About Me!

Heyas! Welcome back to BananaBuilding 😊

Four posts after, I think it’s about time I introduce myself because basically, I’m sure that so far you only know me as the girl with the eating disorder. I promise though, I’m more than that.

My full name is Eleftheria (Ria for short) and it’s the Greek word for liberty. Yes, I’m Greek! Born and raised in Greece. I don’t think I’ve ever even been aboard to be honest. I was born on March 3^rd , 1999 and I can brag about having the same birthday as one of my most favorite artists, Camila Cabello, hehe!

I’m currently a student of Touristic Business Administration on University of West Attica and hopefully, by October, I’ll be studying my passion, Weight Training. T.B.A. was not exactly my first choice but it wasn’t my last either. However, my dream job would be… don’t laugh but I’d love to be a personal trainer on a cruise ship. Get paid to do the two things I love the most. Training people and travelling!

Travelling! I love, love, love, LIVE FOR TRAVELLING! There is such a big world out there and most of us die without seeing any of it. I’ve been in many places around my country but there’s so much more to see! I also love the see. I even tried getting into Navy once, but something stopped me.. I think it was my mom (life lesson here. I’ll talk about it in a following post). I remember I wanted to work on ships ever since I travelled with one for the first time (and was old enough to remember the experience). There’s just something magical and relaxing about the sea, the water. The blue!

Yeah, pretty much blue is my favorite color. Blue and black! 

So, regardless if I get to work on a cruise ship or not, I’m planning to live somewhere near my beloved element, water. Island, port or a mountain near the see, Greece or another by-sea area, I can’t imagine myself away. Water makes me feel like home! 🌊

Makes sense if you consider the fact that I’m a Pisces. ♓I’m a fish, I can’t help it 😜 it’s my nature after all!

But no, I don’t really believe in zodiacs so much.. Okay, I kinda do 😖

Another thing I love is writing. After all arts, I believe that writing is the one that helps me express my thoughts more. I can’t paint or draw, I can’t sing, I can only write. From lyrics, to poems, writing is my medication for pretty much everything.

I kinda grew up with Taylor Swift (fanatic Swiftie since 2008) and she inspired me to begin putting my feelings down into words. Only difference is, I can’t really open up and share any of them.

Or actually, no. I did share them a few times, only to later regret it. Hence why I have the trust issues I do...

I grew up pretty much like most teens did.. I went to the classic primary school, where you either hang out with everyone or you’re all alone (guess who I was -_- ), then middle school, which I have to admit, was kind of fun, despite my problems and then, high school, where unless you’re super pretty or rich, you’re on the outside looking in. I changed schools throughout these stages, so I did not have the same kids surrounding me in all these years.

Middle school was not that bad. I was the new kid so I felt on the outside at first but it felt better as time went by. Although, that was when my first insecurities begun. To be honest though, it had nothing to do with school so it would be more than unfair to put the blame on that.

High school though… You could give me all the money in the world and I’d still not go back at it. Wait, no. I take that back. If I had all the money in the world it wouldn’t be so awful. I’d pay a wrestler to be my personal bodyguard ;P It wasn’t any different that the classic ‘awful’ high school experience. Cool girls smelled the insecurity and weakness in me and it didn’t take long for them to step on me and kick me to the ground. Making fun of me for being a good student, to a point where I’d no longer participate in class, but then, during tests, guess who they begged for help! At first, I was scared so I helped them out. Biggest mistake of my life 👎👎

I feel like, during the three years I spent there, I cried myself to sleep at night almost every day.

Then, they also found out my passion for music and my love for fangirling. I didn’t have many friends, so even at 16, I was online on Twitter, trending hastags about Taylor, Selena, Demi and Justin! Justin.. Ohh you should see how they laughed when I accidentally said I loved him. Have you ever felt ashamed for being who you are? Not only for your looks. Who you are in general. Your passions, your favorite things. Things that make you.. you! 💟

Of course, let’s not talk about the teasing for being Vegan. Not the ‘where do you get your protein’ classic. That was nothing compared to the rest of it.

I know I make high school sound like hell, and believe me, mine was. But, to all my younger readers out there, it doesn’t have to be like that for you too. Many say to just ignore then, but as I say to my younger brothers (yes, I have two, twins), fight back. Not physically but mentally. Be strong and brave enough to stand up for yourself. Especially the first few times, even if you  have to fake it, DON’T LET THEM KNOW. Don’t show them that what they say gets to you. It sounds hard, and it actually is. Sometimes though, I just wish I could go back to my  younger self and tell her what I know now. Like in ‘Little Me’!

Anyway, it’s over now and I honestly couldn’t be any happier about it. All I wish for, is to just see a few of these people somewhere and show them how stronger I’ve gotten. Have one last fight with them. And, of course, win.

Now, I’m 19 and I am trying my best to spend the rest of my life as well as I can. As mentioned, I’m a uni student, pretty much broke, since I don’t have a job, but I can reassure you, this doesn’t stop me from surrounding myself with positive people. It takes time but when you find these few people, life does get better. All it takes is a search for people who won’t try to change you. People who will accept you as you are and embrace your craziness. Above and beyond, we’re all crazy in a way. All you need to do is find the ones with similar craziness as yours.

