Lisa’s Crazified Life | LifeBliss Lisa

The Psychology of (and why I hate) the Gym

March 25, 2012 By Lisa Leave a Comment

I’m gonna break it on down for you, but first, I admit that I am not a real psychologist but I just play one on my blog.

There was only a small window of time of which I did not loathe going to the gym. It was when I worked at a small, friendly neighborhood gym owned by a good friend of mine. It was a joy to go in there and see all kinds of people, different ages, sizes, and fitness levels. In the abs class there was fun and lighthearted competition to be the best. There were always laughs to be had.

I hated going to the gym before then, and I hate them now. It’s really only the big corporate gyms that give me a headache but not because they are big and corporate. It just happens that way. I recently started going to a big (actually extremely nice) facility just for a month or two to try a fitness experiment to see if I can more quickly drop some of my winter fluff. I didn’t join, I just got a pass so I can attend some classes.

You see I like it one of two ways. Either I like a friendly and non-judgmental environment, or I want no contact, as in mind yo own damn business. I don’t want to deal with the gym bitches. Don’t pretend you don’t know what I’m talking about!

So the other day I was arriving for my first spin class ever. I was all smiles, with a good attitude, because it was 8:30, not my usual cranky workout time of 6am. A gym bitch literally saw me and started to RUN to get in front of me. What did I do? I walked swiftly but with large slow-looking strides and just looked at her as if (and she was) acting stone crazy. [Read more...]

Wanted: Apple Shaped Figure Fashion Tips, not an Emotional Beatdown!

October 26, 2011 By Lisa Leave a Comment

Last week was the first week of chilly weather of the season. I was getting ready for work when I realized “I DON’T HAVE A THING TO WEAR!” From time to time I go crazy and throw away or donate everything, and that must have happened sometime between spring and now. Lucky for me, I know a professional stylist, Candace, and sent her a message. I’ve worked with her before and she is fantastic so I’ll be working with her again. Now, it’s helpful to give a stylist all of the pertinent info about what help is needed so as preparation for our meeting I decided to look up fashion advice online regarding how to dress an apple shaped body. Lawdamercy, I had no idea what I was in for! [Read more...]

Up and Running Again!

October 17, 2011 By Lisa Leave a Comment

Hello there. I’ve been away for a while. I didn’t mean to kick you all to the curb but I was busy having my janky old kitchen converted from this:

(that’s my friend Lucy in the pic above–she does not cook but she’s always up in my kitchen, to my delight) to this:

So, now that the work is almost finished, I can focus on creating fresh, decadently nutrilicious meals for the fam. And, I also have space to move about and updated equipment to work with, so I will be hosting my own cooking videos from time to time. Hmm, wondering what I should name the show…suggestions are welcome. Thanks for your patience and stay tuned.

I’m Giving FREE Bellydance Classes! But First…(Long Story)

June 7, 2011 By Lisa 2 Comments

Secret Confessions of a wellness consultant

I am a wellness consultant/coach. I help people how to lose weight and/or get healthy without strict diets or extreme or monotonous exercise. I have plenty of sound knowledge on the matter, and yet from time to time I forget to follow my own brilliant advice and when that happens, things go terribly awry, like this:

See, wha-haa-haapened-wuz…

Last winter (Around December 2009) I decided that I was a little too plump (photo on right is in January 2010) and that I should lose some weight. I wanted to look good for an event in the summer. I ran outside in the snow. I was a maniac, not because I ran in the snow, but I just was. I became obsessive. Now of course by mid-June I was looking nice and slim and that was it. I stopped everything. I drank wine and ate cheez balls on the sofa. I got addicted to cookies again. Over the time when I was exercising I had been experiencing increasing knee pain. I just thought it was the cold air giving me that rusty feeling and kept on going. We had a blazin’ hot summer last year. So the pain got worse and I didn’t run outside, didn’t join a gym, didn’t do yoga regularly, and all but stopped dancing. So BAM! the weight all came back by October. That’s insane because it was about 25 pounds! [Read more...]

