This Is What My Weight Loss Journey Taught Me About Mental Health

When you think of weight loss, you’d probably start having various before and after pictures pop up in your head. With my weight loss journey, I wanted to do something different that guaranteed the weight I lost would never come back again. I never used to value mental health as much as I do today. I used to think it was just something that looked good on paper to read about. I didn’t really see the importance of it until I started losing weight.

To me, a healthy mind means not only being aware of your emotions most of the time but also recognizing the type of thoughts you have in your head towards an array of situations, whether it’s pleasant or uncomfortable.

For most of my life, I was always the bigger girl. I would get picked last during gym, running a mile did seem like the impossible dream, and I did have my fair share of constant ridicule about my size from almost anyone who came into contact with me. When I was 18, I was ten pounds close to weighing in at 300 pounds. I started to have breathing problems when it came to something simple as walking, my skin, and my hair were getting worse, and I had no ounce of self-confidence in me whatsoever.

The idea of mental health growing up was something I was never really introduced to. I always thought that if you were thin, you were healthy. As in the Asian culture, the only deciding factor valid to your health was only about how small your body could be. We wouldn’t talk about how we were feeling, what was bothering us, or any self-esteem issues we had.

It wasn’t until the middle of my weight loss journey that I began to realize how the thoughts in your head, whether of hate, doubt, or fear, contributes to the results towards the state of your well being. The mind is a powerful thing because it can either be an asset or a burden in your life.

One of the biggest mental lessons I have learned is the fact that improving your mental health could actually further your success losing weight or leading a healthier lifestyle.

If I was never aware of how to think positive properly, I honestly believe my achievements in regards to health would have not been possible.

From losing weight to maintaining a healthy lifestyle for around two and a half years now and the one thing I do in addition of going to the gym weekly is the fact that I have more rest days than the average fitness advocate because these days are specifically reserved for meditation and self-reflection. That is how I learned how to take care of my mental health because I’ve learned that it is just as important as the work put towards physical health. The amount of effort and discipline is just as much of a challenge to maintain and strive towards. I’ve learned that losing the weight wasn’t enough until I also lost the thoughts that got me to this size in the first place; I learned a new definition of healthy.