Well hello there!

This Guardian is SO happy to finally have some social time! Woohoo! My girlfriend from Scotland has finally arrived and I am no longer Hans Solo. In my last update , I shared how I was starting to feel a little lonely on my single-traveller adventures even though I had spent months yearning for the experience of some alone time.

The Guardian body type (find out your Health Type here) is sensitive to the hormone prolactin which the body secretes during such times as parent-child bonding. It is the nurturing hormone – like when a baby latches on to it’s mother’s breast. Being away from loved ones can be difficult for Guardians whose bodies need a nice balance of prolactin and oxytocin (the social feel-good hormone), and I was definitely feeling a little low.

Since the ph360 Gold Coast Retreat, I had found my food cravings to be under control. But, interestingly, the longer I travelled alone, the stronger my urge grew to revert back to old unhealthy eating habits. I was trying really hard to create new habits around eating and living a healthy lifestyle, but through my exposure to ph360 I can now recognize the stress of not being around loved ones is really starting to affect me. I can see that perhaps this is exacerbating my desire to revert back to familiar ways.

But I have to say, I was very proud of myself just two days before my friend arrived. It was an overcast day and I was feeling a little down. I was alone and feeling a little sorry for myself, so wasn’t really in the mood to venture too far from my pad. All I wanted to do was eat. The desire was so strong, and I was feeling really low. Now, the old Katey would have just given in and gone to eat her emotions to try to make herself feel satisfied. So, I pulled up my bring-it-on panties and said “What would the new Katey do? What would make me feel so good and not guilty in 1 hour?”

And, for the first time in a long time (if ever)….I picked up my iPad, created an upbeat playlist, grabbed my elastic band, and I worked up a sweat by doubling the reps  in my fitness plan I was given at the retreat for the first time.

And I FELT FANTASTIC!

What a shift! What an exercise in em-power-ment (pun intended?)! It felt so amazing to overpower and rewire my brain to crave movement instead of food to feel satisfied. Boy oh boy were those endorphins flowing through my system. Heck yea!

This was a huge moment for me in my weight loss and healthy lifestyle journey – distancing myself from what my mind and ego thinks it wants, to carving out new neural pathways in my brain to lead to new, healthy behaviours.

And in the end I was able to satisfy my need for social connection. I was so proud of myself, I just had to share my achievement and snapped a photo of me sweatin’ it out and shared it out on social media. I wanted to share my win in hopes it could inspire someone else out there to overpower their emotional eating or unhealthy behavioural patterns. I was overcome with joy and gratitude as the notes of encouragement came flooding in. Boom – I received my prolactin hit from nurturing myself with the exercise and an oxytocin hit from connecting on social media.

I love this experience we call life!

Here is a Before and After picture of me – on the far right is me about two months ago; and on the left is me right now. It is SO interesting to see the changes in my body even after only a short amount of time.

Do you have a definitive empowering moment when you overcame mind over matter? Please share so we can all inspire others with our stories.

Take care out there!

#shaelife