss started fraught with fear, unhealthy mindsets, binge eating and attempts of bulimia . I was aged 13/14 and had grown to 5ft 6in so pretty much at the end of my growth spurt (5ft8in now) and my 2 stone of puppy fat had not disappeared! Everyone told me it would go away but it very much had not. This is not surprising though as I thought that a bounty chocolate bar was a healthy snack and thought nothing to eating mars bar, popcorn , coke and marshmallows all in one sitting – often after I had eaten a full dinner.

I began a slimming group with my mum as I was clueless of what I was doing wrong but I soon learned that fruit and veg was good, whilst Bounty’s and Mars Bars were not ideal food choices. I lost 2 stone, but that is perhaps where the obsession began. Weighing myself was a daily thing, and I obsessed about every meal. I began to have a mind that focused solely on what had I eaten that day, what had all my friends eaten that day, if people were thinking ‘ohh she shouldn’t eat that as she is so big’ and if there was a toilet within 10 yards of me always!

All driven by the fact that all I really wanted to be was effortlessly skinny.

That was what was in front of me all the time in magazines/media, it was what my friends were like and what was held up to me as being beautiful and acceptable.

Skinny does not run in my family. For some people a petite and very slender figure is very natural, but for my family we are definitely more robust and chunky. Did I just accept this fact – no of course not – I beat myself up for not being the person I wanted to be. I felt it was my fault that I wasn’t a ‘skinny’ woman, that  there was something wrong with me if I couldn’t fit into a size 8 (size 8’s fit round my ankles only), with the crux of it being that I had somehow failed at being beautiful. 

So what now? How did it change? Well I can honestly tell you it is still a journey, most days I wake up at peace with my body and grateful that it moves, breathes and allows me to live a full life, but somedays I feel disappointed with my own skin and bones. But I trust that my body has be made and crafted for a wonderful purpose and that I am the only one who can be me. No one else will rock this body other than me!

So here is one one key bit of advice for weight loss  – transform your  Get Skinny Mindset into a Get Healthy one and here is how:

1. Talk to someone. I chatted to some amazing councilor people who are part of my church and community who helped  me to address  the root issues of my thinking. Speaking out all those  thoughts that you have in your head out loud to someone is so helpful and freeing as it gives you perspective helps you see the lies you can be believing.

2. Be grateful for you body. Learning to accept the skin your in takes time and intentionality. Think about your strengths and make sure you have people around you that tell you encouraging things. Avoid people that call you chubby,big or round (either that or punch them in the face!) Write out 3 things you love about your body – it may sound scary but it will do your mind wonders. 

3. See the difference. Take a day or two and really scrutinize other peoples bodies. You will find that every single one that you see will be different. Some will have big butts some people butts are non existent, so will amazing curves other are straight up and down. Really look and see the beauty and see the flaws.
Beauty is not perfection, beauty is about choosing to behold and accept imperfections. You will realise that  we are all unique, and our uniqueness is to be celebrated.

4. Set your own standards. Why let someone else dictate what your body should look like!! Decide for yourself.
Ignore BMI, body fat, clothes sizes and weight and decide for yourself what you want to look  like.  Your health is a powerful weapon that is in your hands, don’t hand it over to someone else .

5. Ditch the scales. I stopped weighing myself regularly after I realised that whatever the scales said would dictate my day. If I weighed less I was happy if I weighed more I was sad for the whole day.!
How ridiculous that, as a powerful and strong woman I allowed some number to rule my happiness! 
Go on put those scales away and use them only when you need to check how heavy your luggage is. They are great for that….

Stay tuned for more Naturally Slim news…