The Girl With No Name Whose Tweets On Twitter Helped Me Change My Life For The Better

As I reported in a recent blog, I am a full-blown workaholic.  Considering my prior addictions which, through the grace of God, Twelve Step Programs and a fabulous sponsor,  I have managed to abstain from for over 20 years, work is the lesser of all my evils.

(Image of GirlWithNoName from www.girlwithnoname.com - All rights Reserved).

I do need to mention the fact that I love my work which consists of writing and running HairBoutique.  Both of these tasks are pure fun and I feel blessed to have these opportunities in my life.

I Am Committed To Getting Enough Restful Sleep

When I'm in my work mania mode, I am having so much fun writing or tweeting or doing whatever, I don't want to take the time to eat healthy, exercise or take time for me.  I have learned over the years I must get enough sleep because if I don't my skin, hair and nails start to rebel.  I also find I am better able to write and think when I have had a good 7-8 hours of restful sleep.  As a result, I religiously honor a set bedtime and have learned what things to do to fall asleep quickly and get productive sleep.

A Confessed Personal Trainer Drop Out

I can't say the same about exercise or my eating, which has been a little erratic, to say the least.  I will also confess that I am a trainer-dropout.  As recently as a year ago I would drag my less-then-thrilled self to a health club where I worked out for 1 hour with a perky trainer who would not let me stop until I was drenched in sweat and begging for mercy.  Yes, I lost weight and felt healthy, but I absolutely dreaded those days at the health club.

Several years ago I also had a female trainer who helped me get into amazing shape.  However, in the process I wound up with pulled tendons in my legs, a bad back and knee problems.  I quit training after my most serious injury and did not try again until last year.  Yes, I dropped out last year too when my travel schedule prevented me from a regular training program.

The Girl With No Name

Shortly after I joined Twitter some months ago, I discovered tweets by a woman named GirlWithNoName.  I instantly was impressed how she tweeted about the food she ate for each meal and the exercises she did.  She also provided VideoBlogs showcasing her program.  I was moved, inspired and looked forward to her tweets every day.

Whenever I saw her pop up on my Twitter thread I would instantly read what she was up to.  I kept telling myself, if a super busy woman like that can track her food and commit to exercise, so should I.  Never mind the fact I felt horrible from eating badly which mainly meant just grabbing something fast so I didn't have to stop and shop or cook.

When I am in my writing zone, I don't want to stop for anything.  A tornado could touch down on my house and I would keep typing even if my Internet went down.  I admit I'm powerless over my writing and work addictions.  I also stay clean about why I am working and if I'm trying to avoid dealing with something else.  Yes, I still work my 12 Steps except now for work.

Tweets From Girl With No Name Gave Me Renewed Motivation

After several weeks of faithfully reading GirlWithNoName's tweets and visiting her video blog I decided to take a few baby steps.  I made a commitment to walk just 5 minutes a day on my state-of-the-art treadmill sitting in my upstairs rec room.  After removing all the clothes hanging from the rails and picking up the books from the edges, I laced up my walking shoes and got on.  Five minutes seemed just fine.

Keep On Walking - Slow But Sure

I promised myself to keep walking every single night, even if it meant just five minutes.  I would take it one day at a time.  And I did.  No need to go crazy and get hurt so that I gave up again.  Nope.  I was going to take it slow but steady.  And I did.

After a few weeks I was slowly adding minutes until I was at 20 minutes.  I was also adding a little speed and a slight incline to the treadmill.  I felt better.  As a result of walking every day, I started eating better.  After all, it seemed crazy to grab a carb-rich meal that I would have to later walk off.

Eating Better - Starting With Breakfast - Thanks To Girls With No Name

I started eating a healthy breakfast of hard boiled eggs or cottage cheese.  I actually started following some of the foods that GirlWithNoName was eating.  She looks amazing and so healthy, so why not follow her lead?  So I did.

During my exercise development cycle I got a bad case of the flu.  I was sick for 10 days but the minute I felt better, I was back on my treadmill, even though I had to back off the speed, time and incline a bit since I was a little weak from the virus.

Girl With No Name Keeps Me Honest Even While Traveling

Recently I spent 8 days on a Hairboutique.com field trip in LA.  I went to Red Carpet events where they had all types of champagne, beer, wine and high fat, sugar and chocolate laden goodies.  I am proud to say that every time I thought about breaking my healthy food plan, I would close my eyes and see GirlWithNoName in my head and I would stop myself from eating badly.

I even checked her Tweets while I was out of town to keep me really strong and motivated.  I teased her about seeing her in my head when I wanted to cheat and she laughingly said she was "haunting me."  Thank goodness she is.  I really appreciate knowing she is out there as a permanent role model for me.

I couldn't take my treadmill on the plane with me to LA but I did a lot of walking while I was in town and in a way, managed to keep my exercise program on track.

Girl With No Name Has Saved My Health And Possibly My Life

The ironic thing is that the beautiful redheaded GirlWithNoName has motivated me to take better care of my body.  I recently told her via tweets that I believe she is partially responsible for saving my life.  At least extending it.  Since my goal is not specifically to lose weight or build muscle but to live a healthy lifestyle, Twitter friend has helped me find a path I am comfortable with and able to stick with.

Ultimately if I do improve my health by exercising and eating better, hopefully it will extend my life for many years so instead of them finding me slumped over my notebook after a tornado they will find me slumped over at the ripe old age of 100+ due to the influence of my Twitter friend.

Seriously, I Don't Know Her Name

And no, I don't know her name.  Isn't that funny?  While two trainers whose names I knew couldn't help me maintain a permanent lifestyle change, a woman who lives in Canada and whose name I don't know, has helped me become motivated to change my life for the better.  She is so amazing with her constant tweets of encouragement.  Even better, she lives by example.

Whenever I don't want to walk on my treadmill or would rather stuff a piece of bread into my mouth instead of heating a chicken breast, I think of her total commitment to having health and I stop in my tracks.  She has become my Twitter Guardian Angel for eating healthy and exercising.

To The Girl With No Name, thank you for saving my life with your great example and encouragement.  Please follow my amazing Twitter friend at http://twitter.com/GirlWithNoName.

Also you can visit her website and see her amazing video blogs at:  http://www.girlwithnoname.com/

Please tell her Karen at HairBoutique.com, her biggest Twitter fan, sent you.

For More Information

Please follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/HairBoutique.  I follow all who follow me and I appreciate everyone I meet on Twitter.  Thank you for your consideration.