Load Shedding to Self-Love

My Holistic Weight Loss Journey, by Kell Ward

I believe that we should love ourselves more and be more conscious. When you aren’t sure of where your place is in the world and you feel as if you have no idea what to do with your life, it can take you to a very dark place, feeling not good enough. That is the reality many young women face today.

  I have been there myself, where I felt depressed and alone with absolutely no direction on the path I should take. My self-esteem was really low and that encouraged my bad relationship with food, where my negative eating patterns grew and I would emotionally eat and punish my body.

I struggled for a long time trying to figure out my purpose while drowning in self-pity and, because of my eating disorder, I had a bad relationship with food which impacted my health and mind tremendously.

  Growing up I was exposed to holistic health and healthy eating but, because I didn’t love myself, I felt lost and I didn’t understand how to break my negative cycle of eating. I would binge eat on sugary foods, fizzy drinks and fast foods. What changed my life and helped me on my weight loss journey were five foundations.

  Yoga ● Meditation ● Plant-based nutrition ● Fitness ● Mindfulness

 I have tried every fad ‘get skinny quick fix’ on the market but what worked for me was understanding and incorporating holistic health into my life. Those are my biggest weight loss tips. Those five foundations transformed my life tremendously. Yoga helped me mentally and physically because it increased my flexibility, increased my muscle strength, balanced my energy levels and helped to speed up my metabolism, but most importantly helped to clear my mind. I felt aligned with my body and mind.

  Meditation helped me to calm my chaotic mind, helped lower my stress levels and also gave me clarity. Adapting to a plant-based lifestyle helped me gain knowledge on nutrition and made me more aware of what I was putting into my body. Incorporating a plant-based lifestyle also helps with weight loss and keeping that unwanted weight off and lowers your cholesterol levels, which lowers your risk of heart disease. Small changes in our lives create a positive impact and some of my health tips include green juice, which is an easy way to absorb nutrients, increases you energy levels and gives you glowing skin. I sprinkle turmeric in my food, which is fantastic for inflammation; I love adding fresh ginger in my hot water to sip throughout the day; I keep hydrated throughout my busy day, which helps to decrease my sugar cravings and I have a delicious berry power smoothie that I make on some mornings or have after a workout, which helps to make sure my body is replenished and my muscles repair faster.

  I really feel that food is medicine for our bodies. Our bodies are incredible and can heal themselves when treated and nourished properly.

  Fitness was one of the biggest factors for my rapid weight loss because I would do HIIT training, which is high-intensity cardio, which helps to burn calories and increase fitness levels. I started with two sessions a week and moved up to three or four sessions per week. Because of my fitness sessions I became more motivated to eat better and became conscious of what I was putting into my body. My blood sugar levels were balanced, my stress became manageable and I started feeling stronger mentally and physically.

  Mindfulness practices also helped my weight loss because every time I ate a meal, I made sure I was more present in that moment by expressing gratitude to the meal in front of me and becoming more aware of the amount of food I was eating helped me to assess when I was feeling fuller, which made me not want to over-eat. I also began keeping a food journal, which helped me to keep track of what I was eating throughout the day and it made me more aware of what exactly I was consuming. When I have my first session with my clients who are struggling with an eating disorder or weight gain issues, I always suggest that they become more conscious about what they eat in order for any changes to take place. I ask them to write down what they eat and the emotion they feel when they are eating. This is a technique which helped me tremendously on my weight loss journey.

  My mission is to help women of all ages to discover the warrior within, to keep fighting when things get tough, to focus more on creating a healthy and happy lifestyle, breaking bad eating patterns, negative belief systems and giving them the tools they may lack to begin their unique journey of self-awareness, better health, self-love and finding their infinite power. 

 Trade your mind-sets – life is only as good as your mind-flow.
Love your life and never give up!