September 19, 2009
Just came home from seeing one of my two beautiful daughters off on a great journey. She is on an airplane to London for a year of extremely intense training as a classical Shakespearean actor. She will be studying in a highly regarded Master's program at Drama Centre, part of. She is well-prepared for this moment; I wouldn't deprive her of it for the world. My other beauty is a brilliant free-lance journalist living with her love in Paris -- working on her third (fourth if you count Hindi) language. They are amazing creatures, and I am so proud of them.
A rather large part of me I will confess wishes I had my darling girls back with me in their younger days when nothing was more important than -- me. Sigh -- that's what it all comes down to, doesn't it? But your children are not your pets; that wonderful unconditional love matures into something different and equally precious, if you're lucky. Letting go is an essential part of life.
Letting go of weight comes along with that. Sometimes the weight represents an area of life we do not want to deal with. I have read -- and seen in my life -- that victims of sexual molestation can pack on the pounds as a subconscious way of signaling "don't touch me!" I've also noticed that young women who feel uncomfortable with their sexuality and the way it is reacted to in our society can tie themselves into all sorts of unhealthy knots around food and weight gain.
And then there are the eating disorders. Whew -- we're a society that's both obsessed with food and obsessed with body image -- I don't think our habits and attitudes necessarily serve us. I spent a lot of useless time feeling like food was my enemy earlier in life. I didn't know I had a thyroid disorder (we're going to go into THAT in one of these posts -- a huge, under-reported problem in our country), and I felt like a bad person for eating ANYTHING at all.
If I had known about bulimia in those days you can bet I would have tried it. Yes, I know exactly how crazy that sounds. My body was out of control and I didn't know what to do. That's one of the reasons I decided to go into this business -- there are so many people struggling with this one issue. I've been through it myself, more than once, and I am very much interested in being of support to others who need some assistance in the consideration of what it takes for each individual -- and we are all so different -- to attain the level of weight and fitness they desire.
That's what Herbalife is all about -- conquering obesity one person at a time. I'm one! They can count me! 25 pounds in 5 months, whoo hoo!! All right, that's enough gloating from me (laughing at self) -- I'll be back soon!
