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)

Fantastic Voyage: Pack your baggage and let's get moving!

Fantastic Voyage: Pack your baggage and let's get moving!

Well, here I am again, folks. I've taken a bit of a break from the keyboard here and while things in real life have been crazy, I think it's time to get back at it with this new venture.  If you've stumbled upon this post by some stroke of fate, allow me to welcome you.  If you're someone who knows me personally, you know how glad I am that you're taking any time to take a look at my thoughts.  

Given the nature of the title of my blog, I feel that this first post should be a quick overview of what you can and cannot expect from me.  

Expect the following:

• Stories from my journey from one side of the fitness spectrum to the other.
• Sarcasm--it's a gift.
• My personal experiences with not only that journey, but everyday life as well.
• A cast of colorful characters who may not enjoy being written about, but who have played a roll and are worthy of mention.
• The occasional 4 letter word.

What NOT to expect:

• I am not a dietitian, nutritionist or any kind of trainer! I cannot advise you on the best or healthiest way for you to live.  I am not saying that everything I did is right, but it is my story and I feel that right or wrong, there are things that others can benefit from.

Okay, now that that's out of the way, let me tell you why I felt I should sit and write TONIGHT.  

I was walking through Publix (my local supermarket) today when I overheard two girls in their mid 20's talking about tea.  Actually, they were lamenting the fact that they couldn't find the tea they were looking for.  That's when I heard the word "dandelion".  Ahhh, dandelion root tea.  I instantly knew why one girl was looking for it while warning her sister, "You better not tell Mom I'm doing this."  She was doing a cleanse.  Cleanses, as we all know, are huge right now.  People love to say they need to "jumpstart" a weight loss program.  When I was a kid, that was when you just didn't eat anything for a few days.  Yeah, not smart, but some of the cleanses out there are scarier than that.  

I knew she was going to do the Gillian Michaels cleanse.  Basically, you drink dandelion root tea mixed with 1 tablespoon of cranberry juice and some lemon juice and you can drop up to 7lbs in the first 3 days.  As someone who has done this particular cleanse, I can tell you that weight comes off in the form of water.  Water weight can be a woman's worst enemy.  I half heard her talking about how she needed to start this asap and without thinking, I grabbed a box of tea from the shelf and handed it to her.  

"Just so you know, it's not very tasty."  I offered.  She asked if I knew what she was doing and I told her that I had done it and what she could expect.  She asked why I needed to do it.  I was shocked.  People who knew me didn't ask these things.  They knew.  "I retain a lot of water." I muttered.

"That's not what I mean. You're not big like me." Big like me. A thought I'd had when looking at other women countless times.  She went on to say she was a size 14.  I almost wanted to laugh.  Not because of her size, but because she really thought there was something wrong with it.  

"Oh honey," I smiled, "I topped out at a 20/22."  She couldn't believe it. I admit that it's handy to keep before and after pics on my phone.  I showed her mine and we talked about what I'd done, how long it had taken and what I saw as my next challenge along the way.  

It was about 15 minutes later when I left and she thanked me saying, "Thank you. I feel better knowing that a real person has done it. Not just rich and famous women who can pay for it."  She'd struck a cord for me.  

I'd always thought it was so strange that society praises celebrity weight loss the way it does.  Praising those who can pay for the nutritional guidance, personal chefs and trainers while they lose and then any surgery they want to finish off their new look?  Seems off to me.  Why can't we praise the working women who drag themselves from their beds to workout on their own before working?  Or the women who stay at work on their lunch to read articles on the newest workouts and best ways to achieve their results?  There are women who struggle daily on their own with the notion that even after losing all the weight they wanted or needed to, they still aren't there.  Women who didn't drop weight to look good on a magazine cover, but who changed their lives because they wanted to not only look better, but feel better.  

I am one of those women.  My story isn't over yet, but I'll do my best to tell you about it...