And now my journey begins...

When I turned 30 I went through a similar self exploration so I guess it is normal at certain times in our lives to take a look at ourselves and change what it is that we don't like and expound on the things that we do like. Ten years ago I was over weight, out of shape, and smoking a pack a day. I quit smoking (cold turkey) and started going to the gym. I got in shape by going to the gym a couple of days a week and I stopped drinking soda and eating all of the crap that we eat when life is hectic and we are too busy to cook. So here I am again full circle out of shape, and over weight, this seems to be my Achilles heel in life.
My oldest daughter Kelsi says, we all battle against our own cure! She came to rely on this phrase as a mantra in her life when she lost her biological father to his battle, and now she, and I and probably you are left here to battle against our own cure. Losing Tom and trying to hang onto Kelsi has brought a certain fragile quality to my life. I am sometimes afraid to speak for fear that I will say the wrong thing to her, and she will somehow end up like him. But I am getting off track here. This is for sure a blog of its own.
I am constantly battling what I know will make me happy and that is getting in shape. At the beginning of summer I started walking but I really was not seeing a big change in the way my clothes fit. So, after committing to a "we are turning 40 cruise" with my BFF's in November of 2009 I started going to the gym again. my first day back was September 15th. I met with a trainer that day and he was AWESOME! He gave me a work out schedule that I have kept up with for 20 days now and I have never missed a session. Donna says 20 days makes a habit, so I think I am on my way to a good habit. I met with a nutritionist a week ago and I really don't have bad eating habits I just have a really bad habit of eating to much in the evening. I am working on that.
I am not brave like Shannon and will not post my weight on the computer, although if I only weighed 120 I would totally post that so I take back the brave comment. LOL
But I will say that I have lost 1o pounds since the beginning of summer. My clothes feel great on me. I love being able to breath in my favorite jeans without that roll of fat hanging over my waist line.
And now my journey begins. I will be blogging my weight loss experience, as well as my coming of old age in this blog over the next year as I prepare myself mentally, physically and financially for my "Turning 40 Cruise". I hope I can count on all of you for love and support, cheers and kudos even when I eat too much at Thanksgiving and gain 3 lbs.
I am going to share my workout schedule with you and if any of you have advice on how to shake it up a bit when I start to plateau please feel free to share.
Monday - upper body
Tuesday- 1 hr cardio
Wednesday- lower body
Thursday- off
Friday- upper body
Saturday- lower body
Sunday- off from gym but still do about 1/2 of cardio (usually walking our totally adorable dog Dax)
I always start off by warming up with 5 min of cardio on the cycling bike; am working my self up to taking a cycling class on Tuesday's as my cardio but not there yet.
I do a circuit of training for about 45 minutes on either my upper body or lower body, followed by 60 crunches, 60 reps on the waist machine thingy (don't know what it is called) and 36 leg throws with the trainer. Then I wrap up with 5 minutes on the rowing machine and 30 minutes on the treadmill in cardio or fat burning at a 3.2 with a HR of 134, my max incline is about 5.5 right now, but it was 3.4 two weeks ago so I am improving. I weigh in and do my measurements every other Saturday, my next weigh in is October 11th.
My journey begins now, I can say I am fully committed to bettering myself in the year to come and I hope you will come along for the fun. And for all of you out there turning 40 this cruise is open to you all. This is a celebration to all we have endured and all we are yet to endure as strong, successful and self-loving women.
P.S. this blog is updated each week on Sunday morning.