How Many Times Have you been Back to the Drawing Board?

April 16, 2011 By Lisa Leave a Comment

No, I’m not talking about drafting. I’m talking about revising your eating and movement plan. I do this every few years. First I’m looking good and feeling fit and then BAM! the weight starts piling on again, despite the fact that I’m doing pretty much the same thing I had been doing for years. Everything had been fine when I watched what I ate on weekdays and indulged in some junk food on the weekends. At some point my pants got too tight. WTH? Well, I hate to be the bringer of bad news but the truth is, things change. Naturally.

Change is Natural

Nutritional needs change, movement ability changes, metabolism changes, tastes change, and caloric necessities change over time. So what worked five years ago to keep you slim and trim may not work at all now. So what do we do? Change. We have to build on the knowledge we already gained from our bodies and make educated guesses until we get the formula right. For example, I know that because of my family history, I am predisposed to diabetes. In my case sugar and refined starches are usually the culprit for unwanted weight gain. Instinctively I know I must cut back on breads and sweets to slim down. I find that the older I get the more I must cut back, dammit! [Read more...]

My Chat with Somebody’s Thighs

January 31, 2011 By Lisa 2 Comments

I went to my husbands gym with him to work on getting my legs and knees strong enough to teach and perform bellydance again next month. I went to do the quad machine (don’t know the real name of it) which is right in front of the big mirror. When I stepped off the machine I got a glimpse of the rarely seen in the dead of winter backs of my thighs. I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Whoa! Whose are THOSE!?

The conversation could have gone like this:

OMG I HATE YOU! Big ole’ fatty thick cottage cheesy lumps of mush! Where the hell did you two hamhocks come from? [Read more...]

Me, My 41st Birthday, Raw, Uncut, Xtra Juicy, and in a Bikini! (Plus a Bonus Bellydance Video)

January 18, 2011 By Lisa 17 Comments

Oh boy! It’s me, all the way live! Go Lisa, it’s ya birf-day, Go Lisa… Last year I was 40 and fabulous, but then came the plantar fasciitis, runner’s knee, and (unrelated) surgery. Compared to before, right now I am out of shape. I thought I was just crazy because I was having such a struggle during recovery but I recently found out from my physical therapist that general anesthesia can stay in your system for several weeks after a procedure and wreak havoc cardiovascular strength!

Thankfully though, today, at 41 I’m healthy, happy, and oh sooooo juicy. (Photo is recent, me in December 2010) I love my body and am so grateful for it having the ability to dance like a maniac but things kinda got out of place for a minute. We already talked about this so I won’t dwell. I gotta tighten it up real nice for the spring. I was recently super-inspired by a fellow bellydancer to work on some new dance performance projects. Weeeee-hooooo! Thanks S. B.! Another fantastic reason to step up my wellness plan.

I started this weekend with the nutrilicious brunch I made for my friends: spinach and feta fritatta, smoked salmon, broccoli salad, whole grain banana blueberry walnut muffins, and fresh melon. Bellydance is the perfect fitness tool at the same time as being an incentive (to look great in the costumes) to get your ass [Read more...]

Working Smarter, Not Harder for Fitness

December 29, 2010 By Lisa 2 Comments

This morning I went for a 3-3.5 mile brisk walk. I am recovering from some bizarre (and common) knee ailment that involves pain, clicking, crunching, and swelling. I don’t even remember any injury. I just woke up one morning busted. So, today I’m not having any knee discomfort, even after my morning exercise. I’m happy about this.

Usually when I go out to walk I end up running. I hate running but in my mind I’m getting it over with so I speed it up. It used to bother me when the strange bone-thin ultra-animated yuppie snot showoffs rudely breeze past me (invading my personal space). But not today. Things are different. AND, today a rude dork came very close to getting flattened by an SUV that I had stopped at the intersection to avoid, how embarrassing, that snot. [Read more...]

