Saturday, February 26, 2011
40-Renovation -- Part 2 -- Not Alone
I really think that the 40th birthday of someone's life is really a significant moment. My weight is only part of the 40-renovation. Mentally I am a different person. It has changed the way I think about some things, react to other things, care about some things, and discard and not even pay attention to most things that just simply don't matter to me directly. Now that I have started to pay attention to it (as with most things) I am finding that there are many others out there who go through this same experience.
http://takimag.com/article/10_things_about_turning_40
Hilarious! Geared more towards men, but applicable to really anyone. Very funny video in the middle of the page. =)
http://blog.thesource4ym.com/archive/2010/03/19/top-10-signs-youre-turning-40.aspx
Also very funny blog about turning 40. Again a little more geared towards the men, but men sometimes have a way of just really laying it all out there that in its comedic simplicity just makes me laugh. =)
http://womenatforty.com/about-this-site/
An entire site dedicated to Women at 40. Life. Love. Reality. In our fortieth year.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1077/is_n10_v52/ai_19653902/
Excerpt: Camille Cosby told it to Oprah and Oprah told it to me and, a few weeks ago, I told it to a Sister-friend who was feeling down, distressed and depressed because her life was about to take a dreaded turn. She was turning 40. What Oprah told me Camille told her and I told my friend is this: "You should be out on your veranda dancing because you are about to experience one of the most magnificent, marvelous events in a woman's life."
http://turning40.net/
Another site dedicated to turning 40.
http://www.theboot.com/2010/06/29/court-yard-hounds-cher/
Cher recounts to Martie from the Dixie Chicks how her 40th year was her best year.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1705115/ - Kevin Smith: Too Fat for 40!
This isn't a link to an article but a movie. In typical Kevin Smith style of his Q&A sessions, one audience member asks a question which then turns into a two hour answer session filled the realities of this time period in our lives, lived through a man with way more money and resources than most of us - so in other words not different - but amplified. =)
and of course, Louis CK above. =)
40-Renovation -- Part 1 -- My Journey To Date and My Big Goal
When asked my age, the first thing I think of is - what year is this? Since I was born in 1970, if the year is 2009 - that means I am turning 39 on 11/2 of that year. So on January 1, 2010, I knew from the moment the clock turned 12:00:00 AM that I would be turning 40 that year in November. At the stroke of midnight I was laying in bed, watching a marathon of The Biggest Loser and crying over being fat, unhealthy, not where I thought I should be in my 40th year of life. My mind was focused on how I had lost a friend to ovarian cancer (she was in her early 40's), and another (in her late 30's) had just been diagnosed with uterine cancer. This isn't supposed to happen right? This is abnormal? Nope. Two other friends would be diagnosed during the year. One for her second battle with breast cancer, and cancer would take another ones life. I could only wonder what was my fate with cancer going to be. I had stopped smoking earlier that year, but I knew I wasn't as healthy as I could be - and what could I do to change that?
It was at that moment that I decided to start on the journey that I am still on, and really feel as though I am only in the first 1/10th of this journey almost 14 months later.
I had to start somewhere with making a change and the most extremely unmaintained part about my life was my health and my weight - so that was where I started. On this journey I have been exposed and learned about new (to me) ideas about food, fuel, nutrition, health, additives, preservatives, manufactured foods, etc. It made me turn my focus to movies and programming that would help me learn more about others going through the same things I was going through - Biggest Loser, Heavy, I Used To Be Fat, Thintervention, Cooking Shows, Superfat vs Superskinny, Food Inc, Food Matters, King Corn, Fast Food Nation, PBS' FAT, etc. It made me rethink everything I was doing about my health and wellness - today and in the future.
Now, 40 is my reality.
In my early 20s I left college, literally ran away from home, moved to another state far away and didn't tell anyone where I was going (friends or family). I went from Nanny to Corporate Assistant and by my late 20's Project Manager and Web Producer. I would have my first real relationship that would become a roller coaster of my mid to late 20's and finally end when I was 28-29.
