Let Me Let You In On A Little Secret...

When people who knew me in high school or college get a look at me now, universally, there is one question that I always seem to hear.

"What is your secret?"

Let's start by looking at the obvious.  We live in a fad world. So few things are classic and timeless.  I think we often forget that.  Fads, like other passing fancies, tend to make us look back and say, "What the Hell was I thinking?"  

Perfect Example: THE FANNY PACK

We all had them and we all thought we were the coolest. 

Don't get me wrong, there are certain things that will never go out of style. I was fortunate enough to have a mother to taught me the importance of knowing what "timeless" and "classic" meant.

Best examples:

The Black Suit with a Pencil Skirt

A sting of pearls

Anything concerning Audrey Hepburn. Let's face it, when you hear the word "classic" her face pops into your head.

With all that being said, and well, shown--it's only reasonable that changing your lifestyle (and life by extension) shouldn't be a fad.  That's it. That is the secret.  That there is no secret? Wait, what? 

Let's go back.

 

I was a fat kid in the 80's.  That's no secret.  I was a fat kid with parents who didn't quite know what to do with a fat kid.  My dad (in his prime) was nearly 6'6" and a bean pole by all accounts.  My mother, on the other hand, was a petite 5' 1"-ish and weighed 98 lbs on her wedding day--a statistic that poisoned my mind for too long.  

I was put on every fad diet known to man when I was a kid.  Everything of eating red cabbage soup to eating nothing, but bananas and skim milk.  And you know something? It didn't freaking work!  I know!  They were shocked too! A lot of people ask if I look back and am angry or resentful of my parents because of this.  To be honest, I was for a long time.  I had grown up hearing that I would be so pretty if I just lost weight.  That resentment only helped me pack on the pounds unfortunately.  The logical adult in me now knows that they only wanted me to be healthy, but as a child, it's bit like being told that I simply wasn't good enough the way I was.  

Through the magic of the interwebs, I stumbled upon a recent study which has shown that young girls who are told they are "too fat" are at a great risk of being obese as adults. 

 This Is What Happens When You Tell A Young Girl She's Fat

You'll get to read more about the stupid trendy mistakes I made in high school and college soon, but for today, let me tell you this.  There is no secret to my success.  Success is not just the destination, by the way.  It's part of the journey itself.  Little triumphs that add up to something greater.  I have countless pins on Pinterest to this effect.

  

Are you disappointed?  Don't be.  There is something else that I'll share with you on this post that you may not have thought of.  I've learned this about many things in life.  The saying "easy come--easy go" is remarkably accurate.  If it was easy, would you appreciate the work it took?  Would you take pride in the sweat and sore muscles? Or would you be content to back slide, knowing that you could easily do it again?  It was only once I learned this, that I was able to stop the yo-yo effect.  We'll cover yo-yo's soon, believe me.

In the time being, this pretty damn accurate--

 

Harsh? Maybe, but I know I needed to learn this.

Just for kicks, there are 2 pictures below.  They both hang in my apartment as a reminder that while I may not be exactly where I want to be, I'm on the right track and I've come a long way, baby.  Also, a perfect example of "What the HELL was I thinking?" in the first one.

That's me on the right (age 21)

This is me last summer (age 33)