One positive of aging to me, is that with each year I believe that I am taking better and better care of myself. I think that every woman should be comfortable with her body, know her body, and take care of it. I want to get the most out of my years and so there are many things that I make continual improvements with. One is taking care of my body physically and healthwise speaking. I try to do my best to eat a healthy diet. I joined Weight Watchers in 2000 and received my Lifetime Membership in 2001. The only times that I have not attended since has been during my pregnancies. This helps me to keep a weekly focus on eating healthy and maintaining my weight. I take a multivitamin daily and try to drink lots of water. It is no secret that I love my coffee. However, I choose to drink a dessert blend coffee which has a flavoring baked into the beans. This means that I am not drinking drinks that have a lot of calories. A few years ago for our anniversary, my husband bought us a wonderful espresso maker. If I make myself a coffee in the afternoon, I use sugar free syrup with skim milk. By mid afternoon I avoid caffeine for the rest of the day.
Last year a few months before I turned 40, I went to donate blood and found out I was anemic. This was surprising to me at first since I had been taking my multivitamin and eating healthy. Then when I stopped to think about it, I realized that was probably why my energy level had been diminishing so greatly. Especially before, during and right after my cycles. That's when I had to look at how my cycle had changed to every 3 weeks instead of 4 and was lasting a few days longer than previously and was getting heavier. This is why I think it important to listen to what your body is telling you. I hope you have a good relationship with your Dr and his/her nurse and go in for your annual checks. I do and so I had a conversation with them and together we decided that the best plan for where I was at was to consider a uterine ablation. I moved forward with this and will say that it was a great decision. I have not had a period since, my energy level has been great since and it has not affected my hormones in a negative manner.
In the fall, my husband and I surprised our boys with their "dream" vacation and took them to Disney World. It was the best family vacation we have ever gone on where we made many family memories. The boys talk about the trip constantly and I know it will be hard to ever top the fun we had there.
In January I went ahead and had a mammogram and found it to be a very educational and positive experience. The testing was not nearly as uncomfortable as I expected and I was re-taught how to do my breast self exams. It really showed me the significance between discovering a lump at one month of growth verses 3 months. I will definitely be going in again as the time comes up for my annual mammogram. Last week I was surprised and encouraged by my health insurance calling and encouraging me to go in for my annual preventative checks.
Also, in January I started wearing my Leopard Spirithood that I got for Christmas and quickly found out how fun it was as a 40 year old to wear and did not find a single person that said I was too old or ridiculous for walking around in it. To the contrary I have had many compliments and inquiries as to where I got it.
In February, as I have previously posted, I was chosen as to be part of Tria's Ambassador program for their new Age-Defying Laser. I am in the middle of my second 12 week cycle of treatment. My skin feels and looks great (I think). I even brought my laser along on the road to Canada!
In March I made the decision to go back to a passion for blogging that started a few years ago and re-define my Mom Speak blog that originated from a time I wrote for our local newspaper here. I really hope that what I share here can help or inspire others that chose to read my blog.
I am proud that my boys know my true age and see a woman/mother not trying to hide it. When I went to "Muffins With Mom" at my youngest boy's school in May and showed me the paper he had made me with his answers about me, by age was correctly filled out as 40. I witnessed another little boy say to his mom "I didn't know how old you are mom so I put 30". This woman was obviously a little older than myself and she said to her son "That is just fine sweetie, you just keep telling everyone that mommie is 30!". Honestly this broke my heart just a little. The example I set for my boys is very important to me. I want them to learn honesty and integrity from what they see from me. I also want them to see a woman that is comfortable and proud of who she is.
My husband, boys and I are currently visiting my parents and other family where I was raised in Canada. We just finished a long weekend family reunion where I was able to see family in which some I hadn't seen since the last reunion I attended in 1989, and some I had never met in person, but had a connection through Facebook. I don't know how many years it has been since I was able to celebrate a birthday in Canada and so I know today is going to be great and the next year is going to be even better!
I truly believe that my 40's are going to be fabulous and that I hold the key to that. I can say that I am comfortable in my own skin and know that those who love me, love me for who I truly am.
No comments:
Post a Comment