Oh and, let's not skip the fact that I’m STILL a fangirl! Or at least, I’m trying to be. With my new social life, it’s hard to find time to fangirl like I did when I had no friends but deep down, I’ll always love my ‘faves’ the same way I did when I was 13. At the end of the day, those people literally were my only friends. Yes, I consider them my friends. After all, their music was my only company during the last decade. I am a Swiftie, Lovatic, Selenator and Belieber. These four literally saved my life. Each of them in a diverse situation, but still. Without them, I don’t know where I’d be by now. They have no idea who I am, and probably they never will, but to me, they’re my family.

I’m also a fan of Halsey, Dua Lipa, Billie Elish, 5 Seconds of Summer (when they first started out as a band & I had more time and energy for fangirling, they were my top fave), Camilla Cabello and many many more. Sadly, not only are they too many but I’m also too busy to fangirl the way I want to.

Oh  and, apart from binge eating, I am also a lover or binge watching series, shows, movies and YouTube videos (the only kind of binge I enjoy). I can spend entire days without going out, only to watch things online. I hate watching tv to be honest. Both the longer ads and the limitation on what and when you can watch shows bothers me. I prefer being able to choose when I’ll watch what, and also, as I said BINGE WATCH series/movies. I have two separate lists on my phone, with series and movies to watch. I also have a Netflix list, full of series and movies waiting for me, and let’s not forget my 5,500+ videos on YouTube. I don’t know when I’ll finish all these but hey..! I have all the time in the world to waste.

I suppose this is a habit I created back in middle/high school. I’d spend most of my nights inside the house, so my only company would be The Vampire Diaries (TEAM KATHERINE ALL THE WAY BITCHES) and any other show/movie of the time. They all made me feel better in a way.

So as I said already, my dream career would be a personal/weight trainer in a cruise ship! I already talked about my love for travelling so now it’s time I talk about my other passion. Weight Lifting!

My love story with the gym started like any other gym story. I went there day one, with a friend, hated it and never went back again. Okay, that’s a lie. I went there for NINE WHOLE DAYS LOL. I remember the trainer gave me a program and told me, every time I’d go, I’d note the day and when I’d reach day 10, I’d give it back to get a new one. I never did…

There go 80 euros, all wasted 😿

Day 9 was my final. My first gym experience was awful to be honest. The gym was too small, too crowded and dirty.

For a while, I did many Zumba classes, which I enjoyed but they were too expensive for my budget. Then I decided to give weight lifting another chance 💃

This time though, I chose wisely. Clean gym, bigger, with less douche bags.

My first trainer made me LOVE every visit there. She was genuine fun to be around. Always smiling and making me laugh. Even if I’d hate the work out, I loved ‘hanging out’ with her. This girl helped me realize the impact a positive person can have to you. Up until today, although she changed a workplace and we barely ever talk anymore, I consider her to be one of my greatest role models and inspirations in life.

Too much irrelevant rant. Back to the story!

Well, just like any other thing in life, you either hate it or love it. I happened to love it. With time of course.

Because of my sick mindset (during that time I was still struggling with my eating disorder -story is posted here – saying I was fat and I had to work out), I went to the gym almost daily so train by train, I would get better. Day by day, I’d do harder exercises, lift heavier, get stronger. By that time, I wanted to get better so I started eating healthy again, even though I still struggled with my binge eatings  so as a result, I started lifting heavier 💪💪

That was it. The first time I ever got to increase the weigh was a turning point for me.

I felt so confident by that action. I felt stronger. Not only physically but mentally. Honestly, that was also the time where I started felling strong enough to even stand up for myself to every person to treat me wrong at school (aka talk back and not share my notes or tests answers. I'd participate again in class and feel PROUD, my grades got higher and although I'd get in more fights at first, I started realizing how I was wasting too much energy on them). I wanted to be able to lift more. By next month I wanted to be able to do this work out with a 5 kg dumbbell, instead of a 3 kg one. And I knew, in order to do this, I needed to eat better.

Somehow I found myself ‘craving’ recovery so that I could lift more. I wanted to gain that strength. In a blink of an eye, all the thinspo photos on my phone were replaced by thinspiration ones. My body goals changed. My YouTube was full of bodybuilding videos and my fitnesspal goals where 1.900 cals AND I MEANT IT. Little did I know, for bodybuilding 1.900 is too low, but that’s another story.

Anyhow, I found peace hidden in iron and sweat!

Weight lifting helped me recover and I’ll always be grateful for it.

Long story short, even though I still find it hard to recover from binge eating, I am nowhere near where I was back then.

Now, I am so passionate and in love with it that although I’m lucky enough to study in one of the greatest Universities of my country, all I can think about is getting my Personal Training degree and follow my dream! Something that I wish everyone would do.

So that’s all about me, so far! Oh and did I mention I love animals?? YAYYY! 🙈🙉🙊 I love them so freaking much that I one day woke up and decided I was now vegan, since I did not want to contribute to their torture. But Veganism is a theme for a whole another post, coming soon, I suppose.

Thank you all for taking time to read though this entire autobiography :D lol

If you wish you contact me, you’ll either find me here or here :p

Don’t forget, life GETS BETTER the moment you change your surroundings and the people you interact with. Go out there, meet people who will EMBRACE you and love you the way you deserve to be loved! 💞

Xoxo, Ria!