Loft Inspiration of the Month - May x

This months inspiration is a gorgeous young lady who I'm sure many of you have read about on social media before. Elora Harre aka The Shrinking Violet has been on incredible weight loss journey - she has lost 55kg to date. Elora has inspired thousands and now has a business dedicated to helping people live their healthiest lifestyle.

Elora is based here in Christchurch where she is continuing her amazing journey after living abroad. She is a published author, has a steady following of almost 50,000 followers on Facebook (where you can read all about her tips for all things weight loss/healthy living as well as travel and product reviews) and has a YouTube channel with educational healthy cooking videos. This gorgeous girl is totally owning her life at the age of 23!

Her blog www.theshrinkingviolet.co.nz has so much information and inspiration if you are looking at embarking in a healthier lifestyle and looking at ditching the fad diets. I hope you enjoy reading about this totally inspirational woman.

**Please give me an outline on you, and what motivated you to change your lifestyle**
I'm Elora Harre aka The Shrinking Violet and I'm a wellness, weight loss and travel blogger. When I arrived home from studying in 2013, I was in a picture of ill health. I was morbidly obese, my anxiety was out of control and I was experiencing constant headaches. Enough was enough, and I decided to take back control of my health. During 2013 and 2014 I lost a total of 55kg which I documented online through my blog, The Shrinking Violet. I received a tummy tuck in 2015 to remove 2.5kg of excess skin. Since 2014, I have been able to continue to inspire others to change their health through programs I have created as well as becoming a published author last year. 

**I understand Paleo has been most compatible with your journey - can you tell me about Paleo?**
Essentially Paleo is a real food lifestyle. Everyone has their own interpretation of it, however to me it is all about the elimination of processed foods and a focus on foods such as vegetables, meat, poultry, fish, fruit, nuts and seeds. Food that hasn't been altered too much from it's natural state. Food that our body is designed to eat!

**What are some methods you have tried in the past that weren't so successful with your change of lifestyle?**
Calorie counting and treadmills - ugh!

**What physical exercise have you incorporated into daily life? What do you love/hate doing?**
I am obsessed with heavy weight lifting and F45! I workout 5 days a week, but do 7 sessions. 2 heavy lifting sessions and 5 F45 workouts. I still don't really like exercise, but these are all bearable and I find them incredibly rewarding.

**What are your biggest daily challenges with maintaining your lifestyle, and what has been your biggest challenge been to date?**
My biggest challenge is that I travel a lot. It makes it hard for me to maintain routines constantly, but I have definitely figured out how to make the best of it. The biggest challenge was and still is my excess skin. It's something I can't remove through exercise and eating, so it is tough to deal with as it gets in the way both physically and mentally.

**Any set backs along the way?**
I think the only set back I had was quite early on in my journey, I hadn't yet discovered my real food lifestyle and I was calorie counting and flailing about. It was maybe a period of 3 weeks - but my determination carried me through.

**What are some of your biggest highlights from your journey so far?**
I have had so many amazing opportunities come out of this journey - from being able to now help others through a company I created - 10 Week Challenge, to becoming a published author and even getting the opportunity to travel the globe. I owe it all to my health!

**Tell me a bit about www.theshrinkingviolet.com and how you help others lead a healthier life**
My website is a fantastic tool that really compliments my daily Facebook blog. My website has loads of longer articles, recipes, travel blogs, cooking videos, more about me and my journey and it's also going to have an online store soon!

**What are your top tips for people wanting to embark on a healthy lifestyle?**
It starts with food! Food is the most important thing you can change when you're wanting to improve your health. That needs to be complimented by overall healthy lifestyle practices such as sleep and stress reduction. Health isn't just eating right and exercising - it's about the way you live.

**Do you have a motto you live your life by?**
One that I kept close during my weight loss journey was:
"Fail to prepare? Prepare to fail."
Organisation is KEY!

A big thank you to Elora for sharing her story - please show her your support by hitting like!

Samira x