Women Need To Love Themselves Healthy, says Hayley Wilson
Hayley Wilson used to chase happiness in a dress size. Thirty kilos overweight, the only way she knew how to lose weight was to starve herself and flog her body with exercise. Now, she has thrown out the rule book and teaches women how to use form, focus and fuel to be healthy.
When she reached her goal weight, she had the bikini body she wanted but she was weak and damaged. “I had gone from post-natal depression, feeling lost, stuck and like I was at rock bottom to having damaged my body while trying to lose weight by training hard and limiting my food,” Hayley said,
“My body was more damaged than it had been when I was overweight. I destroyed my abdominal wall because, like most women, I didn’t know about correct exercise technique after pregnancy with Diastasis Recti and was told I needed surgery to fix it.
“I discovered that happiness doesn’t exist in a dress size. All the dieting, fast track weight loss programs, reducing calories and limiting food group, didn’t really work. They were self-defeating and hard to maintain. Yes, I lost a lot of weight, but I lost a lot of other things as well – that were so much more important than how my body looked.”
You can read Hayley’s inspiring story here.
Hayley’s business, Love Yourself Healthy, was born out of anger – at herself, the weight loss industry and the desire to make sure other women weren’t going down the same rabbit hole she did.
“I threw myself into education and in repairing my body through specific training and rehab,” Hayley said. “I want people to escape the bikini body brainwashing. Starving yourself skinny and flogging yourself fit will make you skinny, but learning how to love yourself healthy is where you will find your happiness.
Hitting rock bottom was actually a relief for Hayley. It meant she had stopped falling and finally had something to push off. Turning her life around, the former stay at home mum and former kitchen designer opened a boutique personal training studio – Empowered For Life and expanded into Nutrition and Mindset Coaching. Hayley now helps women all over Australia through her Love Yourself Healthy program combining FORM | FOCUS | FUEL (Physical, Mindset, Nutrition). She says:
“We live in a world of photoshop, plastic surgery, spanks and spray tans, no-one knows what is real anymore and so women are constantly comparing themselves to a figment of misconception. It’s my personal mission in life to empower this generation to inspire the next so that we can raise a society of empowered strong, intelligent young women who can stand tall in pride of the perfect imperfections.
So, does Hayley have any tips to share with those who genuinely feel they need to lose weight. She says:
“There is a niggle inside anyone wanting to lose weight. That spot where the thought ‘I need to look at that’ keeps popping up but gets pushed to the side. That niggle means you have to do something. Don’t keep putting it off.”
Hayley’s workshops and online programs that can be found here: www.empoweredforlife.net.au
