I am 41. I was never obese, but over the years I have slowly gained some 12 kilos of unnecessary weight – from 72-73kg in my 20-ies and early 30-ies to around 85kg (187 pounds), which was my pre-WF weight.
I am 182 cm tall, so this may not sound much, but given that I am an avid rock-climber, I felt that weight all the time. So of course I tried to change that – read many (too many) books, tried many diets. Some things, like going vegan for a few months, actually worked well, other approaches were not sustainable. But nothing stuck to my lifestyle, at the end the weight always came back. Sometimes with a vengeance.
So one day I began looking not onto, but into myself and began asking what's going on inside my head. And realized that I have way too many, so to speak, "assorted knowledge" – i.e. extracts from different books and approaches, different wired beliefs for what is and is not good for me, what and how much should I eat before and after training, and so on. As a net result, I became a victim of my own pursue for self-education, as I knew too much from too many sources, and could not lay down one clear and simple system. "Clear" and "simple" are, turns out, the key words here, as for a system to sustain, to become a way of life it has to be simple in terms of what and when to eat, yet it has to be clear in terms of *why* you would want to eat or not to eat this or that.
And this is when I met that WF introduction video with Vishen and Eric. It's difficult to say for sure why exactly it clicked, I think I got hooked by the words about psychological part of the program and promises to teach us how to change the relationship with the food. And jumping forward, these areas indeed happened to be the most valuable for me. This is not to underestimate the rest, of course, as the program is very holistic and that is what makes it so great.
So, not without some hesitation, I signed up, telling to myself hey, I have that 30-days money back guarantee so in the worst case I'll just quit.
And with all the seriousness, that was easily one of the best decisions I have ever made in my life. Because when I look back I sometimes catch the fits of fear "what if I didn't sign up!?", and I am endlessly thankful for the Universe that I did. Because now I am a changed person, and even if that change is not that drastic from the outside, I can't express how huge it is in my head. Basically, WF gave me exactly what other programs could not – that "clear" and "simple" parts, with focus on "clear". In the numerous videos Eric set up the foundation in such a great manner that tons of things suddenly become clear, how is this related to that, why you're getting this if you are eating that, why this works and that does not.
To name a few areas where I observe changes in my life, in no particular order:
* Better sleep, easy wake ups and clear head right away, no more those "fuzzy" mornings when I had to have a coffee, or two, or sometimes an energy drink, to bring myself together.
* Level of energy through the day. I may still have my up and down days, but generally it's like I am flying at a much higher orbit, i.e. my baseline level has jumped up drastically!
* At some point I realized that my mood had normalized, i.e. I take many things easier now, I smile more often, I deal with incoming stressful situations easier.
* I feel myself lighter and more flexible when I climb, haven't measured my stretching but I caught myself doing moves that in the past I would struggle with.
* I got freed from so many false beliefs of the past – that I need coffee to wake me up, that I need sugar to feed my brain, that I need carbs to fuel my body, that I must have such and such amount of proteins to feed my muscles, etc., etc. It is even funny how much of such rubbish we carry in our heads! And how much easier it is to live with all of that thrown away, how much mind capacity is freed for other, more productive, things. Also with those false beliefs, gone are the non-food snacks and eating out of boredom, i.e. when you work and just drink a tea and eat a cookie after cookie after cookie... Now even if I happen to be in a blue mood, I would recognize the emotional hunger and even if I can't deal with it, I will drink a water or Alkagizer and eat some celery, carrots or cucumbers.
* And everyone's favorite: yes, I have also lost some measurements and weight. Obligatory pictures attached :). Fun thing is that I listed the weight loss last because turns out, the key wins are somewhere else – in my head. As with properly set up nutrition scheme I know more weight loss will come in automatically – it had already started during the WF challenge, I am down 5 kilos, but I know it is just a beginning of a new life, and it is more important to me to embed this new lifestyle carefully and without rush, so that it becomes permanent and stays with me for long.
So thank you, Eric and the WildFit team, for creating this program! And thank you, Mindvalley folks for providing us support during the journey!