15 Things I Wish Younger Me Knew

Dear Allison,

It's me! Well it's you, it's us? Technically it's the future you and I'm just writing a little something something because I want to give you a heads up about a couple things that you will learn in the next few years as you grow into the beautiful young woman you are, well will be. The years that are coming will be rough but I promise you, it's not the end of the world. Here are a few tips I want you to remember.


1. You will search near and far as to were you fit in, you'll eventually figure it out, so just enjoy the journey to yourself.

2. You will make beautiful friends and with that you will lose contact with others, so enjoy their company and learn from them.

3. Your body will change in ways you didn't think possible, it's actually quite a beautiful process.

4. The media will constantly try to tell you who to be, put down the magazines and turn of the "reality" TV every once in a while.

5. You will experience things that will excite your soul, keep doing those things.

6. Heart break will not be something you only read in books, your heart will be broken and it will suck, real bad but don't you ever settle for less then what you deserve.

7. Your dreams will seem ridiculous to others, dream bigger.

8. Life will knock you down and then, knock you down again.

9. A new diet plan will come at you every single week, remember its about being healthy, not skinny.

10. You will find strength you didn't know you had, be proud.

11. You will have to fight for what you believe in, don't stop fighting.

12. Putting makeup on and getting dressed up is fun but don't lose your identity in these materialistic things.

13. As hard as it may be sometimes it cost nothing to be nice. Be on your kind grind.

14. I'm sure the girls in the magazine are nice people but their bodies are photoshopped and they pay a lot of money get their makeup done professionally every day. It's not real.

15. And even when you don't think it's possible, you will pick your head up and keep going, I promise, you'll make it out.


I could go on and on but these are just a few of the life lessons that have really stuck with me. I promise one day you'll be able to grow out that curly fro you have and people will be envious of your long locks. Yes, the acne will eventually clear up. Being tall isn't that bad, just accept that you're never going to shrink. It'll be hard some days but I want you to learn to love the skin you're in. Take care of it, be nice to yourself.

-Allison Rose

I Finally Did It

My heart is still racing, my hands are a sweaty puddle, and my anxiety might be at an all time high. I cannot believe I just posted a picture of myself in my sports bra and workout pants on my instagram and Facebook. There is literally no turning back now, I mean it's on social media, that ish stays on there forever! But to be honest, there has been something so liberating about finally sharing my journey with my friends, family, and strangers, it's as if a weight has been lifted off my shoulder or my stomach in this case...see what I did there? haha I like to think I'm funny. But seriously, I feel like I can breath easier now that I don't have to be "ashamed" of this weight loss journey I have embarked on. When I think about it, I'm not ashamed of the changes I am making, I am more ashamed of the person who I let myself become, engulfed in gluttony. I have been carrying about this feeling of disappointment towards my family, friends, and mostly myself. How could I let myself get this unhealthy? But you know what, I am not going to dwell on the past because that's where it is and that's where it shall stay. I will only focus on the goals I have waiting for me to accomplish because I know that I can do anything with hard work and dedication. My whole life I have had teachers, coaches, parents, mentors push me to certain degrees but they can only push for so long. There is nothing I want more than to be healthy & lose this weight I have been carrying with me for far too long and I think that is why I am seeing results. I finally want this, for myself. I am finally pushing myself to something that is long overdue.

I also just want to take this moment to thank everyone so much for all the outrageous amount of encouragement I have received today from posting my pictures. You will never understand how motivating each and every comment and text is to me. I have been truly blessed with an amazing community of friends and family. I very excited to finally share this journey with you and cannot wait to see where this takes me. Thank you again for being my cheerleaders, my fans, my encouragement. You are all so very loved. I can't do this without you. 

-Allison Rose

To Detox or Not To Detox

That is the question.

This past weekend I went up to Williams, AZ with a family I've been nanny for for the past year and half. While in Williams I had this epiphany. It's a very simple really. And I when I think about, I'm kind of mad I didn't come to realization earlier. Do you want to know what it is? If I tell you that means you're going to have to be responsible for future actions. Okay, you ready? Here it is.

Eat Clean. Feel Good. 

So you're probably in some state of shock with this truth I just shared with you. It's okay, it hit me like a ton of bricks too. Like hello, why didn't anyone tell me before?! Okay, maybe I have heard this before but this time, I was actually really listening. I was listening to what my body has been trying to tell me for years. And I think it's time that I start doing what my body is telling. 

