Finding My Own Career and Fitness Path

Here lately, I've been going through so many levels of transformation . . . . you can sure tell it is 2013 because with that number 13 comes the death of the old self and the birth of the new.  Kind of like when I was 13 years old, come to think of it, only on the menopause side of things instead of the teen side.  But this side of the hill feels more like a gentle climb  . . . instead of going downhill, I'm hiking upwards and finding myself more sure footed, in spite of the unknown summit ahead.

In my life, I've changed jobs MANY times, and am frankly, at this age, am getting sick of it.  I'm currently in the job search yet again and this time, really hope to find something more permanent and long lasting.  Maybe it's a part of my personality, or maybe it's the fact that the sales field tends to have high turnover and many ups and downs, but I'm not working right now and even though I'm broker than broke, that feels okay for the time being.    I've got a few irons on the fire career wise and we'll see what happens.  Don't want to jinx anything right now by talking about it, but I have some ideas and possibilities in the works. 

Because of being unemployed, and just because also I've been trying to declutter my house and simplify my life by buying less STUFF, I am on a really really tight budget.  That has felt okay and in fact, is pretty gratifying.  I've gotten rid of a lot of old clothes since I've been slimming down.  The one "splurge" I still indulge in is to shop for replacement clothing at thrift stores for my new spring wardrobe.  Since I discovered I'm a Type 1 in the Dressing Your Truth program, I am buying clothes that are in coordinating colors/styles to fit that style profile.  It's been really fun seeking those perfect styles and colors that fit both my new style AND budget.  And it motivates my fitness goals as I see myself going down in sizes, not dramatically but slowly. 

Since my surgery at the tail end of last year, I've increasingly felt better physically.  I'm using this brief time off between jobs to get back into my fitness routine.  Two years ago, I bought a Wii Fitness program and it is a really good as far as having exercises I can actually do.  It has a good balance of aerobic, strength training, yoga and balance exercises in its program.  There's enough variety in it to keep me interested and motivated.  It's like a game, and so it's really fun.  I also still do my treadmill and have been working on some abdominal strengthening exercises.  One of my favorite exercise videos that my friend Phyllis introduced me to is the Tami Lee Webb series. 
I like her videos because they are easy enough to do but they really make me feel more in shape when I do them, a good balance between getting fit but not overstraining yourself in the process. 

In years past, I've been a member of many dieting routines including low carb, Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and on and on.  But about a year or so ago, I went to my general family doctor and asked how he had managed to lose nearly 70 pounds.  I told him I've been suffering from the middle age weight gain and it's a constant struggle to keep the pounds at bay.  He suggested that instead of spending money and meeting time at weight loss groups that I instead just do what he did, make the weight loss an internal/individual process for my own body.  He urged me to go out and get a little journal that I could keep my purse  and write down my meals, their calorie count, or point count, or whatever method I wanted to use to track my meals and snacks.  Then also to write down the daily exercise I do and water I drink.  Any details that I want to track as far as my nutrition and fitness.  He also suggested that at the top of the page each day, right under the date, that I write my first of the morning weight every day.  I've been doing this now since last May and it has been working out very well for me.  I generally follow the Weight Watchers Points system and use their little points calculator, that way I am assured of getting a good balance of protein, carbs, fats and fiber.  And I also try to keep the sodium under 1700 grams a day.  But I've found this method has been really effective if you are a person like me who is ready to be accountable to yourself.  If I forget to track some meals, that's okay too, I just move on and try to write down what I eat the next day, but increasingly, I'm writing down the foods because I've already figured out the points for most foods and it is now really easy to look up new foods and even restaurant meals on the internet.

Speaking of restaurants, with all of our budget tightening, I've been eating out at restaurants very little.  That's a BIG change for me, because my husband and I used to eat out almost daily.  No more. I've been cooking really healthy meals at home and cutting way back on fat, sugar and sodium in the process. 

Also, I've been increasingly loving my silver hair.  It's progressing in it's grow out. 

What I've learned from the recent changes in my life is that though I'm naturally a driven person who likes to shape my own destiny, sometimes the greatest changes come about S-L-O-W-L-Y, softly . . .  quietly . . .  gently and profoundly.