"The chains of habit are too weak to be felt until they are too strong to be broken."
― Samuel Johnson

I know I always say how I love to live healthy, but when I was a teenager, I had this awful habit of eating at night. I could go all day without food, but as soon as everyone else went to bed, I went down to the kitchen and stuffed myself with whatever was at hand.

I think it started because of my older sister and her perfect friends. Those girls were all so slim and pretty, and I didn't want to seem like I was eating all the time, so I stopped eating by daylight.

Back then, I didn't know how our bodies work. I figured, what difference does it make when I eat?

One night, I was sitting on the counter eating mac and cheese, and my mom came in to get some water. She turned on the lights and scared me so much that I threw the bowl on the floor! All the noodles flew through around the kitchen like confetti! "Now that's a big reception!" my mom said, then laughed.

Thankfully, mom caught it just in time to prevent me from having a full-blown eating disorder. I didn't really ask for help, but I didn't hide my bad looks, either. If it wasn't for mom, I don't know what other damage I might have caused with this stupid habit… Every one of us probably has some bad habits, but I gotta say, admitting to having them is the first step to getting rid of them. I'm happy my wonderful mom was with me when I needed her, even when I didn't realize it.

"Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life."
― Mark Twain

I've got to admit it: I was a lazy kid, and I was never really good in school. Which shouldn't be the reason why you should be like me as well! :D But the hardest time I had was with reading books. I was too impatient to just sit down and read. Back then, I lived in a small town, and I'd rather go out with the boys exploring the woods or riding my bike.

But I had this awesome big cousin called Mike. He lived in New York with his parents, but they loved to visit us over the weekends to get some fresh air. Mike was actually the favorite child in the family – he was smart and went to university after doing a gap year in Australia. I wanted to be like him.

When I was 14, he said to me: "Barry, do you want to go with me to New York and see all the spots where the cool kids hang out? I'll show you all the vinyl stores, take you to the movies, and you can meet my best friends!" For this to happen, I had to do one thing – I had to read a book by Jules Verne.

At first, it was like torture to me. I tried to read one chapter every day before going to sleep, but I think I always fell asleep before I'd even made it halfway through a chapter. At some point, I got into the book so much that I couldn't stop reading! I think it was because instead of dropping the book after one chapter, I made myself keep turning the pages. I became really immersed in the book, and it didn't let me go that easily.

By the time Mike came to check on me and the book, I'd finished the one he gave me, and had even started a new one. He was surprised! So that summer he took me to New York for a month! And we had so much fun together. He took me to bookstores, we bought some vinyl and hung out in Central Park, which I only knew from movies. Ah, those were good times!

Oh Katie, t's silly and embarrassing to tell you this, but for years I lived my life telling everyone I was allergic to peanuts – when I wasn't! I felt like I had to lie because I hated the smell of peanut butter, but whenever I told people I didn't like peanut butter they'd get all defensive, like, "Peanut butter is amazing, how come you don't like it?!" I, on the other hand, felt like I had to defend myself.

I got tired of that and started telling people that I'm just allergic to peanuts – and it wasn't my fault. People would feel sorry for me, because I'd never taste the divine taste of peanut butter!

The problem was though, I really loved peanut M&Ms! And I could only eat them secretly at home. Don't tell that to anyone! The truth is, the only person who knew this little secret of mine was your dad! Long before you were born, after we've just moved in together, he walked in on me stuffing myself with peanut M&Ms :D

Once, we had a party at work, and there was a whole bowl of peanut M&Ms which I obviously couldn't even look at, in order not to give myself away. That whole night, I was craving some peanut M&Ms, but simply couldn't do it.

Later that night, when we got home, your dad tipped his jacket over and dozens of peanut M&Ms fell out of his pockets! He said, "I've been collecting them for you one by one the whole night. I could see the pain in your eyes!"

If that isn't love, I don't know what is. I just wanted you to know what kind person your dad is.

My mother always had this weird thing for ballet. At some point she decided that if she couldn't become a ballet dancer, then I should. I attended ballet classes for a couple of years, but when I was about 13 I realized that it was kind of lame.

Girls would laugh at me when they heard what I was doing after school. And I couldn't have girls laughing at me, right, little man?

At ballet class I met this girl, Jenna, whose older siblings did street and hip-hop dancing. Now, this was a type of dancing I could do.

My mother kept taking me to ballet classes, but Jenna and I would sneak out and go join her siblings in a parking lot where all the hip-hop dancers met. I was so scared that mother would find out! What would she say if she discovered I'd gone against her wishes?

Unfortunately, it didn't last very long, because soon enough my ballet teacher asked my mom about me, and she got suspicious. Eventually, I had to tell her about the street dancing. I was scared she'd explode with anger, but she just laughed in my face and hugged me! She wasn't mad! Instead, she just said, "Will you show me some cool moves?"

Who would have thought?

Thinking back, I'm surprised that I was scared of telling her the truth. She was actually a very kind person. I should have told her right away, instead of sneaking around behind her back.

"Rebel children, I urge you, fight the turgid slick of conformity with which they seek to smother your glory."
― Russell Brand

I never paid much attention to what I wore in school. Usually it was just plain jeans and shirts. But my mom was very fashion-conscious and tried to impose her taste in clothing on me all through my childhood and teen years. She bought me fancy dresses and high heels, which I refused to wear, because they were something those stupid popular girls wore.

When she was in school, my mom used to be one of those girls – a cheerleader, the popular girl, wearing all those fancy dresses and shoes. And she thought I had to follow in her footsteps. She basically threw away all my usual clothes so that I was left with all the glittery stuff she'd given me.

I knew my mom wanted me to look pretty. But as a kid, your clothing is the one thing through which you can express yourself. And all of my means of expression were just dismissed. I felt like a prisoner! So, to show my mom that she'd gone too far, I went off and shaved my head! Entirely! Including eyebrows!

Not the wisest of my decisions, haha! However, I told my mom that if she tried to dress me up like a Barbie again, I was going to get my whole face pierced.

But well, I think it worked. She saw that the more she pushed, the more I was going to push back. And from that day on, she only gave me "nicer" shirts for birthdays or Christmas, and stopped bringing me glamorous dresses and high heels. Of course, now I like dresses and even high heels, but wearing them is my own choice, not imposed by someone else. Well, I gotta say, I came to it through trial and error. I'll show you a picture of a "Lady in Black" – you're going to laugh so hard!