My body feels like me again!

This time last year, I didn’t feel comfortable in my own skin. I was afraid to step on the scale because the number on it kept increasing every time I put my feet on it.

I thought I was eating healthy. I exercised and hiked. I was even using hypnotherapy techniques I’d learned. Life was going pretty well, but under all those personal victories were some problems; my clothes weren’t fitting, and I was just not feeling like myself.

Going to the doctor’s office always starts off with the (dreaded) weigh-in. Do you take your shoes off? Do you take your jacket off? Do you not look at the number or ask the nurse or assistant not to tell you the number? Do you get on with shoes, jacket, purse, and all and then play it off by saying it must be all that extra weight, and not really you? Geez, it’s a stressor.

I grew up without a scale in the house for most of my young life. My mom didn’t want my sister and me to have an issue with the number, so I did not regularly weigh myself.

This one time, I went to the doctor’s office and got on the scale. The number seemed just a bit too high. Then they took my blood pressure, and it was high, too. It was only because I was freaked out by the number on the scale. They retook my blood pressure at the end of the visit, which was in the expected range.

Last week at my annual wellness exam, I stepped on the scale (no shoes, but left the jacket on), and phew! back in the “me range .” The nurse assistant even asked to confirm my last name, saying my weight was over 20 pounds lighter than last year (cue the happy dance).

I want to point out that my transformation isn’t for anyone else. It’s for me! It’s not about being skinny or meeting anyone else’s expectations. It’s really about feeling like me again.

Last year, I struggled to feel like myself with hot flashes, weight gain, mood swings, and other unwelcome changes. In May of last year, I embarked on a journey of self-discovery and healing. It was so much more than a weight program.

I discovered why the weight was hanging on. I uncovered the “gain” I was getting from keeping on the extra weight. This program is called Dietless Life. It was created by the mentor who taught me a super effective hypnosis called Rapid Transformational Therapy, Marisa Peer.

The weight came off in stages for me. With linguistic shifts, deep understanding, community, and changes in dietary habits, I was amazed at how effortless it was and is. It’s not a magic bullet, a fad diet, or a target weight you strive for. It’s a change in how you feel, think and act.

So many diets focus on changing behaviors without looking at the feelings and thoughts that are driving the behaviors. You may reach your target weight with a diet, but then you yo-yo back to where you were or even higher. It’s unhealthy, and it’s the reason why so many dieters struggle to lose weight after years of yo-yo-ing.

I dropped 25 lbs since last May, and I feel incredible! I feel like myself again. I trust my body again. I understand and recognize my feelings, thoughts, and actions.

Stepping onto the scale is no longer a scary thing. It’s not the end all be all. It’s not about the number; it’s really about feeling like myself again.