A woman who changed her lifestyle: “The most important thing is to believe in yourself and change for yourself”

Sometimes it can seem almost impossible to break out of your normal routine. When it becomes difficult to find time for yourself, your friends or your hobbies, lifestyle changes are put off until later because it requires even more motivation and determination.

Businesswoman Ugnė Usevičiūtė shares her personal experience – she lost 140 kilograms. The woman tells how and why she decided to eat healthier, move more and what her active lifestyle routine is now.

Life was all about work

According to U. Usevičiūtė, there was no specific reason why she finally decided to live healthier: “I didn’t have any diseases, I didn’t feel pressure to change from the environment. Back then, it seemed to me that I lived a “normal” life – everything revolved almost exclusively around work, I concentrated on the success of my business, I had little entertainment and personal life, I had no physical activity, I didn’t take care of myself and what and when I eat, I was overtired”, he said she

Unexpectedly, one day the thought came to her that she needed to get rid of excess weight, therefore, without waiting for the new year, Monday, the first day of the month or the next morning, from that very moment the woman began to implement a plan, the essence of which is to eat healthier and move more: “When I returned home, I threw out all unhealthy products from home and went for a walk – that’s how it all started.”

The food plate has become more colorful and diverse

U. Usevičiūtė admitted that she did not encounter any difficulties when changing her lifestyle, because she made such a plan that the whole process would be like a celebration and she would not feel discomfort.

“I didn’t follow any diets, I didn’t count calories, I didn’t weigh products. I ate a lot and tried to make the food I ate tasty and beautifully presented,” she said.

The woman followed these basic rules: she ate 4 meals a day, always at the same time, gave up snacks, did not consume added sugar, limited fat and flour dishes, ate only home-cooked food and only bought produce at the store, not manufactured products.

“My dinner plates were always large, full of colorful and varied food to ensure I got enough nutrients. If I had to say the formula for my success in one sentence, I would answer like this – you don’t need to eat meat with vegetables, but vegetables with meat,” she noted.

He didn’t beat himself up for moments of weakness

According to the woman who radically changed her lifestyle, the most important thing is to believe in what you are doing – this rule is necessary for all cases in life: “If a person does not trust himself, thinks for a long time, hesitates, he does not feel strong, there is a high probability that he will not achieve his goal.” It is also very important to lose weight for yourself and not to fit into a new dress or to please someone. You need to lose weight not for physical beauty, but for the opportunity to live comfortably.”

The woman admitted that there were few moments of weakness on the path of transformation – sometimes she did not abstain from sweets or any other food unacceptable during the period of weight loss during various holidays. But she didn’t judge herself for those few cases because it didn’t affect the overall result.

He found love for himself after changing his lifestyle

The woman said that after changing her lifestyle, everything turned upside down – personal life, work and life priorities changed, a lot of self-love appeared. Every look in the mirror became a push forward: “When you like yourself, you gain a lot of confidence. Confident people are also accepted differently by the environment, thus the circle closes – self-love turns into love for those around you, success in the activities you are engaged in.”

Now, U. Usevičiūtė cannot imagine her life without daily morning exercise, without at least 20,000 steps taken every day, without traveling and fulfilling her dreams.

“Currently, I have visited 50 countries, but I dream of traveling around the world. I also want to climb at least 10 peaks – so far I have climbed one,” the woman shared her personal aspirations.

She is happy that she changed not just one element of her life, for example, only nutrition, but made drastic changes and changed her entire lifestyle: “I have no doubt that this was the key to my success, great feeling and results right now. And what I’m most happy about is that my eating habits have settled and I’ve successfully maintained my weight in one place for almost six years now.”

It is necessary to find internal motives

Vilnius University Faculty of Philosophy professor dr. Laima Bulotaitė said that all people are different and it is completely normal if trying to change your lifestyle is associated with negative emotions: “It may seem that everyone is enjoying life, resting at home, eating sweets and not gaining weight, and you are the only one who is having such a hard time making changes .”

According to the professor, if changing behavior causes you suffering, it means that you are doing something wrong, you have chosen the wrong way or you do not clearly know why you are doing it. Therefore, first of all, you should look at yourself and understand what are the motivations for your changes. “Negative emotions and relapses are usually experienced by those who do not answer these questions and whose motives for changing their behavior are external – someone gave you advice, but you did not realize it yourself,” she said.

According to L. Bulotaitė, physical health is inseparable from mental and emotional health: “An old saying: a healthy soul in a healthy body. Therefore, you need to understand that if you strengthen your physical body, you will move and exercise more, your mood will improve, better emotions and cleaner thoughts will flood in.”