As I sat on the chaise in my bedroom trying to figure out which clothes to pack for my long saved for and much anticipated trip I couldn’t help but notice that most of the clothes I was trying to fold (read rolling up in a bundle and shoving into my suitcase) were all size 10s and Mediums!
Wait a long minute! Size 10? For the longest time I could remember caring I was a size 8! A petite yet curvy size 8! “Somebody must have been sneaking into my home and shortening the waist in my pants and while at it changing the size tags on my clothes too!”I thought to myself. “Who does that to people?” And then I remembered that it was not 2010 anymore. Time really had flown by and with it body sizes changed too. I had become so engrossed living life that I forgot to notice some things.
With a nostalgic smile on my face, my mind went back to 2010 and I saw the 25 year old Maureen. I remember thinking how amazing the gods had been to me. Two months post graduation and I had landed an internship with one of the companies most people only dream of working for.
On my face were these same old big eyes, only they were way innocent than the current pair of big eyes sitting on my face.
Mixed emotions ran through my mind. At first I felt pressure, and then it was gratitude and then it was thinking about what the future held and then it was celebrating a major milestone!…I was now a working girl! Heeeey! I remember promising myself to work my ass off and make sure the internship turned into a permanent job. I also remember promising to save as much money as possible to make my 2015 birthday one I will not forget in a long time.
I really didn’t know what I would do to make this special birthday grand but after toying with several ideas I decided that I would take a trip to some island I have not been to yet and one whose pictures I’ve been drooling over on the net and yearning for after watching those CNN ads.
After doing calculations based on the not-so-near-future I knew that I would need a boat load of cash and that led to me making a very drastic change in my lifestyle.
There would be no more weekday lunches. Coffee, brunch and dinner dates would be limited. Besides, I could always brew a nasty cuppa at home. Clubbing became a rumor unless the occasion really mattered. Cinema dates were also cut down and much later driving to work every day became quite unnecessary. Besides, that 400m walk to the bus stop most mornings counts as a work out. Years later I also did away with my cleaning lady and her cleaning services and instead settled for cleaning my own house.
One day my boss found me seated at my desk during lunch hour and asked me why I never went out for lunch. “Aren’t you going to get skinnier?” “Lunch is not my thing.” I had responded with a coy smile.
Another time a colleague came to me and said “You must be a very rich girl.” “I wish! But why do you say so?” I asked innocently. “You never go for lunch, so you must have saved a lot of money by now.” I contemplated furnishing him with my reasons but decided against it. Instead I just shrugged my shoulders and laughed. By this time I had discovered that eating food in the morning was the answer. This way, my blood sugar would remain stable for most of the day and at around 2.30pm I would have a bowl of fruit salad and then upon getting home I would wolf down a massive plate of whatever food I could get on my plate. It made so much sense to me. This remains my routine to date.
5 years later, I was finally dragging my luggage to the taxi that was waiting for me at the gate.
TO BE CONTINUED……. Live Love 30!! Part 2
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