"What's Your Secret?"

A co-worker of mine recently stopped me and said, "You look amazing!  You're so skinny!  What is your secret?" 

In case you haven't seen me in a few years, or didn't know me a few years ago, here's a little comparison (top photo is from 2014, bottom photo is from 2018).  Not a huge change, but noticeable.

It occurred to me that when, over the course of a few years, you go from wearing a size 12 to wearing a size 6, people take notice.

It also occurred to me that many people equate being slender with being well.  I would like to dispel that myth.  While it is true that most people would prefer to be more slender than fat, the correlation between thinness and fitness (and, moreover, wellness) is flimsy at best.  Having been down a bumpy road of illnesses, some of which were contributing factors to my recent weight loss, I can tell you first hand that it is possible to "look great" (which is what people say when you just dropped five pounds thanks to the latest bout of mono/bronchitis/stomach virus) and feel like garbage.  Unless you're prepared to hear about your friend's ulcerative colitis or Grave's disease, commenting on a person's weight or assuming that said weight is a result of good health is a risky endeavor, at best.

I chuckled at my colleague's comment and quipped back "It's easy!  Just be allergic to pretty much everything.  The weight will fall right off."  (This was meant to be a joke, but..) She responded by saying, "oh, yeah, that would make it easier."

I would like to dispel that myth as well.  There is nothing easy about dealing with food allergies and autoimmunity.

I would like to dispel a lot of myths, and I would like to tell you first-hand about my journey through fitness and into wellness.  I'll be using this blog to announce my personal goals and to track my progress, in the interest of sharing this process with anyone who might learn from it, or who might help me learn more.  I'll also be sharing recipes and healing practices that I find helpful on my path to optimal health.

The 'secret' to my own slender body is 40 years of learning how to be well.  If you're coming to this page to learn how to drop weight fast or get ripped for the beach, you're in the wrong place.  If you're coming to this page to learn how *I* am working to maintain a healthy lifestyle and work toward athletic goals in the face of ongoing challenges, internal and external, then welcome to my blog.

I'll be taking you through my personal wellness story chronologically, as well as posting updates about my fitness, wellness, and nutrition with autoimmunity.

Please feel free to comment and share--this is a public space for ideas and healing.  Thank you for visiting, and I hope to see you back real soon!