How mum ditched the weight loss focus and changed her entire life for the better
Discover how this busy mum of two ditched the weight loss focus and changed her entire life for the better.
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Melissa Timmer is a mum of 2 beautiful kids, her son is 11 and her daughter is nearly 8. This is her journey from living a weight loss focused existence to stepping back and realising she needed to change her whole focus for her wellbeing sake.
"My whole life I have struggled with my weight and I really took the longest road possible to learn about health and how to manage my weight."
How mum ditched the weight loss focus and changed her entire life for the better
I have tried all the weight loss diets there is to offer and it wasn't until the light bulb switch moment happened that I realised there was no quick fix that was going to get me results, and I would be able to keep those results.
I then started implementing healthy habits that I actually enjoyed, like exercise ( throwing some weights around ), challenging myself on runs here and there, creating a friendly supportive group from my gym to help encourage me but also someone I could have a whinge to when I needed it.
I started experimenting with food and eating meals that were beneficial but also that I enjoyed. I then found this massive passion for this field both exercise and nutrition, so I decided to become qualified, I was successful in completing my qualification in Sports nutrition and gained my CERT IV in NUTRITION.
One thing about me that many don't know is that I have been through some extremely hard times, back when I had my son in 2013, I came home one day to my husband gone, he had packed all his things and walked out on us when my son was about 6 weeks old.
I managed to restart my life again and things were great for a few years, fast forward 2022 my second relationship broke down, although this time it pretty much broke me, I had a lot of build up from the past as a child and as an adult that I just couldn't cope with any more trauma, I was at the lowest of lows.
I was hospitalized due to my own safety, and had to work on myself to become better for me but also for my children. It took so much strength and bravery to talk about the things I had dealt with.
I had to implement strategies to assist with the depression, anxiety and fear I was dealing with on a daily basis. I had to put myself first in a long time because to be able to be a better version of me I knew I had to be a priority, I no longer did things to please other people but I chose to do the things that made me feel comfortable.
Walking was something that worked wonders for me, I would walk 3 times per day, and I used the beach as a tool to clear my head. I would swim after my walks and I would jump in with my clothes on, I had to start living my life for fun and create good memories so that the negative ones wouldn't take room up inside me any more, and it's not that I have forgotten but I learnt to be at acceptance of what had happened so I could move on peacefully and grow from the experiences I had.
I take the time to deal with my emotions and if I'm feeling overwhelmed I know the strategies I have to implement to help deal with that.
This situation has taught me there is so much more to life than being a certain number on the scales or always trying to be thin, I realised life is so short and we have to enjoy each moment as we just don't know what tomorrow will bring.
There is nothing wrong with focusing on your health but there is so many aspects besides the scales that you can put your energy into, imagine if we poured the same amount of energy into being more organised to have more time, with that time we can create more memories with our family or do the things that are actually going to benefit our mental health.
I feel as though this has been a huge shift for me and it's still why I focus on good health as it's so important to me to make sure I maintain a good well balanced lifestyle, doing the things I enjoy, eating the food that makes me feel good and energised, I have fought and focused on myself for the last few years now.
I can officially say I've never been this happy or healthy in my whole life.
I intentionally focus on things that will uplift me and boost my confidence rather than focusing on things that make me feel lesser or devalue myself and a perfect example of this is setting myself fitness goals, spending time on myself like allocating time for walks or beach sessions, booking holidays for the kids and myself so we can create those moments that we will remember for a lifetime.
I spent so long thinking I needed to be a certain weight or size before I could do a lot of these things, but going through some of the hardest moments of my life and then having to deal with that trauma has really taught me what's important, and it's not stepping on a scale every morning or fussing about what size dress I bought, I couldn't care less if my dress is a size 10 or size 16 as long as I feel comfortable in it and it makes me feel beautiful is all I'm looking for.
I am a huge believer in looking after your health from a holistic approach and making sure you tick all the boxes from moving your body, fueling your body, mindfulness, spiritually and socially because these are all factors I've had to work on to become the best version of myself.
I am loving being apart of the Zing Wellbeing program as it's so much more than just nutrition.
I love the health challenges as they are easy to follow.
I love that Zing wellbeing will focus on all sorts of aspects when it comes to health like stress reduction, gut health and energy boosters.
Mel's tips for supporting your mental wellbeing
The best advice I would have for someone struggling with health, mental wellbeing, stress or any other similar issues regarding health would be to stay open minded, be opened to trying new things, stepping out of your comfort zone to better yourself, asking for help and never being ashamed of that, it takes a brave person to ask for help, trust the process and be patient.
Also fully investing in the route you are taking to help yourself, I remember thinking how silly some of the techniques sounded, but this was the last draw for me and I knew if this didn't work I didn't have many other options so I fully committed and to my surprise was actually shocked at how well a lot of things worked. Don't let fear be the boundary of your success.
Favourite Zing Wellbeing recipes
The chicken burrito bowl is one of my favourite dishes as I'm a sucker for anything that's easy enough to throw together and is super quick and delicious of course
Spinach and chicken salad with avocado dressing, I do love a good salad and the combo of chicken and avocado is just bliss, the warmer months make it so much easier to have salads.
Protein pancakes are probably my number one, I have a sweet tooth and love pancakes, so these are a win because they are so full of goodness and they really satisfy my sweet tooth, they also leave me feeling full for ages which is perfect for a girl with a big appetite.
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