Life Challenge results: Louisa Wilkins

When I began the Life Challenge…

Age: 32
BMI: 23.1
Height: 166cm
Weight: 63.7kg 

When I finished the Life Challenge

Age: 32
BMI: 22
Height: 166cm
Weight: 60.7kg 

The two-month Life Challenge was an intense period of self-discovery, to say the least. Not only did we learn about ourselves on an emotional level, but on a physical level with the ImuPro Allergy testing and the Body Composition Analysis reports – both from the Dubai Herbal and Treatment Centre, and these learnings brought with them two choices: you either make changes, or you don’t. I think we can all get hung up on what we think we should and shouldn’t be doing all the time – I should be exercising, I shouldn’t be smoking; I should call Grandma once a fortnight; I shouldn’t waste precious time on the weekend sitting on the sofa watching TV; I should eat more vegetables, I shouldn’t drink so much coffee. But the fact of the matter is that everything we do, or don’t do, is a choice. Nobody forces me to drink coffee, or stops me taking carrot sticks to work; it’s a conscious decision that I make. I can make excuses, but ultimately it is down to me. We are not passive in our lives, they are entirely of our own making. The things that matter to me, I will find time for; and the things that don’t matter to me, I won’t. Similarly, if I am aware of something I should change in my life, and I want to, I will change it. If I’m aware of it, but I kind of like it, I won’t. And that is OK. Simply accepting the fact that we are in control of our present, and our future, and being honest with yourself about your priorities, will make you feel happy. And I think that’s the goal for all of us at the end of the day.

Nutrition: I am most definitely a healthier person because of the nutrition guidance we got from Sarah Queen, from Nutrition Matters Arabia. I was a sporadic eater, who grabbed on the go, and paid little heed or attention to the nutritional value of my day, choosing instead to surf on rolling waves of caffeine and sugar. Not good. At first, the nutrition plan Sarah gave me seemed obscene – five meals a day? Eating before I run? Eating straight away after I run? Eating carbs? In the EVENING? But eating regularly throughout the day leveled out my energy peaks and troughs, meaning I didn’t need to reach for the saccharine-laden, fake coffee, fake milk moccaccino from the office coffee machine five times a day. Now, when I’ve forgotten my soya milk, and I have one of the aforementioned mocca-horrors, I really feel how strong the highs and lows from it are. Getting used to a lactose-free, gluten-free lifestyle has been much easier than I thought it would be, and I feel much healthier all round.

Fitness: After an initial high of varying my training with super-trainer Gareth Shepherd from Core Direction, I injured my knee (doing something very simple) and put myself out of action for the rest of the Life Challenge. Fitness is not an issue in my life – I love it, I am motivated to do it regularly. My only issue is that I can get obsessed with something and end up doing it too much for my own good. A generally more balanced life view has brought all of this into perspective for me. Now I’m chomping at the bit, and ready to get back to my training.

Life coaching: If it spoke for an entire day about this, I still would probably not be able to say it all. The Personal Breakthrough with Shana was an incredible, life-altering experience. Now, almost two months after my final session with Shana, I feel I am still learning from it on a daily basis – sometimes in grand ways, such as cutting negative people out of my life for good; and other times in small ways that may seem meaningless to others, such as being able to say “No, thanks” to a PR person who calls about an event, without hesitation, and without feeling the need to make up an excuse. Just, “No”. I get why I am the way I am – why I speak to my five closest friends on a daily basis, why I overbook my nights out with three different groups of friends at different venues on the other side of town, why (until recently) I had never spent an evening sitting on my own sofa watching a movie by myself. Now that I know why, and what I got out of these behaviours, I am in the position to be able to change them if I so choose. Now, two months on, I am back to speaking to my friends on a daily basis – but now it’s because I choose to, not because I need to. I don’t overbook myself, and I am enjoying quality time with my sofa. At the start of the Life Challenge, I said my overall goal was to ditch the chaos and to welcome in a new era of chill. Thanks to the NLP life coaching, I have done exactly that – not just in my life, but in my head, too – and I feel these are changes that will stay with me for life.