Shakes of my youth

Well, for change, this story is not about those Herbalife shakes of mine. Not so much, anyway. It is about “where I am today is where my mind put me” kind of moment and here it goes …

I have recently put an old ex-colleague who now lives and works in Milan in touch with my old childhood friend whom I have not seen for over 15 years who also happens to live and work in Milan. To cut the long story short, I asked Stefania, an ex-work colleague, how the meeting went with Laura and whether Laura shared some of the things from our childhood. Well, the first thing she mentioned was that Laura has talked to her about the shakes that I used to make and how I made her drink them.

 

I have become very passionate about nutrition issues for the past four to five years, however, Laura saying this has reconnected me with my early age aspirations. I have completely forgotten about my early ambitions to make myself and, eventually others, healthy and those shakes that I used to make, I believed, were one of the ways to achieve it. I remember making them by mixing absolutely every piece of fruit and vegetable I had in the kitchen or garden together with the herbs from the garden, then I would add skimmed or semi skimmed milk or even freshly squeezed juice and finish it off with a couple of raw eggs. That could be my breakfast, snack or even my dinner.

 

There could be easily 10-15 different fruits and veg in the mix as I have already known then that the more of it – the better as you get more nutrition. Actually, there would be so much of it that I would always have to invite someone to share it with me while it was still fresh. In absence of a (rather apprehensive) friend, my parents were the next target who were happy to oblige as long as I promised them that there were no raw eggs in the shake. I remember those were my first white lies that I felt good about at the time. I would watch them drink the mix, chuckling at them with satisfaction. I understand now why everyone felt uneasy about drinking those shakes as they were mostly brown or green on some good days (They obviously left an impression on Laura). As we ate all seasonal stuff, I had to wait for summer for a dash of colour with all those summer berry fruits being in season, frozen ones just could not do the same thing.

 

I was not more than 14 or 15 at the time when I started improvising with the shakes. I have read in one of the health and nutrition magazines at the time that those shakes were really healthy, I think they called them Elixir Shakes as it is all now coming back to me, and it made all sense to me then and I followed that routine on most of the days up until I escaped the conflict in Bosnia and lived in Croatia for a while and then came to the UK. During that time, I will admit that I have lost my healthy ways completely (ex-work colleagues could read this in disbelief as they might remember me solely by indulging in my KFC lunches pretty much every single day), all up until Herbalife found me a few years back.

 

So, I am a shake person again, this time with a lot more sophistication to my shakes and a lot tastier set of flavours and a proper and achievable plan to really make a difference not just for myself and a few friends.

 

This story might be just “So what?” to many people, but, to me it means a lot as I ended doing something that is the closest that it possibly can get to the dream and ambition I used to have. We all have a dream when we are young and most of us end up going astray from time to time, but, if we could connect to that child of ours and ambitions and aspirations we had when we were young, answers could possibly lie right in there. All that is left is to follow that dream and try not to miss the opportunities on the way.

 

So, while Mark Hughes was opening Herbalife in the UK 20 years ago, I was in my early teens, living in Bosnia, oblivious to the tragedy that was going to unravel in the country in a few years time, living with a dream of wanting to make myself and everyone around me healthy (unaware, too, that someone has already invented a lot better and simpler solution to healthy eating).

 

Thanks to Herbalife, I have reconnected with my childhood passion and it feels wonderful as that tiny dream of mine can now be achieved on a grander scale that I have ever imagined.

 

My husband Mugi, who knows me better than anyone, when I told him about these shakes and the way of life I used to live as a teenager (and shall I dare to say – unlike many teenagers I knew at the time), just commented that he understands why I am where I am now (adding that he is no longer scared of me) and that he can appreciate now why I feel so much passion for what I do with Herbalife.

 

It will be a while before I make a difference on a scale that I am able and I dream of, however, my aim is not to live in the future but to enjoy this wonderful journey as long as it takes me as it, anyway, is all about making a difference to “one person at the time”. It all comes together on the end when you do it from the heart.

 

Laura, Stefania – thank you so much for this…. And see you in Milan soon! I’ll make you a shake really worth remembering this time!