Made it to 40

So today at 12:25 or so I turned the big 4-0. Although all year I was promising myself that this was going to be the "Me" decade and that I was really looking forward to the whole 40 thing...I can't help but enter this new decade with trepidation. I know you are only as old as you feel and I feel great, I feel young, healthy and ready to rumble. It isn't the brand new 40 I am thinking about, it's the decade of change I am worrying about. When I hit 30 I had it all to look forward to, a loving relationship that grew into a stable partnership that resulted in a child and a new home. The career that was budding and new, no wrinkles, no grey hairs, and I was still able to get away with a skirt that was >< too short.  40 is a whole new animal. I feel, entering into this brave new world, that 40 is where your confidence and sage, wise self develop. Where experience finally pays off.  I am hoping this is the decade where I can relax, explore without objective, learn without necessity and chill out a little. The things that scare me about 40 are out of my control anyway but hopefully I will find the coping skills for the new challenges of the "40ties" and use what I already know to carry me through the rest.

Onwards and upwards....here we go!

Catching Up

It has been a long long time since I have written this blog and in the three months since I have been away a lot has happened, some good, some private but for the most part through thick and thin I have remained on plan as much as I can. The dieter I am today is very different then the dieter I was last year at this time. I have settled into a lull, a maintenance regime. I am not currently actively trying to lose weight. In fact today I canceled my monthly membership to Weight Watchers.

Now, don't be disheartened, I must confess that I have not been using the tools to my advantage over the last three months. I guess I feel I have the routine set and I am comfortable at the weight I am at...for now. In January I decided to take a conversational French course, to improve and update my skills. I am in a constant transition, looking to better myself anyway I can. The course interfered with my weekly Weight Watchers meetings and without them I felt I wasn't getting my money's worth. So the new plan is to find a happy medium where I am still accountable to my diet via daily weigh ins and, when my French course is over at the end of March, to resume my Weight Watchers meetings but go bi weekly, cutting the expense in half. If I find that doesn't work then I rejoin at the full cost.

As for my running, unfortunately I had to bench the running during the winter. I wasn't comfortable running in the freezing air, It wasn't good for my chest and my ankles needed the break. Instead of running I picked up my walking to an hour to 1.5 hours a day (between 2-5 km a day). For certain my wind isn't as good as it was in the fall. I know that my stamina will have to be regained but as far as my weight control the walking is working beautifully. At Christmas I gained 7 pounds, I dropped 4 -5 of those pounds and have maintained a pretty consistent 30-33 pound weight loss since this time last year.

I am comfortable where things are right now, I am weighing in daily to make sure my weight stays in check. I am sticking, for the most part, to my weekend splurges and my weight control week days. It's been a pretty good transition into hibernation mode. I am looking forward to the spring where I can crack out my runners again though, I miss the limp breeze in my hair as I stagger around the block ;-)