WWJD

Yesterday turned out to be the first day of the rest of my life.  Well, at least the first day of the last 30 days before the birthday that I am dreading.  I have 30 days to whip myself into shape so that I can face my 45th birthday.  Vain? Absolutely.  Twisted? Totally.  Honest? Yep. 

When I lost a bunch of weight back in 2008 (50 pounds, give or take) I didn't say much about it on the blog or in real life.  That place I visit often (denial) told me that if I didn't acknowledge that I needed to lose weight then it wasn't an issue in the first place.  The situation that started that ball rolling can be attributed to a belly dancer at the Cherry Festival in June of 2008.  She was easily over 50 but she looked amazing.  She was tall and lean and strong and obviously in better health than I was.  I made a conscious decision to look that good when I was her age.  Not that I can grow 6 inches in height but I knew I could take much better care of myself.  I made the decision, I changed the way I did things and 7 months later I was 50 pounds lighter.  And I felt stronger and better than I had in years!  I've kept that weight off (give or take a few pounds) for the last three years. 

All that to say that as I near my 45th birthday, I have to take a new look at the image in my head of a strong, lean 50 year old because I'm not feeling so strong these days.  This summer totally kicked my butt.  And maybe it's part vanity but it's mostly because I want to still be living when I'm 80.  I don't mean just living as in ALIVE but if I'm still around, I want to be able to get around and enjoy life and not be dependant on someone else to meet my needs.  It's about my 45 year old self taking care of my 80 year old self.

In an effort to feel noticeably better by my birthday in 30 days, I have taken drastic measures. . .

I've hired Gloria to be my personal trainer. . .

Gloria takes pretty good care of herself.  In a positive way.  She pays attention to what she eats and tries to make healthy choices.  She's very active and tries to fit in some kind of exercise everyday.  We've had some really good conversations about the importance of being healthy without going over the top and being obsessive about it.  I think she's good at finding that balance.  So, I asked her to help keep me motivated over the next 30 days so that I can feel stronger and leaner on my birthday.  Her reward will be a shopping trip where we both get a new pair of jeans!

So yesterday she had me running through parking lots, she took a cookie right out of my hand and we started day 1 of the 30 Day Shred.  At one point she looked at me and said, "WWJD, Mom, you know, What Would Jillian Do?"

 I hope I don't regret this. . .