Find Your Strong, Part One

I turned 41 yesterday.

Don't worry, this isn't a post about anti-aging creams or a mid-life crisis. I don't feel old, or young for that matter. I just feel like me. I don't have an issue with age as a number really. It is what it is and there's nothing I can do about it.

There is a number I'm having a major issue with, however, and it's on my scale. No, I'm not talking about my weight, although that is on the issue list. See, we have one of those fancy scales that shoot electrical impulses up through your feet and gives you a report of fascinating trivia about your body like your body fat percentage, how many pounds of muscle you have, your water percentages, how many pounds of visceral fat are in your body...

Yeah, it's great.

I know there are scales out there that make these claims and do not deliver accurate information. Unfortunately, my very detail-oriented husband made sure we paid the extra money for one that is as accurate as it claims to be. That's wonderful when you're 7% body fat like he is. Seriously. Not so wonderful when you're...not.

Still, my body fat percentage isn't the number I have issue with, but it is on the list too. It's kind of a long list.

One of the readings on the scale gives you your metabolic age. Taken from livestrong.com:

Your metabolic age will give you an idea of what kind of physical health you are in using your base metabolic rate, or BMR. If your metabolic age is lower than your actual age, it means your body is in good health. However, if your metabolic age is higher than your actual age, it may mean you are having health problems or may need to change your eating and exercising habits. Your metabolic age depends on your activity level, genetics, height, weight and actual age. You get your metabolic age when you compare your basal metabolic rate with the basal metabolic rate of your age group. Your BMR is a measurement of your body's energy, or the minimum level of calories your body needs when it's resting. You can easily calculate your metabolic age if you are honest with your measurements and use the right tool.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/88030-calculate-metabolic-age/#ixzz1SVvYyrrO

This fancy scale of ours lists my metabolic age as...50. If you haven't figured it out by now, this is the number I have an issue with. Brian is nine years older than me in people years. His metabolic age is 12.

I actually have no issue with Brian's number. He works very hard to stay in fantastic shape and has earned every year off of his metobolic age.

I, on the other hand, am not happy at all with my number.

About 8 years ago, I lost over 30 lbs and was in the best shape of my life. It was with The Firm and they even sent me to South Carolina to be in one of their infomercials. This was me next to one of the instructors, Lisa Kay, and some of the other girls in the info


Here is the trailer for the infomercial, my two seconds of fame comes at about the 5-second point...I don't believe you can find this system anymore, the whole Firm Box was unstable and they replaced it with the TransFirmer, which I still use, lovingly, to this day.



Over the years, I would fluctuate up and down a bit, but could keep it under control when I'd start working out again. I ran a few 5ks and, while I hated running while I was running, I LOVED the way I felt afterwords.

Then came a few years of more weight fluctuations and a divorce that made me drop a lot of weight from stress. I was skinny again, but not healthy.

In late 2008, I started putting on weight really, really quickly. I was going to school for graphic design and didn't make the time for my workouts. I wasn't weighing myself, but I believe that I put on about 40 lbs over a six-month time period. After that, I started making time to work out, but only lost about 5 or so pounds and actually got really discouraged about it all.

I started running a couple of weeks before I met Brian and he became my biggest cheerleader.He was just my friend for about the first six months that I knew him, so there wasn't any pressure to try and impress him. He always encouraged me to be healthy for me, not for someone else.

After we started dating, a few people suggested that I was running only because of Brian or that he was pushing me for selfish reasons of his own. I wasn't and he wasn't, but man, if only it were that easy! Honestly, I wish that were enough for me to change, but I learned a long time ago that for any real change to happen, it HAS to happen because YOU'VE made the decision, not someone else.

I want to leave you with my new life motto that I found in the ad below. I love this for so many reasons but mostly because it's not about being skinny, it's about being healthy and strong.

Tomorrow I'll tell you how I'm going to be doing that...

PS--Any one know of any good anti-aging creams?? ;-)