Wednesday, May 4, 2011

The Big Four Oh!

In the scramble of reentering real life after being on vacation and Sugar’s birthday, I never even mentioned that I had a birthday myself on Sunday. And it was a Big Birthday, but I’m not concerned because they say 40 is the new 30. As far as I’m concerned, I just knocked ten years off. I wonder if the change to 40 comes with free Botox or liposuction?

I expected to wake up on the morning of my 40th birthday and feel older or meaner or something, but I find that I feel exactly the same as I did before I reached The Big 4-0. I think I like 40 and I think this will be my decade. Not sure what I will accomplish as I haven’t set many specific goals, but I enter this decade with a new degree, I’m at a comfortable place in my relationship with EN and my girls are currently in stages that are “lower maintenance.” I look forward to maybe taking some time to relax more.

Obviously, my “40 by 40” weight loss plan was a big old bust. I haven’t even been to the gym in weeks. However, I have a new plan that I’m going to start. One of these days. I need to get through fun birthday stuff first. I spoke with my doctor about my lack of weight loss and tremendous increase in exercise. That doctor, the man that I love dearly, laughed and said, “Do you know how long you have to walk on a treadmill to work off let’s say-a doughnut?” So the man suggests that I work on PORTION CONTROL. He assures me that a batch of brownies is not a single serving (I think he’s wrong, but whatever) and that people need to relearn proper serving sizes to get control of their weight. The good doctor suggests using frozen low-cal meals to get a handle on portions. Years ago I used Jenny Craig and lost a significant amount of weight pretty quickly, so he could be right.

The problem is, I’m the world’s pickiest eater. I don’t like much, especially frozen food. But I’m desperate and miserable enough to try this. I started researching and have looked at Lean Cuisine and Weight Watcher frozen meal websites. I am pleasantly surprised to learn that they have tons of meals that sound like stuff I would eat. But sounding good doesn’t necessarily mean they will taste good. However, I am willing to give this plan a shot. I should mention that the last two times I lost significant amounts of weight, I ended up pregnant within months. Given that my tubes are tied and I take the pill for endometriosis, I should be safe. But maybe EN should get a vasectomy just to be triple sure. I’ll have to give that further thought.

But, back to the real point of this post, my birthday. The day was very nice, and I’m impressed that EN plans ahead now. He’s actually a better birthday planner than me. I’m the gal that stops for a cake and card at the supermarket on her way home from work. He shopped for presents, wrapping paper and cards. He even went to the fancy bakery that made our wedding cake and ordered a birthday cake for me. But for all his planning and goodness, he did put “Happy 40th Birthday” on the cake. He has to get his digs in where he can.
 
We went out to dinner to one of my favorite places. The girls still hadn’t caught up on all the sleep they lacked on vacation, so they were a bit challenging to get there. Spice insisted on wearing a sundress with her Uggs, which looked hysterical.

We ordered a sampler plate for an appetizer and Sugar dug right in to the calamari. I won’t eat this and EN loves it. I believe Sugar thought she was eating onion rings. I expected her to gag when she felt the consistency of the first one. That didn’t happen and she just kept shoveling them in. EN finally ruined it when he asked her if she knew what she was eating. As soon as he told her what it was, she didn’t eat another bite.
 
I am happy to say that turning 40 wasn’t the painful experience I thought it would be. Loads of people wished me a good day via Facebook, which I love, and I was barraged with phone calls. I actually ended up having to spread them out over a few days, so I could spend good time with everyone that called.  A big thank you to all the peeps that made me feel so good. 

xoxo
Ice Princess

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