YIKES! 40 is around the corner! Am I scared? No-o-o-o. I'm excited! The forties should bring the best years yet! I feel that I know myself very well and I'm as close to being who I was meant to be as possible. Does that make sense? There is always room for change and growth however.
I will go through many changes this year. Age, body image, job status, better health, graduation, relationships..(wink).
I say BRING-IT-ON! I'm ready! And I hope to show 40 that I'm NOT SCARED OF YOU!
Since around June or July I had lost approx. 10-15 lbs. (The holidays helped me with that fluctuated number! LOL)
I started exercising EVERY Day possible. Usually after dropping my kids off at school. If I didn't have to go to school, I would hit the gym. First, 30 minutes on the treadmill....then I'd do a little Lat Pull-downs (I HATE WORKING MY ARMS), some butt machines...abducter and adducter then side bends. Same boring routine EVERYDAY. I could be in and out of the gym in 50 minutes.
If I didn't go to the gym, I would TRY to walk the neighborhood. Usually 45 minutes and a fast pace. On days that I wasn't able to exercise at all, I would just try to eat really healthy. At the beginning, I cut my calories to 1200-1500 per day. (I'm sure my cal intake could easily have been 2000 or more if I didn't focus) DRANK TONS OF H20 and tried to cut out caffiene. My downfall is Diet Soda. Gots to have me some carbonated so-dee!!
Towards the holidays, I had finals in school and stress started creeping in. I noticed a plateau in my wt. I attributed it to stress and time management. I decided to put the wt loss on hold over the holidays.
On the Monday after New Year's, I weighed myself and I had gained a solid 5lbs. I started my gym regimen again and 1 lb came off right away. Now I'm on the wt. loss bandwagon again. My goal is to lose the 5 I had regained and an additional 15 by the 2nd week of March.
A healthy wt loss is 2 lbs per week and I have 8 weeks to go. So I say YES! I can do it!
Remember! If you want to lose wt....just walk!!!! Every day! Cut out sugar, soda, caffiene.....increase your water, veggies, fruit and fiber! And calories are the culprit! I noticed that when I'm not gaining wt, then I must be eating enough calories to maintain my wt. Therefore, I need to cut back and cut something out. Perhaps my deadly nighttime craving? CEREAL! That's an additional 300-400 cals easily. Even if it IS healthy and fiber filled. It still equals calories.
Of course, I have to document everything for fun. Here is my newest Moleskine Mini Journal (The kind that has thick wt. paper). I created the inside cover using this awesome "Tiffany Blue" irridescent, text wt. paper I found at XPDEX. I ran it through my laser printer and it came out so vibrant! Then I posted a very recent pic of myself and thought of the song..."Are you ready?? Yes, I'm ready...". (Who sings that song???) I'm trying to write in it everyday. It will help to keep me "in line". Especially with my new school schedule approaching quickly. On the most recent page, you can notice that I wrote several words down.
Those words are words that I want to use this year. Some of them are: Risk, momentum, passion, patience, vulnerability, muse, light, free-spirit.
Overall, this post will hopefully inspire you to KNOCK THE SOCKS OFF OF 2008! Do something! Keep an art journal to document your journey! YOU CAN DO IT! 
