March 2004

Ignite your Passion and you will see the difference!

I firmly believe that feelings of apathy and guilt, feeling negative about yourself and the way you look, are a barometer to added weight that just up the scale.

Even if you are on a strict diet and doing daily exercise, the way to increase your body power is as simple as increasing your enthusiasm and passion for life, and increasing your self-esteem and motivation. Waking up with a positive outlook and enjoying your accomplishments as you progress through your day will enhance your body power, and remove that added weight like ice melting on a hot day!

I know it sounds like just more gobblygoop and gibberish... yet it does work,
‘Work’ being the operative word... as it takes work to stay mentally positive and enthusiastic.

Laina a WhyWeight subscriber has found this to be true. She shared her experience about how she discovered that re-igniting a long forgotten dream has been the spark to light the fire of her passion, increasing her weight loss and moving her forward to reaching her dream.

Laina wrote:

Dear Mandy,
I am not really writing this letter to put myself in line to win a CD, but rather to tell you how what you shared about these two lists really resonated with me. 

A little of my story. 
I have been overweight for most of my life, sometimes much more than other times - depending on the diet of the time, but pretty much everything between anorexic at 45kgs and 125kgs. For years I did much work at every level - physical, emotional, mental and spiritual - to try and find out what this weight story was all about. Of course it was an incredible journey of self discovery and sometimes I wonder if that wasn't the reason I kept it around all these years!

Anyway, about 10 years ago I discovered the importance of just accepting myself the way I am - fat or thin, shouldn't matter and I decided to give up dieting for once and for all.  So life went on and I felt relatively happy.

However, every now and then I would notice how really large I was and although it bothered me at some level I thought I had made peace with it.  If people didn't want to accept me the way I am, that was their problem and usually it wasn't other people that were the problem anyway. It was usually what I thought they were thinking that always created the problem.  

So to fast forward to about June last year (2003), when it feels as if I suddenly awakened.  I looked at myself and my life and I decided that I was living a compromised life. I noticed how many things I was not able to do, how much I was missing out on, and how much somewhere deep inside I wished that I could participate in life and not only always be on the sidelines.

All these years I had been in victim mode, only I called it acceptance. 

Why was I willing to live this compromised life?
Why was I willing to accept second best?
Who said I had to?

I decided (and that was the biggie) that if I wanted it different, I could have it.

Why not!

Who was keeping me stuck in this place? 
All of a sudden there were no excuses,
no obstacles,
nothing in the way of getting what I wanted.

The biggest change was that it was a decision I had to make for me. 
I felt a determination I had not felt in years.

I had always thought of myself as a failure when it came to making commitments, couldn't stick with anything for any period of time. I was a start stop person. Great guns for two weeks and then fade out and on and on. Well on that day in June 2003, I decided that the time for change was now. I decided to create a new life for myself and the only person that could make that change was me! I began to walk daily, to watch what I ate, to explore making dormant buried dreams come true.  In short, to live the kind of life I always wished I could have. 

To date I have lost 36kgs (still 28kgs to go) without any diet pills, doctors, weight clubs or anything. My inspiration has come primarily from Leslie Kenton and the rest through pure willingness. I am still walking at least 4-5 times a week, sometimes doing light weight strength training - 9 months and still going, huh?  The biggest change has been that I decided to pursue a long buried dream and finally become the ballet teacher I always wanted to be. (Ever seen a 100+kg ballet dancer/teacher??? - Me neither.) So I did what was necessary and I am now a registered teacher and have opened my own dance school AND I am determined to look the part. At age 45 I am now beginning to live the life I have always dreamed of. 

It all begins with a decision, asking what you really want for your life and then being willing to accept nothing but the very best. Of course there have been difficult moments and I am sure there will still be many challenging times, but the vision I hold for myself is brighter than anything that can stand in the way.  All I have to do is to keep going towards that light!

Mandy, I wish you much success in your life and with your newsletter.  I am sure that many people are touched by you and are enriched by the experience.

Much Love,
Laina

Well, Laina I can’t say I know what it must have been like for you in the last ten years or the last nine months. I can say that your determination, humour and sense of spirit shine through in your words.

What you have written has sparked my passion, helped to add to my dream for what WhyWeight stands for, because WhyWeight represents finding your own solution to your weight issues, finding that deep well of courage to follow your dreams, listening to your heart and your body to achieve the body you deserve.

Thank you for your appreciation and gratitude it does fill my heart and add to my motivation. Thank you for your courage and willingness to share your story and experiences. It is a remarkable story and an incredible accomplishment.

Although you feel you have a way to go with your weight loss and reaching your dream, it’s evident that you are more then half way there and that your determination and enthusiasm will see you through on your incredible journey.

I remember as a young girl age six or seven, and very much a tomboy, having grown up in the wilds of the African bush, that my mother decided I needed to learn some grace, and so sent me off to dance lessons. Ballet and modern dance on Monday and Wednesday, and Tap and contemporary on Tuesday and Thursday.

I was very excited about starting dance classes and although I was a tall girl, head and shoulders above the rest of the class, I was as graceful as an elephant. With mirrored walls all around, my lack of grace soon became evident to me. After just a few months I bailed out of dance classes and enrolled in Karate lessons, which although less then graceful did add to my confidence. *Grin*!

I just know you are going to be an absolutely fabulous dance teacher, and your lessons will have depth because of your experiences and your depth of character and spirit. Your story healed a sore spot in my heart just imaging all those young and less then perfectly shaped girls having fun and enjoying their dance lessons under your caring and loving tutelage.

Pursue your dream with passion, ignite your heart with the fire of love and caring and let your light shine as a bright example to those dance students who I know already love you...... and that extra 28 kg’s will fade as if they were never there.

Laina, I wish you the courage to continue pursuing your dream, the strength and motivation to reach your goal weight, the confidence to dance, the joy to laugh wildly, the heart to love deeply and the spirit to embrace all the beauty in life.

Love, Light and Laughter to You and Yours.
To your best

Mands

You can submit you own experiences to be published by sending your story to
[ Mands ] with the subject line “Reach Out”, please include whether you would like your name and/or contact details (email & website address with active links) published with your story, or whether you would like to use just your first name, pseudonym or an alias.