Wednesday, May 03, 2006

The Fab 40 Plan

I may have mentioned in an earlier post that I'm...ahem... pushing... *cough*... *swallow*...forty.

There. I've said it. It's in print. Give me a moment whilst I embrace the inevitability.

It's just a number. It's just a number. It's just a number. It's just a really big number. Huge. Significant really. It's like someone swooped down and wrote in big neon letters - YOUR YOUTH IS NOW OFFICIALLY OVER.

Damn. And I was just getting started.

Oh sure, I know. Forty is the new twenty. Or twenty-five. Maybe thirty. It's not the number so much as it is the sudden realization that an exception was not made on my part and I will not stay young forever. I don't feel older. I don't really even look older thanks to a healthy dose of regular moisturizer, SPF and good genes. But suddenly my mind starts turning to things it never has in the past. Like longevity, and what I need to do to achieve it. And suddenly those extra 12-15 pounds I've been carrying around and always saying I was going to get rid of seem like much more when coupled with the threat of what I like to refer to as the menopausal spread that's lurking around the corner somewhere. That weight gain so many women experience when their metabolism slows during this stage of the game and the pounds start to creep on. Oh no, I tell myself. This cannot happen. I forbid it!

Naturally, being the goal oriented Capricorn I am, I decided to use January 2007 as my ultimate goal. That's when the Big 4-0 occurs. But before that is my little sister's wedding, which means a halter style maid of honor dress for yours truly. What to do? Well like any good and proper Cap, I made a plan. A schedule. An excel spreadsheet with numbers and charts. Give me a few weeks and I'll probably be able to whip up some really cool graphs too.

Luckily nutrition and fitness have been something I've read up on since I was about 16. Granted I didn't always put that knowledge into practice, especially with the eating, but I inherited a new mindset around my last birthday it seems, and started eating healthier. But I needed more info. I picked up two of Dr. Andrew Weil's books on optimizing your health and nutrition. Made some new changes. Added in a work-out schedule, took my measurements, weighed in. Gave myself mini-goals to meet along the way. Started drinking at least 1 litre of water a day (which I never did and now spend half my day in the washroom since I obviously have a bladder the size of a pebble).

My ultimate goal is to hit 40 looking absolutely fabulous. Toned, healthy, preferably with an ass you can bounce quarters off of. And then I plan on maintaining that as best I can into my 50s and 60s, all the way up to the big centurion benchmark and beyond. If I must get older, I'm going to be fit and healthy while it happens and I'm going to look damn good in the process. I will not be one of those decrepit old people shuffling around stooped over muttering to myself.

Well okay, I probably will be muttering, but I won't be stooped over while I do it!

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hey, Forties are FABULOUS. Honest! A whole new stage of life. And getting old is just a mindset anyway. You can be in your 40's and young young!

Good for you on the nutrition and exercise. I'm kind of on that kick now too. Though I'm doing better on the exercise than the nutrition...

So which Dr. Weil books did you get?

Kelly Boyce said...

I borrowed Eating Well For Optimum Health and Eight Weeks to Optimum Health from the library. Then I put on hold the cookbook too because I need some recipes.

jlmack said...

Well, 40 is the new 30. I'm planning to get back in shape, too. I figure 5 months of work in a resort kitchen will be more than enough exercise, but I'm going to throw some yoga and swimming in there, too.
I'll have to check out some of Dr. Weil's recipes. I've heard really good things about his books.
I've put you as a link on my blog; I hope you don't mind!

Kelly Boyce said...

Not at all Jaichan. Link me at your will.

Anonymous said...

Well Kelly, I just turned the big 40 last Saturday. Needless to say I was a grump two weeks prior to that. I survived the day. I noticed more changes in the late 30ies than I have so far...keeping in mind that it has only been 4 days!! ha Give me some more time and I'll probably enjoy it more but right now it is still fresh in my mind. I've been told to embrace it. I'm trying!

Melissa Amateis said...

You've got a great plan, Kelly - I have no doubt you'll be successful!

Anonymous said...

Sounds like a great plan. May I borrow it for my 42nd?

Rene said...

I turn 4-0 in 2007 as well. It really doesn't bother me. For some reason, 25 bothered me. I don't remember 30. My mother has accused me of being an old woman mentally for a long time, she maybe right. I do have the goal of getting in shape by then. I think you have a great plan.