Healthy Chicks

Good afternoon ladies and welcome to this week’s feature for Friday Flashbacks, where I share with you personal life lessons from my past.

Do you remember in highschool when everyone would drive the same car, wear the same clothes and eat the same lunch because it was cool? It was “the thing” to do/eat/drink/be. I swear my lunch table was like an ad for Abercombie & Fitch (and bagels with cream cheese).

I remember one day, one of the girls in our class plucked her eyebrows super thin, and then everyone started doing it including myself. Soon it was trending like wildfire. Only problem was it completely backfired and I ended up over-plucking to the extent where I just looked plain scary. Not to mention the fact that I used to pile on two pounds of makeup…because that’s what all the girls were doing after all.

This continued in college with oversized designer sunglasses, blonde highlights, fad diets and Vera Bradley bags. Whatever was “in” at the moment all the girls would buy, making us look and act like one big clone. There was the day Junior year of college where a chunk of the girls were doing the Celebrity Lemonade Detox so I just had to do it too. Then there were the days I’d force myself to go out and take one too many shots, even when deep down I knew I really needed a night in with a good book and some hot tea. But they were doing it and I didn’t want to miss out.

Fortunately, I’ve come to learn that I can’t nor want be like everyone else (or I guess you could just call that the process of growing up.) However, nowadays I do still notice these tendencies to follow the latest fads, particularly for twenty-somethings.

Whether it’s the diet that all your friends are doing, the juicing that all your coworkers are raving about or the yoga pants all your yogi idols are wearing, we’re naturally drawn toward what’s popular and current.

However, throughout all of this, I think it’s important to remember to stay true to you, as cliché as that sounds. We are all so unique and beautiful in our own ways, and it’d be a shame to sacrifice that in order to be like someone else.

Just because a diet worked for your best friend doesn’t mean it’s going to work for you and heck, who even said you had to go on a diet any way? Newsflash: you don’t. Yes, juicing and green smoothies are the latest fad at the moment, but maybe you hate the taste and that’s totally OK; eat a colorful salad or some fresh sautéed greens. Or maybe you LOVE, LOVE, LOVE juicing, and that’s OK too…juice up girlfriend!

If you’re starting your own business as I am, dare to be different and make it your own. You’ll get nowhere (and find no satisfaction) if you spend your time trying to be like everyone else, and trying to serve everyone. Trust me I’ve been there, and it’s just not fun. It’s exhausting, really. Or maybe you hate running & simply can’t find the joy in it for the life of you but all the magazines are all telling you to run. Don’t…well unless you want to and are up for a challenge. Stick to your thing.

The point is we all have a tendency to want be like others and that’s totally OK from time to time. I think it’s important to have role models and people whom you look up to. However, there comes a point when you need to draw the line between admiration and impersonation, between doing what you love and doing what you think you should love, between being true to yourself and being someone else.

But there is one thing I believe to be certain: Be true to you and everything else will fall into place & you will begin to find true happiness.

Are you constantly comparing yourself to others? Do you find it hard to lead a happy, healthy lifestyle that you can feel good about? Are you itching to find a program designed for Y-O-U? I’m here for you! Please feel free to email me or schedule a FREE 15-minute info session to learn more about my health coaching programs/ to see if we’d work well together. My programs are designed to help women like you (and me) live to their fullest potential, break free of diet-obsessed living, and learn to use REAL food & self-care as n.o.u.i.s.h.m.e.n.t.