40 and fabulous

In 17 months I will turn 40.  Four Zero.  Forty.

I've never been a regular exerciser.  Until I was in my mid 20's, it seemed I could eat whatever I wanted, maybe do a little exercise here and there, and I stayed pretty thin.  I've always been very intimidated by gyms and by exercise in general. I'd take a Jazzercise class here, and yoga class there, but nothing ever became absolute routine. 

Something in my body changed in my mid 20's.  Slowly, the weight started creeping on and on..   I wasn't used to having to be aware of calories, activity level.  What was once natural became something I was going to have to work out and well, I just didn't work at it.  Then marriage, then kids... It was impossible to find the time or energy to focus on myself once the kids came.   Probably because I wasn't already in the habit, and putting myself last was just the easiest thing to do. There were always reasons, always excuses... After the kids were born, I learned I have hypothyroidism, which makes it that much harder to lose weight. Since your thyroid gland releases hormones that control metabolism, I have to work that much harder to burn my calories. I will take thryoid medication for the rest of my life to make up for the hormones my body doesn't make by itself.

These past few years, I've felt older than my age, deplete of energy and well, just not like the person I feel like on the inside.

Its time for a change.  I'm way too young to feel this old.

This past weekend, we joined a brand new, state of the art gym.   Its a beautiful facility with indoor and outdoor pools we can enjoy (even with the kids), the latest cardio equipment and weights, classes out the wazoo... The awesome kids club is fully stocked with Wii, a climbing gym, computer games, toys, arts and crafts. Its huge and rather than feeling intimidated by it all, I'm realizing everyone in there is just like me.  Wanting to feel good, be healthy and working towards their own personal goals.

I'm not going to set any crazy goals right off the bat. My first goal is to just make exercise a daily part of my life. To find the things I like to do, and to keep me interested with a good variety. I want to do this for myself, and I want to do it for the kids... to teach them about the importance of exercise and taking care of yourself.

So far, we've both gone every day since joining.  I'm feeling excited, and trying to ease this welcome change into my lifestyle.  I'm hopeful that this will be the time it sticks.

I want to be 40 AND FABULOUS.