My Journey to Health: The First Chapter
I’ve decided to write this blog to share my journey with you—from being a complete mess, overweight, and with the self-confidence of a soggy biscuit, to becoming the super healthy, confident, and successful woman I am today.
Growing up, I wasn’t shy, but I was definitely a people pleaser. Actually people have always said that they thought I was very confident. I was not at all. All I ever wanted was for everyone to like me. Looking back now, I can completely understand why I was like that—even well into my early 30s—but let me tell you, I am so over it now!
The body health transformation was the first big shift in my life. It all started 23 years ago when I found out I was pregnant with my daughter, Katie. From that moment, I knew I had to make a change—not just for myself, but mostly for her.
I say “body health transformation” and not a full transformation because I was far from healthy in my mindset. That has taken a lot more work over the years. This is just the beginning of the story.
I quit smoking, gave up drinking, and while I was still eating too much, I began making healthier food choices. I couldn’t believe how much energy I had! My "normal" had been waking up with a terrible hangover, eating a sausage and egg McMuffin for breakfast, and guzzling Coke all day. I used to think feeling like crap was just how life was supposed to be—I didn’t know what "good" felt like until I started making better choices. At first, I thought it was the pregnancy making me feel so amazing, but it wasn’t. It was the changes I was making for the first time in my life.
Fast forward nine months, and after giving birth, I tipped the scales at 17.5 stone (for context, I’m 5ft 3¾). I vividly remember sitting on the loo, looking down at my belly hanging over my knees, and thinking, "No friggin’ way."
I joined a weight-loss group and committed to showing up every single week. I walked everywhere and started doing 20-minute exercise videos in the mornings while Katie was asleep. Slowly but surely, I worked my way down from 17.5 stone to 9.5 stone. I hadn’t been that weight since I was 16 years old, and I felt incredible.
We stayed in New York until Katie was 3, then moved back to Ireland. That’s when the real work began. It’s been an absolute roller-coaster ride over the past 22 years, and let me tell you, environment really matters when you’re trying to make changes.
As soon as we moved home, it wasn’t long before I slipped back into old habits. I found myself going out drinking with friends every weekend, grabbing the Friday night takeaway (with, of course, a bottle of wine), and before I knew it, I was slowly merging back into the person I had worked so hard to leave behind. I even started smoking again.
Except this time, it was worse. Now, I knew what it felt like to feel good about myself and my choices, so I wasn’t just battling the habits—I was also battling shame, guilt, and relentless negative self-talk. The “I knew you wouldn’t last being healthy” voice. The “This is the real you” voice. All the crap we say to ourselves on a daily basis.
For a few years, I ended up in an even worse state mentally than I had been before, caught in a negative spiral that felt impossible to escape. I was raging at myself, and I knew something had to change—again.
But this time, it wasn’t going to be as simple as quitting smoking or cutting back on wine. I had to dig deeper, face some hard truths about myself, my habits, and what I really wanted from life—and, more importantly, for my daughter’s life.
What sort of life did I want for Katie? I shudder every time I think about how our lives could have turned out. Talk about sliding doors.
Then came rock bottom. A moment so low that I knew it was either make a change or stay stuck in that spiral forever.
What happened next completely changed my life for the second time as there have been many live changing moments in my life over the years — but I’ll save that story for the blog
Be Good To Yourself
Lorna