Thanks for the push...

I've been thinking about my Who wants to be like wolverine anyway post and hoping that I didn't offend anyone with my desire to strut bikini clad on my birthday. I want to make sure that y'all understand that my working out everyday honestly has nothing to do with wanting to be a hoochie mama, "look at me everybody" crazy lady. It's really about setting and achieving a goal.

I've never been that great at accomplishing goals (never got my young women medallion) and to prove that life doesn't end at forty (in a lot of ways it's just beginning) I figure now is as good a time as any to push myself for success. I want to work on my body because it's difficult and so important. It's showing me that I can push beyond my comfort zone to become the best me possible (I'm working to become the best me possible in other areas too).

I want to thank Jessica for telling me that I already look good. Blogging friends are the nicest people. I know that I'm already at a healthy weight and as not to scare anyone into thinking that I want to be "skinny" (that word still makes me cringe) I will share a story with you.

Once upon a time there lived a very SKINNY young girl...

Just look at those legs, those arms, THAT HAIR (oh wait, the hair has nothing to do with the story) she looks like she's from a third world country the poor dear.
This girl hated being skinny and would try to stuff herself each time the scale read under 100 pounds. It never worked. The weight gain shakes never worked either (yes we had a large can of weight gain powder at our house and my sibs and I would drink it regularly). She hated her body and was quite pleased when finally, as she got older, she was able to hold on to an extra ten to twenty pounds. It was a happy day when people started referring to her as "nice and thin" instead of "SKINNY" (said in a shrill, "oh my gosh you look like you're about to die" tone).

Because of this, "skinny" is not my goal. I never want to be "skinny" again. What I do want is to be toned and shapely, healthy and strong.
Much like this body here...

I look at this magazine cover for motivation. I want these shapely arms, flat stomach and toned thighs (the boobs would be nice too, but I'd have to buy those). This is my goal. I probably won't reach it until my forty first birthday but that's okay. The fact that I'm trying is good enough for me.

And I blog about it for accountability. Heaven knows I need accountability because I want to QUIT everyday. I HATE working out. But because I've announced to the whole world (or at least to the five people that read this thing) that I'm going to do it, I have to do it. The same can be said for cleaning out my closets. I could easily skip that horrible task and pretend that I had never said I would do it at all if I hadn't publicly said I would do it. Now I'm stuck dang it, and I only have a month to get it done (guess what I'll be doing August tenth).

So there you have it. Me in a nutshell (well not really, there's so much more to me that I won't share because then you'd think that I belong in a nutshell).

Thanks for being such good friends even to a nut like me.