So let me give you a little background on how I came to this epiphany. For the past year in a half I have been nannying for a family that I am totally obsessed with. I have been so blessed by the Bathel's. They are two of the craziest, funniest, most caring, encouraging individuals I have had the privilege of knowing. Through them I have been recommended to other families to work with, and let me just say they have one amazing community. I hope when I am married, and have kids I can have a community like they do because it has been such an example to me. Well one thing I noticed about this community is that they really know how to take care of themselves physically and are teaching their kids those habits. Let me just say, I never had organic fruit snacks growing up or LARA Bars for that matter. I usually shared a Big Gulp and some sort of candy with my two older brothers.

So anyway, this past weekend I went up to Williams, AZ with the Bathel's to nanny as they & other families I work for prepared to host the Wild Canyon Games at Lost Canyon. As we left on Thursday morning I was on day 2 of a 15 day detox that I was all pumped up about and thought for sure I was going to finish with flying colors. By Friday night my detox was over as I indulged in some deliciously seasoned ground turkey. The rest of the weekend I enjoyed cucumbers with hummus, all natural peanut butter with bananas on whole grain toast, quesadillas on whole wheat tortilla's, vegetable soup, and I even had a couple handfuls of baked BBQ chips. Side note, we stayed in a cabin across camp with another family, and they're just as health conscious with their food, so I had a lot of yummy options to choose from this weekend. 

When I got home last night, I thought for sure I would have gained at least 5lbs because my detox was out the window after three days. Much to my surprise, very very surprised might I add, I had actually lost 5lbs. WOAH! How in the world did that happen?! I've been eating regular food all weekend and totally off track from my detox. This, my friends, is where my epiphany hit me. It finally was clicking. 

If you eat clean, healthy foods that are good for your body that aren't over processed, covered in sugar and fat, your body will be happy. It's that simple. It's all starting to make sense to me. The past few days I have been a little hard on myself with this weight loss journey but when I have these epiphanies, it makes for the journey a lot more exciting. This journey isn't just about working out, and seeing results. It's also very much about all the little habits I need to break, like the binge eating fast food, the countless Diet Cokes I get from McDonalds each week (that damn triple filter), the over eating when I am clearly full and implying the lifestyle change that needs to be made. 

Our bodies need to fuel to function properly, and if you feed it junk, its going to function like a piece junk. We need not only to live in our skin, but be kind to our skin. So come on and join me by making the choices, day by day, to eat clean and feel good. 

-Allison Rose

"Look out...it's Godzilla!!"

Kids are mean. Hands down, they can be the biggest punks. And as a nanny I can say that because I usually get the short end of that stick first hand. Let me just share with you some of my favorite questions I've gotten from kids I've watched:

"Why do you have three stomachs?"

"You know you're fat, right?"

"Why are you so big? My mom and dad are small, you're big."

"Do you have a baby in there? My mom does, she looks like you."

These types of comments are nothing new to me. I've experienced this type of outcast since grade school. My love for food started at a young age, so I was always heavier then my classmates. And to add to that, my two brothers and I always towered over kids in our grade growing up. It's no surprise that I'm the shortest of us three standing tall at 5'11". In elementary school I was picked on a lot, but mostly from afar, I mean lets be real, who's going to mess with a 1st grader that stands 5 feet tall. No one. So I would constantly hear kids yell at me, you're fat or hear the whispers when they would walk by with caution. But one of the meanest thing I ever experienced was a group of boys yelling as my friends and I chased them, "LOOK OUT....ITS GODZILLA!!!" As a child, it was one of thee most devastating things to hear that, I felt like an animal. And as a kid, I didn't know how to work through those emotions, so I ate, and ate, and ate. And with excessive eating, I would only become angry, mean, and grumpy. I was a punk for quiet some years, but I'll talk about that later.

Anyway, although I am not a parent, I do make an effort to always encourage the kids I work with to love the skin their in. We live in a society where the media is always telling us ways we can change ourselves to look prettier, or procedures to get skinnier faster. We need to start embracing our perfect imperfections, and realize that's what makes us who we are. Live in your skin. Conquer today. The world is waiting for you.


-Allison Rose