Musings of an Unfinished Woman: No More Excuses

Two weeks ago, I had never heard of Michael Phelps. I'm from the Mark Spitz generation and remember quite vividly following his journey to the Olympics in the 1970's. I admire anyone who has the discipline, physical strength and grit to endure endless hours of training to achieve a goal.

I found out earlier this year after months of acupuncture and chiropractor appointments that I have osteoarthritis, which is exacerbated (cool word!) by my being overweight and sedentary. I've struggled for years with my weight. Last year, with the goal of our 25th anniversary at Disney World and formal family and couple photos, I lost 35 pounds and almost 28 inches. After I sprained my foot over the holidays and then had continued back problems, I all but stopped taking my daily walks. So here I am having gained back 20 pounds and I'm discouraged. I know that I need to "work through the pain" and value my well-being and desire to live a long and healthy life. I have to lose weight and exercise for the "right" reasons. Since my Mom died at the age of 52 of a heart attack and I'll be 49 in less than a month, that's a pretty good reason to get healthy. I need to have the determination to stick with it when I'm tired, or my back is hurting so bad that I could cry; when I'd rather eat a Butterfinger or some chips than have a green smoothie. So, my goal here is to be into a size 10 by Christmas 2008 (I'm a size 16 now). I'm not going to make it about the number on the scale...I'm going into this with the goal of a happy, healthy and sexy me...