Becky's story - ''This isn't a diet, this is my life''

Today we read about Becky's journey as she shares some important mindset shifts.Read along...

My name is Becky Babineau, I am a strong willed, ambitious and determined woman with a challenging and rewarding work life as an entrepreneur and Realtor and this is my weight loss story, my way.

One year ago I joined this amazing group of people who are on a similar journey as I am. I joined shortly after my 30th birthday and whether 30 sounds old or young to you, let me tell you it’s the oldest I’ve ever felt, saying that now at 31. Year after year I felt my weight constantly trending up and health and fitness trending down. I wasn’t showing up as the best version of myself and without a change I didn’t like the future I was setting for myself. I didn’t know what to expect when joining this group, I’ve tried so many diets and plans in my lifetime and was prepared for a similar short term result. I am so pleased with the personal growth I’ve had and learning I’ve done here. This isn’t a diet or fitness challenge with an end date, this is my life. I’m working on building habits and routines that support my goals and my vision for what I want for myself. The community and team offer support and guidance along the way. My engagements with the group and contents waiver at times but it is always there for me when I need and want. Staying with this group for a year was an interesting experience to learn the challenges and opportunities of each season and how you can adapt to make it work for you. I achieved weight loss during the summer when usually every summer I would gain and I maintained my maintained my weight through the holidays which felt like a Christmas miracle !

A few mindset shifts that helped me on my way:

I didn’t set a goal weight

When I started this journey I didn’t know what a realistic goal weight could be and I didn’t want to constantly feel discouraged by how far away I was from a target. Rather, I celebrated the milestone of how far I’ve come. I weighed daily (or most days) and watched for downward trends and tried to stay neutral through the daily fluctuations. There were moments of feeling extra proud for the milestones of 5, 10, 20 lbs but honestly I’m proud of every 1lbs along the way. I recently celebrated 50lbs lost ! I still do not have a set number on the scale as a weight goal. I’m focused on living a lifestyle that supports my goals of happy, healthy and confident life. I exercise daily to have a strong and abled body and eat foods which make me feel good - whatever the weight on the scale is for this lifestyle I’m building is ok with me.

Movement is a privilege

My plan was to move my body everyday for 30 mins. I found activities I liked to do and gave myself the freedom to choose what I wanted to do each day. Some activities I choose are walking, dumbbell work outs at home, spinning, dance classes and recently added swimming and weight training. I genuinely enjoy all of these activities and I am not forcing myself to do any movements which I don’t want to do. On the walking note, I have felt a lot of pressure from step goal challenges in the past and walking outdoors in Canadian winter weather is not it for me, until the warmer months my activities are more indoors, is my choice. Movement is a happy part of my day, 30 minutes feels very easy for me now and I often happily do much more than 30 mins. I am so grateful for my body and its abilities.

Making choices that align with my values

Prioritizing myself and cutting the habit of making excuses is TOUGH ! I’ve really been working on ways to cut out the objections and find solutions . Some tricks I have incorporated are a blocked appointment time in my calendar to be able to attend dance and exercise classes. I prepare food at home to fit my nutritional values, which sometimes means making two different meals or variations for my and my partner.  The social pressure of having an alcohol is still a tough one I am working, sometimes I still chose I want a drink but in most cases I actually don’t so I make non alcoholic options available to me. Every single day is full of choices and I’m working on prioritizing myself and to make the space for me to chose what aligns with my values and the life I want to live.

There are so many tools at YWWL that helped me on my journey. I love hopping on the Live calls with Josee and Alicia, the interactions are great and the messages they share are empowering, motivated and educational. Early in my membership I used the 7 day lifestyle tracker a few times and quickly identified some “ small “ changes I could make in my day to day that supported me in a huge result. The changes I made have now just become my normal, every day lifestyle. I think this is a great tool to go back to multiple times throughout your journey. I’ve connected with Teams by email to work through some specific challenges and found it very helpful and supportive to have someone ready to listen and offer constructive advice. There have been some strong messages and mantras shared that my inner voice has on repeat and it’s changed my mindset more than words can explain. I am so grateful for this journey and the amazing positive impacts it has made on my life.  

What a powerful message!  Thank you so much for sharing your journey with us. WE are all inspired!

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