Week 1: Finding a Healthy Role Model

I think it's helpful to have someone that you can look up to for inspiration when striving for a goal. Whether you're a 15 year-old high school basketball player looking up to Michael Jordan, an artist inspired by Andy Warhol, or simply a person who just needs someone to stand for what they want to be, I think it's great to have representation of your goal(s). Aside from being a role model, I think that visualization of a goal is very important. When you have something that gives you an image of what can be, it's much more powerful than a big question mark at the end of the road. I think that role model's can provide a sort of visual aid, if you will, to what your goal looks like, once achieved.

I've always struggled with finding a real role model in life. There were the Britney Spears days, the unrealistic Oprah-aspirations.. but, never someone around my age who seemed to come from what I was struggling with. However, recently, there was a lot of buzz about Kelly Osbourne, daughter of Ozzie Osbourne, and her new slender figure. I was apprehensive in congratulating her at first because Kelly had dropped weight before due to drug abuse. But, after Kelly announced she'd been clean of drugs and had found a new healthy lifestyle I started to read up more about how she slimmed down. I read that amongst other tactics and lifestyle changes, some of the things Kelly took up were ballet, pilates, nibbling on an apple before bed to keep her metabolism going over night, and many other healthy choices. But, Kelly's starting weight was very close to mine, and although our bodies are totally different in how they react to changes/diets, I think I can look to her as a role model in that 'yes I can lose the weight'. I think about how much weight has to be taken off in order to be in my "healthy" range and it's overwhelming, but having a role model to keep me motivated is certainly another hand helping me reach my goals.

These are just some before/after shots of Kelly. The first was taken in 2007 & the second just recently at the Emmy's in 2010. I'd like to take a few "before" shots of myself to later compare just like this... but I'll save those for when the weight starts to finally melt off :)







I really loved what Kelly talked about today, on the Ellen show concerning her weight and self-esteem. So, check out Kelly Osbourne on the Ellen show below, and hear her talk about loving her body and finding confidence.

"I don't ever want to be the prettiest girl in the world, I just want to like myself"

Absolutely my new role model.