My Big Fat Freelance Life

It’s time to talk about that forbidden subject … the topic that no freelancer wants to discuss with you. The horrifying amount of weight it’s possible to gain if you spend your whole life in front of a computer screen, and completely abandon your once active gym, cycling, meditation, music, poetry, hiking, blogging, SCUBA diving, and social life.

Friends love your freelancing life but don’t let it consume you (or allow you to consume the entire contents of the refrigerator while you’re doing it).

I confess I’ve been in denial. But after joining the gym a few weeks ago (thinking I needed to lose about 7-8kg), I jumped on the scales in the corner and stood there in total shock. And I mean SHOCK when those scales told me I was now 18kg heavier than at my Doctor’s visit in March 2016.

No wonder my clothes don’t fit, and I don’t want to go anywhere, and I never look in the mirror. I realised now it’s affected my writing too — why I’ve stopped everything. Blogging. neXtDRAFTing.  Updating. Sharing. Swimming. Hanging out. Too ashamed to take a photo of myself or admit I’ve gained some weight. How crazy that so much of my writing business (and my actual life) could be tied into my body image.

So friends I’m sharing a few quiet reflections about how this freelancing life of mine has impacted me right out of my pants. And please note that this is not a big rag session on myself, I’m quite clear about these facts and very positive about turning this around. Just wanted to share some bad habits I launched into and maybe (if this sounds like you) help you avoid the same journey. Here’s a couple:

1. Rewarding myself with great big meals, soft drink, cakes, and full cream milk lattes in between projects.
2. Getting so lost in the business and not paying any attention to my own health and wellbeing (or the rising scales).
3. Relying on high fat takeaway food and other junk because I haven’t planned my days or weeks (ie, nothing in the fridge).
4. At the end of the week rewarding myself with chocolate (instead of a walk)  and wondering why I don’t sleep and have no energy.
5. Spending half the day sleeping (because I have no energy) and then never going anywhere because I’m always working.

Ok I’m gonna pull up that list right here but you can see where that was headed. This blog is my accountability, my turning-it-around speech, my true north compass. We all have that ‘thing’ that holds us back in our writing and prevents real achievement in our WritingBiz. Mine has been covering my fears in layers of eating and comfort liner, what is yours?

Me [below], transformed in just three years … oh dear.

PS: It feels amazing to finally admit this, release it to the universe and hit the reset button.