I set my alarm this morning and went for a walk for the first time in 2 weeks. I feel fabulous! Why did I ever stop?

I was talking with a friend last night about needing to get back to it and that was the push I needed to start. On my way around the park I took a couple of photos – you know, photographic proof 😉 and as I walked it occurred to me that I really still don’t have many photos of me. I still sensor and delete far too much!

Let’s be honest. Who am I kidding? It’s not like the people I meet can’t see what I look like – I know what I look like  – and I am not saying that in a negative or a positive way. I am who I am, but for so many years somewhere deep in the recesses of my brain I thought that if there were no photos then no one would know how big I was. Seriously!!

So I looked at the photos – thought ‘yuk – but it will improve’ and I am posting them anyway. New promise to myself – I will take more photos of me and not delete all the ones I think are horrible. It’s true, beauty is in the eye of the beholder and to that end I have decided I need/want/will get back to that place where I felt beautiful.

I had a little picture of me up next to my bathroom mirror with the words ‘I am beautiful’ and every time I looked at it I would say those words out loud. At first I was like –‘yeah right!’ but gradually I started to smile and think – maybe – and before long I believed it. It’s amazing what a little self-belief will do – I walked taller, I felt fabulous, I did things I would never have considered before and life was good. Then something happened, I am not even sure what, but I slipped back into old habits and the negative self-talk started.

Well no – more! I will have put the picture back by my mirror – only bigger this time and I have a mantra printed and sitting in front of my desk that I will read often …

I am beautiful!

I am smart!

I love myself!

I am creative!

I am talented!

I can do anything!

I deserve respect!

I take care of me!

I stand up for myself!

I am worthy of affection!

I love to take care of myself!

I am not defined by my weight!

 I am allowed to voice an opinion!

No one has the right to put me down – not even me!

I love the person I am right now!

Sometimes I have to admit I feel a bit vain saying this, especially out loud, but I am a firm believer that the body achieves what the mind believes and so I will say all those things – and often!

Continuing the same theme … last blog I wrote about my goals for the next 12 weeks and showed them to some friends. My awesome friend Kyleanne re-wrote them and it made me look at the whole thing in a different way. I had written them, without realising, as chores. Now I look at it  in an entirely different way. Here is the new version 😀

1. I will be in bed by 9:30am so I will feel fabulous when I wake up and look forward to my walk

2. I brush my teeth at 8pm as I no longer need to eat as I have eaten so many tasty nutritious foods!

3. Eating between snacks/meals – My greater mind will assist me when deciding if eating a ‘temptation’ is taking me closer or further away from my goals – ‘I CAN eat it…BUT I DON’T WANT IT’, ‘ If I’m going to eat it…I will SHUT UP and enjoy it’…. ‘If I’m not going to eat it…I will SHUT up…either way I WILL Shut up!’ :-p

4. I enjoy eating mountain bread as it is not like other breads that act like a sponge – I have the free will to CHOOSE to eat bread….I CAN have it but I don’t WANT it….I love the feeling of feeling satisfied and NOT bloated!

5. I enjoy my walks as soon as I get home from work as it ‘me’ time

6. I don’t even need the alarm anymore I find myself waking up just before it goes off so I can enjoy my early morning walk with Lachlan

7. I am so productive at work that I allow myself 5mins of walking time each hour – the rush of endorphins is exhilarating

8. I meditate several times a day – just one minute is all it takes to relax and take my mind of the many things that are racing around!

9. Each day I write for an hour – it is my favourite time of the day! It is a magical hour in which I can truly express my creative side and allow my thoughts, dreams and hopes to dance around on the paper

10. When I look in the mirror I say the words out loud ‘ I accept myself unconditionally RIGHT NOW’ and TRULY believe it……I can’t stop looking in the mirror and seeing the VIBRANT, confident HOT Momma That I am…J

11. I am SHIRELY and my AWESOMENESS is so strong that others can feel the force…even if I cannot…..I see myself the way the others AWESOME exercise friends do…..I BELIEVE not only in myself…but in my dreams – I believe that MY dreams are REAL

 

Nuff said 😉