NEW YOU, NOW WHAT?

When you set a goal to lose weight, it’s easy to imagine that reaching it will make all your dreams come true. The reality? Embracing a new, slimmer version of yourself is sometimes more complicated than you think

- Ondela Mlandu

You’re standing in front of your cupboard with clothes scattered all over the floor, but you still can’t find anything to wear. You rifle through each shelf and try on each item, but nothing is fitting quite right and all you want to do is climb into bed and hide under the covers. Sound horribly familiar? It’s easy to imagine that if you just lost five, 10, 40 kilos, you’d never face this dilemma again. The truth? It’s a bit more complicated.

YOU WILL STILL DOUBT YOURSELF

My transformation happened at the university. I’d picked up 20 kilos somewhere between the local takeaway joint and the calorie-dense alcoholic beverages I’d recently discovered and I realised it was time for an intervention of the exercise and clean-eating variety. My efforts paid off – as the months went by, my body began to slim down. Before I lost weight, I would spend hours in front of the mirror practising how to suck in my “boep”. I would often imagine what it would be like to have toned arms, instead of my bat-wings. I imagined slipping into those high-waist denims that show off a flat stomach beneath a tiny tank top – which I had never worn before, but I knew I would soon. After I lost the weight, I was overjoyed when I slid into a pair of jeans that previously wouldn’t go over my thighs. But the excitement was short-lived. Soon I was back in front of the mirror, practising my “slimming” angles once again. How could this be? I’d hit my goals and lost weight. Where was the confidence I was meant to be oozing?

YOUR GAME PLAN: IT’S A MIND OVER-MATTER SITUATION