I was wheeling my newborn baby past the stairs near the armoured tank display in Park Mall. As I passed one of the shops, my eyes caught a glimpse of me in a shop window, at the same time I looked up at the name of the shop and it said LA Weightloss.

I thought to myself, this hasn’t been here before, but in my heart, I felt like I needed to do something extreme.

It wasn’t so much I was overweight that was the issue, but, that the weight was a symptom of total brokenness. I felt, lost, stuck and was jobless.

Fast forward 3 months after that date I had achieved a few milestones

First international holiday, Slimmer of the month, job interview and prep for a new job. Life as I knew it would never be the same.

Prior to this change, I blamed everyone but myself for my reality. I hurt from it and internalised it, hence the weight gain. When I walked into the shop that day, I wasn’t convinced that weight loss would be the final answer, but I had to start somewhere. I had to find some way of taking responsibility for living rather than dying slowly.

At this point I had also read a few self-help books, so I was combining, self-will with some mindset work. 2 years later, an NLP coach spelt it out clearly for me, by helping me understand that my reality was self-inflicted. She used the word SELF-SABOTAGE.

From that day on, I have taken full responsibility to work on myself from the inside out. My thoughts were a great battlefield and a formidable enemy, One I had to fight consistently for 15 years to overcome and still fight to keep in the positive zone

My motto from there has always been: “If it is going to be, it’s up to me”.

I was afraid of making mistakes, afraid of people, afraid of standing out, afraid of rejection, afraid of dreaming, afraid of being alone, afraid of betrayals, I was afraid of living period!

Every fear was anchored by bad experiences that created belief systems and an image of myself as unworthy, incapable, incompetent, unlovable.

I have come a very long, long way and still on the journey. I have helped others get unstuck, believe in themselves, and carve out their own pathways.

All because I fought my mind and my thoughts, I spoke and empowered the little girl in the mirror to support the woman on the outside to go back to being a dreamer that day-dreamed that reality could be different.

I love the title of the book by James Allen – As A Man Thinketh”. This is actually taken from the Bible Proverbs 23 vs 7.

I love the book by Joyce Meyer- Battlefield of the Mind, this has helped me tremendously.

But finally, I have loved and lived two scriptures from the Bible

1. My heart and my flesh may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. Psalm 73 vs 26

2. For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power of love and of a sound mind – 2 Timothy 1:7.

I am an overcomer and continue to overcome daily.

I hope I inspire you to arise and SHINE.