Does Beauty Only Come From Within?

These were the words that ran through my mind as I stared at myself in the mirror adjacent the doubled glazed window of my two-room apartment. The sun streamed in steadily like it was determined to brazenly show me the reality I had been avoiding for the past four months after giving birth to my first child.

As thin as a whip, I breezed through my first 24 years without giving a second thought to my waist line or how a dress sat on me. I ate whatever I freaking wanted and still had the " I woke up like this" effortless look with the sheen of youthfulness beautifying every outfit I wore.

" Beauty comes from within" my religious parents always emphasized and this reinforced my carefree attitude toward my eating habits and lifestyle and, I must say, I got by with it for a long time.

I married the love of my life and got pregnant at 25. The hormones raged and my untamed appetite had its free rein. My husband and my friends watched in horror as I stuffed my face with large quantities of my cravings which ranged from salted avocados to peanut butter with marshmallows. I always defiantly waved them off with " Don't look at me that way, I am eating for TWO! Besides...beauty comes from within"

Reality began to sip in gradually after I gave birth to my son. The girl who was once as thin as whip now wobbled. The months of unhealthy eating even after the birth of my son had taken its toll on my body. With the changes that came with pregnancy my body could no longer give me a pass but alas beauty comes from within right? So I continued eating.

My chest heaved heavily and my breathing was uneven. I had just climbed the few stairs leading to my bedroom. Since noticing the changes in my body, I avoided the mirror. That nasty old mirror adjacent the window always eager to show me a lie I thought. But on this fateful morning, I summoned the courage to look. I looked, then I stared, and then my mouth hung open in disbelief. This mirror has got to be kidding me.

After half an hour, transfixed staring at myself in the mirror, I realized I didn't recognize the person who starred back at me. She was a far cry from that youthful healthy young lady she thought she was. My once slender neck had disappeared and my chiseled sexy jaw line was no where to be found. Alas beauty does not only come from within, Health is also beauty!!

Like a phoenix rising from the ashes, with a mind made up, I wiped the single tear that ran down my right eye and determined that this was the last time I will ever get to feel this way about myself. For the first time in a long while, I dusted my thinking cap and set to work researching on work out regimens and healthy eating recipes. 

In the course of my study, I came upon the knowledge that it is not what you do once in a while that produces the change you desire but what you do consistently that makes the lasting difference. In that moment, I decided to quite my quest for the latest diet fad in pursuit of a total change of lifestyle.

Fast forward to nine months later, after making the effort of a mountain climber to push away the plate countless times and a lot of hard work on the mills, I have reclaimed my energy and my old self is back. I will never forget the day I boldly faced my fears in the mirror and asked myself the question that would change my life forever..."Does beauty only come from within?"