In my 30s I was laid off (literally 16 days after my 30th birthday), and within just a few months I would meet the man that would care for me in a way I thought was never possible both physically and mentally and emotionally. We would both become beacons for each other in our lives and would grow up and grow together. =) Shortly after meeting him, and at 380lbs I would have 80% of my stomach removed, lose over 80lbs and that still wouldn't be my wake up call. I would spend the next decade pretty much living the life that Kevin describes in his 30's. =) Owning my own business, working from home every day, watching movies, playing online games and video games, and eating my way through every food I had never tried, and if it tasted good, eating most of it again and again. I would stay between 300 - 320 lbs. In my late 30's I would finally wise up and marry that amazing man who had been there for me through more than you can even begin to imagine and somehow, still not only really liked me, but loved me like no other. I would quit smoking after 17 years to prepare to have 20lbs surgically removed from my abdomen that was getting in the way of lots of things in my life - physical fitness, intimacy, general mobility and effecting my body imagine and self esteem. I would have complications from this surgery and spend 8 months recovering with a huge hole in the front of my body b/c I was so unhealthy, had horrible blood flow and add to that I didn't quit smoking early enough before my surgery. I would finally be fully healed in August 2009, right before I turned 39.
Then in January 2010 that takes us back to the first paragraph of this blog where I would finally wake up and realize my role in all of this, the responsibility I would need to take for myself, and here I am today.
It has been an amazing 14 months of information discovery and personal growth. I am very proud of my accomplishments listed here and the many more that I have had each and every day. =)
I make new strides every day but when it comes to the big goals, I like to keep it simple. The big goal I have set for the year is to be under 200 by the time I turn 41 in November. So far I am on track to attain that goal in a healthy manner. That is assuming just a very little bit over 1lb per week between today and 11/02/11. =)
To date here are the efforts, changes and victories I have made so far that put me in a better position of achieving that goal:
- Lost 58lbs since 1/1/10, and I am 135lbs lighter than my heaviest weight ever. =) I have lost 6lbs of that in just the last 35 days of my new workout routine.
- Lost 6 inches on my waist, 6 inches on my hips, 4 inches on my thigh, 2 inches on my calf, 1.5 inches on my upper arm for a total so far of 19.5 inches lost. I have lost 2.5 inches of that just in the last 35 days of my new workout program.
- Given up microwaving anything but my kitchen sponge
- Given up all soda or processed drinks other than coffee, water and tea- I now strive for 51% raw foods at each of my meals
- Started minimally cooking my foods to get the most nutrients and live organisms into my system for my fuel and overall health at each meal
- I have evened out my moods and energy levels where I feel fantastic each and every day
- Choose foods and nutrition combinations that keep me feeling satisfied and I am almost never hungry yet I stay within my calorie range almost every day
- Started eating as much local and organically grown foods as possible
- I am learning how to use food and vitamins as medicine to cure minor ailments and keep me healthy
- Went to more farmer's markets in 2010 than I had been to in my entire life before that year
- Gave up obtaining any new plastic and paper bags. I have resued what I already have, and have reusable grocery and produce bags
- Gave up all make up until I can find some that do not contain cancer producing ingredients
- Started using all natural and vegan shampoos, conditioners and body and face lotions that do not contain cancer causing ingredients
- I am currently working out 45 minutes of cardio and 45 minutes of strength training 6 days per week and I am on my 34th consecutive day today.
- I have increased my hand weights from 10lbs, to 12.5lbs to 15lbs in just one month of strength training.
- I am open to the fact that I don't know everything about anything and there is always new information that I can learn to make me a better and healthier person for me.
- I love myself and my body more than I ever have and I treat this vehicle with the respect it deserves each and every day
- When in doubt, I turn to my Rules to Happiness and I find one that can help that moment and I apply liberally: http://onestrongsiren.blogspot.com/p/rules-to-happiness.html
It is amazing what kind of changes I have made in just one year when I put my heart, my open mind, my moving feet, my yearning soul and my love of self all in high power mode and let it guide me to a better place. I am excited to see what the rest of this year will bring. =)
It was at that moment that I decided to start on the journey that I am still on, and really feel as though I am only in the first 1/10th of this journey almost 14 months later.
I had to start somewhere with making a change and the most extremely unmaintained part about my life was my health and my weight - so that was where I started. On this journey I have been exposed and learned about new (to me) ideas about food, fuel, nutrition, health, additives, preservatives, manufactured foods, etc. It made me turn my focus to movies and programming that would help me learn more about others going through the same things I was going through - Biggest Loser, Heavy, I Used To Be Fat, Thintervention, Cooking Shows, Superfat vs Superskinny, Food Inc, Food Matters, King Corn, Fast Food Nation, PBS' FAT, etc. It made me rethink everything I was doing about my health and wellness - today and in the future.
