what i would tell the girl in the red tank top

Lisa Brown Personal Trainer tells us what advice she would give her 20-year-old self

My Dad is here in Sydney at the moment visiting me from the UK. He carries a picture of me in his wallet. It is the picture above. I am around 20 years old. Check out the long brown hair!!!!! I was looking at the picture last week and I was thinking about the time it was taken, what I was doing, who I was hanging out with, my dreams for the future, my values etc, etc and I got to thinking……. What advice would I give that girl in the red tank top if I could sit down and have a beer or two with her? (FYI she would DRINK ME UNDER THE TABLE, so I would need to get my advice in early otherwise it would be incoherent bollox).

Here is a bunch of things I would tell her in no particular order of importance:

Enjoy the sunrises and sunsets: be present in that moment.
I don’t believe in regrets, if you cannot change things, there is no point in wishing, wanting and yearning for things to be different right? However, if I had the chance to do things differently I would make sure I tried to stay present in the ‘beautiful moments’ and really marinate (I love that word) in that feeling, in that moment. I have had the fortune to travel all over the world. I have lived in Hong Kong, the Middle East, I have spent time in the States and I have seen the most amazing sunrises and sunsets during these travels. I have to be honest and tell you that I wasn’t present for a lot of those sunrises and sunsets. I was too busy sweating the small stuff……. What time are we having dinner?, Do I look fat in these jeans? Why doesn’t she like me?????? Blah blah fucking blah……….

Girl in the red tank top (GITRTT): enjoy the sunrises and sunsets and try not to think about stuff that you cannot change, especially at that moment. You are missing a gorgeous instant in time that that will never be repeated quite like that one ever again.

Drink more water
Especially when you are on the lash! Shit girl! I am lucky to be here and writing this.

Breathe!

You are not fat, you are not ugly.
I repeat you are not fat, you are not ugly. I love you.

Stop talking so much and listen.
GITRTT: this advice is for me too, I still struggle to close my mouth and listen, really listen. It is still a work in progress for me, but one that will be easier for me if you give it a go now.

Squat, Deadlift, push, pull and sprint
GITRTT : The best way to get into great shape is to learn how to lift heavy stuff and then move quickly on the other days (do High Intensity Interval Training HIIT).

I guess if the girl in the red tank top knew this, how to apply it, promote it and teach it to the general population when she was 20 I may have my own TV show and be on the side of buses and get paid shit loads to go to the opening of an envelope (maybe it’s just as well the girl in the red tank top didn’t know this………. the party side of her would have been a tad destructive with fame and money and I may not be here now to write this blog).

Do not eat massive sandwiches so often
GITRTT: I know that you love the massive French baguettes that you fill with every possible type of yummy filling, but this type of overeating just doesn’t make you feel good. This is the main reason you always have a bloated belly. Cut down on the bread and eat smaller meals more often. I promise you will feel better and then not be so hard on yourself and you may be able to fit into the jeans everyone else is wearing.

Get off the beanbag
GITRTT: I know its cold outside but you gotta move a bit more. I know the UK TV is great but lying on the bean bag eating shit every night isn’t gonna make you feel good. I know that you don’t feel good a lot of the time. Get off the beanbag and move some more.

Stop puking
GITRTT: You know that you have a problem. You are bulimic. We have had this chat before (see previous blog how i got the monkey off my back) no good can come from this. Get some help.

Ditch the diet coke
GITRTT: One can may only contain one calorie but it is still really bad for you. I promise you it is full of shit. 6 cans a day is crazy! Artificial shit like this in your system is not a good move, ignore all the cool TV adverts and stay away from this shit.

Don’t take your mum and dad for granted
GITRTT: I know you love them both dearly and I know you don’t take them for granted but know they will not be around forever. I do not mean to be pessimistic. Just trust me on this one.

FYI I lost my mum to cancer in 2008. I am very fortunate to have zero regrets. The last thing my Mum said to me was, ‘I love you so much Lisa and I am so proud of you’, to which I replied, ‘I love you too Mum’. Perfect right????? How lucky am I do have this as the last thing we said to each other? I have to admit that a big fat tear is rolling down my cheek as I type this. I miss my mum and would love to have a chat to her and hang out with her and tell her so many things. If your parents are still around please trust me and don’t take them for granted.

Meditate
GITRTT: I know you are gonna think I am CRAZY, but it would be really cool if you could hit the pause button on that constant internal jibber jabber for just a couple of minutes a day. Your inner chatter box is on overdrive and most of the time it is not positive.

In all honesty I don’t think the girl in the red muscle top would be able to hear this advice. Too much brain noise going on to hear this piece of advice at this time I think.

You’re actually a pretty cool chick
GITRTT: Other people think it, please know it.

Stop judging other people
GITRMT, I have a question for you? Do you think it is cool to point out and make fun of other people for the way that they look? Do you think that you might do this because you are so unhappy with yourself? It is not cool, not nice and not needed. Let people live and look the way they want to and when you are tempted to make fun of them in front of others (so that you can amuse other people to feel better about yourself) simply pause for a sec and ask yourself if this is the person you want to be.

Stay away from the ‘cocaine girls’
GITRMT: I know you are not going to take my advice on this one as I still have problems with this myself. Yes they may be hot in the sack, look like a million dollars (to you anyway) and appear to be all sorted, cool and amazing but if they treat you like shit, put you down and disrespect you they are not, I repeat not, a good choice of girlfriend. They are like cocaine. Lots of highs and good times but eventually they will drop you on your ass with the biggest come down you have ever experienced leaving you with an addiction and desperate for them to come back to you as they move onto the next poor sucker.

You will breathe again after your heart is broken
GITRTT: I know you don’t believe me, but you will. You will.

Watch your language
GITRTT: If you can change it to a more positive inner dialogue it will have an impact everything. Your thoughts become your reality. Start saying I can, I will, I do, I am, I believe, it is done, I can do it, I can do anything instead of all of the negative bullshit you are always telling yourself. Get rid of I can’t, I won’t, it’s hard, I don’t believe, I’m a skeptic, I don’t like it.

Embrace uncertainty
GITRTT: I know this is a hard one for you at your age, to be honest it is still challenging for me at my age. GITRTT, you cannot know everything, you can not plan for everything. Have intentions but then try to stay open to all possibilities. I read an amazing book, I don’t think it you will get to read it as it hasn’t been written yet however I’m gonna give you a sneak preview:

Deepak Chopra 7 laws to spiritual success

Uncertainty is the fertile ground of pure creativity and freedom. Uncertainty means stepping into the unknown in every moment of our existence. The unknown is the field of all possibilities, ever fresh, ever new, always open to the creation of new manifestations. Without uncertainty and the unknown, life is just the stale repetition of outworn memories. You become the victim of the past and your tormentor today is your self left over from yesterday. Relinquish your attachment to the known step into the unknown and you will step into the field of all possibilities. When u experience uncertainty you are on the right path so don’t give up.

And finally, Girl in the red tank top, I have loved chatting to you today. The brown hair actually looks OK on you………. For now

Jibber jabber over n out.