Train-wreck!

I have realised that I cannot go on as I am doing, emulating the lifestyle of a slug, without turning into a train-wreck. There are too many people around me who are very fit, for a start, for me to feel comfortable continuing this downward spiral to the land of lard.

The friend who was staying with me was a national level swimmer when he was younger. He was a swimmer for 15 years. His idea of a warm up is to swim for an hour. Apparently he used to swim up to 5 hours a day.

Liddle Sis's beau is a lifeguard at Brighton. Very fit. Black belt in some martial art. Can lift up any random stranger regardless of whether he is taller than her or not.

My friend N., who positively radiates health (doesn't smoke, drink or stay out late), has been doing yoga so much she can now stand on her head (albeit propped against a wall).

My colleague D., who has just come in this morning to my office (and precipitated all this, actually) to say he feels his love handles are disappearing thanks to his daily workouts at the gym in the building next door to ours (to which I responded, "Too much information. I don't need to know about my colleague's love handles. You wanna talk about my train-wreck ass? Thought not.").

Then there are the 36 year old ladies in the office who have skin that glows in the dark, it is so healthy and clear. In dark contrast, my own skin battles with the effects of neglect (first and foremost, ok, I admit it), late nights, insomnia and hormones. Oh, and I pick on my skin when I'm nervous.

Actually, my skincare regime is non-existent. My friend L., my mother and my sisters have all at some point tried to make me reform. I have been dragged to makeup counters in department stores and forced to buy some cream, toner or other on the grounds that I 'need it'. L., when she was living with me, was extremely proud of herself that she had stopped me from using soap and water to wash my face - I now use some scrub thing. My mother and sister made me buy some toner and tried to make me buy a lotion that cost US$66 when I was in Seoul last week (they failed on that one, naturally). My mother also said I need to start using eye-cream before it's too late (I think it is already, actually, but I daren't say that).

I am going to look at myself in the mirror now - I'll probably freak out. Maybe I should start listening to these people. I'll probably thank them in a decade's time, right?