Are you a carrot or tea leaves?

This is a little different to the transformation pictures we all normally see and love. A bit backwards if you please haha

There are 10kgs difference between these two pictures. The one on the left is a woman who is finally at her goal weight of pre baby weight (when 18 years old) and her body fat is less than 30% which was what she had been aiming for. The girl on the right is the 10kg heavier version with who knows what body fat percentage but I can tell you it’s high.

Yet, I’m at the happiest in my mind, body and soul that I’ve been in forever.

What these photos don’t show is the mental transformation, the internal transformations, the growth that I’ve experienced in my life, my head and my relationships. That stuff can’t be measured.

I can walk into a room now and have people tell me they feel my energy and it’s big and amazing. Yet feedback I received previously said I was invisible and trying to be forgotten. Crazy, right! More like terrified of being judged haha Being told I’m radiating has to be the biggest compliment I’ve ever received. It’s beyond the superficial looks now. It’s at a cellular level and for that I am thankful.

That girl, even though she barely wore makeup most days, she loved dressing up and glamorizing herself and felt good when she did it. It was her safety blanket of sorts to feel better about herself and the life she was living. However being around people who constantly checked their social media to see how many likes they got on their latest selfie, she became like that and that wasn’t good for her soul. She had fun, she had happiness, yet she wasn’t the me I am today. She was missing so much in her life. She was filling her soul with things and people who weren’t really what she wanted or needed.

My head buzzes with inspiration now. I’m excited for all the knowledge I’ve gained and I’m ready to share it with the world. I have medicine on my heart and I know the people it’s for will find me.

What these photos prove to me is that it doesn’t matter if you hit your goal weight or not, if your mind isn’t ‘right’ then you won’t be happy. If you aren’t nourishing your mind and soul then your body being a size 8 isn’t going to make you feel nourished either.

And if you are doing it to get that persons attention, or I’ll love myself when I get there, or whatever reason any of us have for getting to a goal weight, or any goal, remember – it’s not about the destination, it’s about the journey.

You need to love yourself on the journey, don’t wait until ‘you get there’ to love yourself. Because what happens if ‘there’ isn’t where or what or who you thought it would be? What then? You just won’t love yourself?

I say hell no to all of that!

This article isn’t about making those goals wrong I’m simply saying check in with yourself to make sure you have effective reasoning behind your decisions and goals.

And next time you are comparing yourself to that girl on Instagram with the ‘perfect’ body just remember highlight reels aren’t life and you have no idea what is going on behind closed doors. Just because they have the body you dream of or they post the life you dream of, doesn’t mean they love themselves either. Being healthy doesn’t only mean eating healthy and exercising.

So to the title of this article are you a carrot or tea leaves? A carrot is softened by boiling water, it changes who is it because of the boiling water. The tea leaves do not, the tea leaves adapt the water and change it using their own qualities. So do not be the carrot that is softened by the boiling water, instead be the tea leaves that change the boiling water. When you love and accept yourself and share yourself vulnerably and authentically you change the world in which we all live, not just your world. Be the tea leaves.

Stop comparison – you are beautiful, whole and complete just as you are.

You are the tea leaves.

The ripple effect is you.

Xo S