How do you FALL IN LOVE with health?

Marlene Le Roux
Oct 26, 2020
4 min read

Updated: Oct 13, 2024

I used to ask myself this same question. It’s so much easier to be unhealthy don’t you think? Like, being healthy is hard work, am I right?

So... how do you fall in love with Health? Maybe I should start by telling you how I fell in love with health. It wasn't easy, I can tell you, it’s been a journey for sure.

I was a normal sized child, not too skinny and not too chubby. I grew up in a time with little TV, no electronics and a Dad who constantly told us to “go outside and play”. I remember a McDonald's opening up around the corner from where we lived and the discovery of the HAPPY MEAL with a strawberry thick shake, I fell in love with it (and there weren’t even toys back then). I became a burger addict! I no longer wanted the home-made meals my mother made. I was about 9 years old, and I still managed to stay a normal sized child, it wasn't until I was about 14 that I started gaining weight.

As the High School years went by I put on more weight. I was a little self-conscious and found it hard. My Father (God Bless him) sent me to Weight Watchers when I was 17 and I think this started the whole yo-yo diet phase (that lasted about 20 years of my life). There were women there shredding the kilos and I felt like I was starving and only losing grams at a time. It was frustrating and well... depressing. I left home at 18 and started working. I had little money, had to walk or catch public transport everywhere so I managed to lose 13kg (it’s amazing how living away from home and having to pay for your own food can make you think twice about how you spend your hard-earned cash - Sorry Mum and Dad!)

Over the next 15 years or so my weight stayed pretty much the same, but I always craved health and fitness, but I hated exercise... well that's not entirely true, I think I was just lost and didn’t know where to start... my weight varied from 60kg to almost 100kg (when I was pregnant). One thing I knew was I never wanted to be obese or unhealthy. Another problem was the depression and not feeling good about myself only enhanced that. After 13 years my marriage broke up and I felt like my life was ending. I was stressed, depressed and overworked and my weight plummeted down to 50kg , I was not healthy. I had hit an all-time low my world was crumbling around me and I didn't know what to do.

When I finally received the help I needed for my depression, I got back on my feet, started working again (just a few days a week in the beginning), things were going well. I was on anti-depressants and I knew I didn't want to be on them forever if I could help it... I still had a lot to get through and I researched other ways besides the medication to help fight the depression. I got a job as a receptionist at a confectionery wholesale distributer, which led me to putting on quite a bit of weight and on the path to a very unhealthy life. I knew I had to make some changes. I started going to the gym, after 2 years I changed over to boot camp. Health-wise I was still no better off than when I had started, perhaps a bit fitter now, but I hadn't quite fixed my diet, I believed in "everything in moderation”. I felt that I was eating healthier now and even started supplementing with vitamins as suggested by my GP. On top of this I was constantly tired and craving sleep, especially after meals. I went to the Doctor and everything was "Normal”, and I was told I probably had Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Well I did not want that! I WANTED TO BE FIT, HEALTHY AND HAVE ENERGY!!

One day I got a call from a friend I hadn’t seen in some time, I was happy to meet with her and I knew she had had success helping people lose weight in the past, but that was not what I thought I seeing her about. In the end, we did speak about my health and honestly I am so glad that we did, it has changed my life. All the other "diets" and "weight loss" gimmicks I had tried in the past didn’t work, and the reason for that was they were only short-term solutions. Lose weight for an event or to fit into a dress. You know? But this was more than that. This was about optimal health; gaining back my health and getting back the energy for the long term and which is what I wanted!

I had started Balancing Macros through boot camp and in the past, I was always starving on those diets. I followed my new Mentors instructions, changed my diet and she taught me so much about how we look at food and what kind of things we are putting into our head on a daily basis and how that affects us mentally. I saw results straight away and it was amazing! I wasn't just losing weight I was BURNING FAT! It's like a whole other level. The energy you get from it, you WANT TO EXERCISE you WANT to continue. Now it's been 3 years and honestly, I feel so much better for it. I have continued to live and eat this way.