A Birthday Ode to Myself ♥️

Sara it's your 38th birthday,

And what a year it's been is all I can say.

2020 was the year so full of promise, 

With dream holiday plans and a university finish.

Never did you expect your life to turn upside down,

With heartbreak and upset and feeling like a clown.

But the year has not been all bad,

Your dream job you worked hard for you did indeed bag.

And a 1st Class Honours you achieved in your degree,

Although you never got to celebrate properly.

The year that Covid added to the stress,

One positive was that you now fit in that size 8 dress.

And sometimes 'things happen for a reason' comes into play,

With things making sense more and more each day.

So who knows what the future will hold, 

But happiness is the aim, with a smile that is bold.

Here's to being 38! To finding out more about myself, making decisions best for me and choosing the life I want.

Sara 

xx

Confident? Me? Of course I am!

Wow, another couple of weeks has passed and the growth I have achieved on a personal level is unbelievable.

I can't deny that lots of you have noticed how much weight I've lost since the summer and I often get asked how I have achieved it.

Well.......... if I was to say I achieved 3 stone weight loss in approx 11 weeks, I would be telling you the truth, but the way I achieved it wasn't the best way to do it.

I physically couldn't eat when dealing with everything that happened over the summer. I had no appetite, I physically struggled to eat 2 parsnips at my mums for Sunday dinner and I even turned down dessert. For me to turn down dessert says that I wasn't eating right! But it also shows just how your emotional wellbeing affects other things such as feelings of hunger and the gut itself.

Do I feel better about myself due to the weight loss? Absolutely yes! 

Has my confidence skyrocketed? Again, absolutely yes! 

Is this all to do with my weight? A part of it is, yes I admit. I love looking in the mirror now and not being disgusted with how much weight I had put on. I enjoy putting on clothes that are more what I want to wear without worrying that they show as many lumps and bumps as they did before.

But does my increased confidence all come from my weight loss....... no it doesn't.

I have many different factors in my life that have hugely boosted my confidence. A huge one is my job. If I could explain just how happy I am at work and how accomplished I feel now that I am finally a midwife, I'm not sure you would still fully understand! I literally love every single thing so far about being qualified.

Another thing that has boosted my confidence is the people I am surrounded by. If I'm not receiving amazing messages from my family and friends asking how my day has been at work, or just telling me that I am smashing this thing called life, I am being made to feel special by other people in my life who have made me realise that I am completely deserving of smiling and being happy again.

So, no it's not all about my weight, how good my face looks now its slimmer, or if my hair has been styled perfectly, but the fact I'm no longer repulsed by own reflection has certainly helped.

I thought I'd add some photos to show two very different times in my life, where you would automatically think that they are before and after photos of weight loss. 

But the main elements from the before pics showcase an unconfident, unhappy, stressed woman who felt not sure on what was happening in her life and the after pics show a confident, happy, proud woman who is finally knowing her place in life.

Before

After

Before

After

This is also another little reminder of 'what you see on social media isn't always true', because nobody would have believed that I wasn't feeling like a confident accomplished woman in the 'before' photos I have uploaded.

Hope you all have a lovely weekend whatever you are doing in lockdown. 

Much love. 

xx