Now, 40 is my reality.
In my early 20s I left college, literally ran away from home, moved to another state far away and didn't tell anyone where I was going (friends or family). I went from Nanny to Corporate Assistant and by my late 20's Project Manager and Web Producer. I would have my first real relationship that would become a roller coaster of my mid to late 20's and finally end when I was 28-29.
In my 30s I was laid off (literally 16 days after my 30th birthday), and within just a few months I would meet the man that would care for me in a way I thought was never possible both physically and mentally and emotionally. We would both become beacons for each other in our lives and would grow up and grow together. =) Shortly after meeting him, and at 380lbs I would have 80% of my stomach removed, lose over 80lbs and that still wouldn't be my wake up call. I would spend the next decade pretty much living the life that Kevin describes in his 30's. =) Owning my own business, working from home every day, watching movies, playing online games and video games, and eating my way through every food I had never tried, and if it tasted good, eating most of it again and again. I would stay between 300 - 320 lbs. In my late 30's I would finally wise up and marry that amazing man who had been there for me through more than you can even begin to imagine and somehow, still not only really liked me, but loved me like no other. I would quit smoking after 17 years to prepare to have 20lbs surgically removed from my abdomen that was getting in the way of lots of things in my life - physical fitness, intimacy, general mobility and effecting my body imagine and self esteem. I would have complications from this surgery and spend 8 months recovering with a huge hole in the front of my body b/c I was so unhealthy, had horrible blood flow and add to that I didn't quit smoking early enough before my surgery. I would finally be fully healed in August 2009, right before I turned 39.
Then in January 2010 that takes us back to the first paragraph of this blog where I would finally wake up and realize my role in all of this, the responsibility I would need to take for myself, and here I am today.
It has been an amazing 14 months of information discovery and personal growth. I am very proud of my accomplishments listed here and the many more that I have had each and every day. =)
I make new strides every day but when it comes to the big goals, I like to keep it simple. The big goal I have set for the year is to be under 200 by the time I turn 41 in November. So far I am on track to attain that goal in a healthy manner. That is assuming just a very little bit over 1lb per week between today and 11/02/11. =)
To date here are the efforts, changes and victories I have made so far that put me in a better position of achieving that goal:
- Lost 58lbs since 1/1/10, and I am 135lbs lighter than my heaviest weight ever. =) I have lost 6lbs of that in just the last 35 days of my new workout routine.
- Lost 6 inches on my waist, 6 inches on my hips, 4 inches on my thigh, 2 inches on my calf, 1.5 inches on my upper arm for a total so far of 19.5 inches lost. I have lost 2.5 inches of that just in the last 35 days of my new workout program.
- Given up microwaving anything but my kitchen sponge
- Given up all soda or processed drinks other than coffee, water and tea- I now strive for 51% raw foods at each of my meals
- Started minimally cooking my foods to get the most nutrients and live organisms into my system for my fuel and overall health at each meal
- I have evened out my moods and energy levels where I feel fantastic each and every day
- Choose foods and nutrition combinations that keep me feeling satisfied and I am almost never hungry yet I stay within my calorie range almost every day
- Started eating as much local and organically grown foods as possible
- I am learning how to use food and vitamins as medicine to cure minor ailments and keep me healthy
- Went to more farmer's markets in 2010 than I had been to in my entire life before that year
- Gave up obtaining any new plastic and paper bags. I have resued what I already have, and have reusable grocery and produce bags
- Gave up all make up until I can find some that do not contain cancer producing ingredients
- Started using all natural and vegan shampoos, conditioners and body and face lotions that do not contain cancer causing ingredients
- I am currently working out 45 minutes of cardio and 45 minutes of strength training 6 days per week and I am on my 34th consecutive day today.
- I have increased my hand weights from 10lbs, to 12.5lbs to 15lbs in just one month of strength training.
- I am open to the fact that I don't know everything about anything and there is always new information that I can learn to make me a better and healthier person for me.
- I love myself and my body more than I ever have and I treat this vehicle with the respect it deserves each and every day
- When in doubt, I turn to my Rules to Happiness and I find one that can help that moment and I apply liberally: http://onestrongsiren.blogspot.com/p/rules-to-happiness.html
It is amazing what kind of changes I have made in just one year when I put my heart, my open mind, my moving feet, my yearning soul and my love of self all in high power mode and let it guide me to a better place. I am excited to see what the rest of this year will bring. =)
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