Love Commandment 2: Be Happy with Who You Are | VLCD TFR

Hello February – the month of LOVE!

In her second installment of 10 New You Commandments to Love Your Body, our transformation winner and recent addition to the team – Melissa Gordon – discusses how to be happy with who you are NOW and why this is so important for success in your VLCD TFR Weight Loss Journey : [article below]

Love Commandment 2: Be Happy with Who You Are

“Happiness depends upon ourselves”  Aristotle

Sometimes It can be difficult to be happy with who you are and to really love YOU when you need to significantly change an area of your life such as being overweight.

In our second Love Commandment article I will discuss how to be happy with who you are NOW and in the future, and how this will help you LOVE YOUR BODY!

“Happiness is a Journey, Not a Destination”

It’s easy to fall into waiting to be happy until you achieve that goal that you have set your sights on.  Whether it be getting that promotion, finding your soul mate or losing that extra weight, most of us tend to say to ourselves “I’ll be happy when…”

However, you are wasting weeks / months / years of your life being unhappy until you reach that milestone!

The old adage that “Happiness is a journey, not a destination” has never been more true than in regards to achieving a large weight loss goal.

Don’t wait until you have reached your ultimate goal to feel better about yourself – CELEBRATE some mini-milestones with some pampering, ENJOY even the smallest positive changes to how you look and feel, and FEEL GOOD about each decision you make TODAY that will serve your future self.

Be your Own Best Friend

Would you spend your time with someone who constantly criticized you, made you feel small, harmed you and insulted you?

I’m hoping the answer to that is NO – and if you answered yes then you really need to get some new friends! 😉

To be truly happy with who you are, you need to begin to treat yourself the way that a great friend treats you: with kindness, support, non-judgement, respect and LOVE.
Don’t put yourself last in favour of other people’s demands and each time you hear your own inner critic piping up, ask yourself if what it is saying is what you would tell a dear friend.

OWN IT!

Embracing this statement is something that has changed my life completely and enabled me to escape years of depression: YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR OWN HAPPINESS.

Everything you are, do, experience and feel is a choice.  YOUR choice.

If you blame your unhappiness on somebody – or something – else, then not only does it give you a great excuse not to change things, but it also makes you feel helpless, making things worse.
By not playing the victim, you instantly empower yourself to take charge of your life and will become energised to get about changing things!

CHOOSE for yourself to get to your healthy weight, and realise that the only way you will succeed is through your own actions, reactions, and attitude: YOU CAN DO THIS!

Happiness Habits

We are all guilty of defining ourselves by certain attributes – what age we are, which car we drive, the job we do… and the number on the scales.

BUT it’s important to remember that you are so much more than this!

I would like you to do three things today (and if you would like to share any of these below that would be AWESOME) which will help you to be happy NOW and will keep you positive throughout your weight loss journey:

1) Make a list of your positive traits and the things that are lovable about you NOW. 
Are you kind? Funny? Do you have beautiful eyes or a dazzling smile?

Do you rock at your job?  Are you a Scrabble champion?  Whatever you like about yourself, jot it down and keep it in a place where you can refer to it easily when you aren’t feeling so great, or are struggling.

2) Be grateful TODAY
Sometimes we can get caught up in all of the stresses and strains of every day life, but noting down even the smallest things to be grateful for can really make you feel blessed.  Did your spouse make you a cup of coffee this morning?  Did a friend text you just to catch up because they value and care about you? Write these down and add to them as more things to be grateful for happen to you each day.

3) SMILE
Yup, it’s that simple.
Science has shown that by smiling more, you actually feel happier!

So go on – give me a big ol’ grin 😀

Melissa