To Tweet or not Tweet, that is the Question…

October 18, 2010 By Lisa 1 Comment

A while back I wrote a post displaying my true (nasty) feelings about Twitter. Since then, I am giving it another whole-hearted try. Actually giving it a whole-hearted try. I’ve discovered some interesting folks on Twitter and am still learning how to join in on meaningful (or goofy) conversations. I still haven’t figured out how to “hang out” with some folks, like at happy hour but then I only have about 30 followers.

I did have fun fussing and ranting about my dislike for Michelle Rhee, which was a pretty good learning experience. Being fired up inspires me to learn how to use something to spit my flames.

I’m thinking I may have been a little harsh with my criticism of Twitter back then, and although I am far but enamored with this particular social networking tool there is a possibility it might not suck. Will update in a month or two. I promise. Remind me if I don’t. And please, feel free to comment.

News Flash: Not all Black Women Wear Fake Hair

October 7, 2010 By Lisa Leave a Comment

It’s weird, three people in the last month or so have said something to indicate that they assumed that I am wearing extensions, a weave, or a wig. WTH? Does my hair look fake?

Ok, I realize that this is because of the terrifying profusion of fake hair being worn by my beautiful sistahs, and some women’s obsession with long hair at whatever cost, be it monetary or beauty. Is it because of the movie “Good Hair”? I was horrified by that movie too. Before that film I had never seen a weave being applied either.

It is no secret that I can’t stand weaves and wigs. Mostly because they have tainted the whole idea of black women with long hair. I grew every single strand of these thick, luscious, nappy, long locs on my head from the follicles on my scalp. My hair is REAL. It didn’t come from some poor Indian woman’s temple or a horse’s ass. Believe it.

I’m obsessive about the products I use and care I take of it. I want it clean, fresh, and shiny at all times. I’m glad you like it but please know that there are black women with beautiful (and long) hair, oh yes, there are others besides me! Please do not automatically assume that some black woman’s hair cost a fortune or that she spends her days sitting up in a salon having it sewn onto her head. Consider that some of us just might have real hair.

Rowdy Gray Hairs: A Good Sign?

September 8, 2010 By Lisa Leave a Comment

I was running late this morning. My excuse is that I woke up with a few too many gray straggly hairs around my hairline and I had to remove them.

I have nothing against gray hair. Salt and pepper locs are beautiful and distinguishing. But my gray straggles are strange, wirey, and like to party. The rest of my dark hair is (nappy) coiled tightly enough to display my ethnic African ancestry, which makes for luxurious locs and I like that. But the gray straggles are not coiled, not curly, not straight, not wavy. They are crooked. They are new and short so they’re not contained in my locs and they don’t know or care which way to go. They absolutely refuse to join the dark hairs in my locs in an orderly fashion. For those of you who know me, you know that I’m fairly methodical about keeping my hair neatly groomed and smelling fresh at all times. So you know why these little buggers are getting on my last nerve.

The gray hairs like to get down. They throw their hands in the air and wave them like they just don’t care. And they really don’t care!

So here’s what I was thinking. I do not have a problem with growing older. As a matter of fact, I look forward to the time when I can just say whatever and the hell I want out my mouth and act a damn fool and get away with it. People will say, “Don’t worry about that crazy Miss Lisa, she’s just old”… Maybe the hairs are just giving me a vision of what’s to come. I won’t be going with the other orderly old ladies to the church or whatever. I’m probably gonna stick all out, get all crooked, and wave my hands in the air and not care.

Shifting Friendships

August 23, 2010 By Lisa 1 Comment

Sometimes friendships just fizzle out, and others just go dormant. Sometimes lukewarm acquaintances develop into all out friendships, and these are all a part of the ebb and flow of friends. This is normal, but doesn’t stop me from being caught off guard.

I have a friend of almost 20 years who, over the past 5 years or so, has been slowly fading out of the picture. She has been around since the most turbulent times of our lives, our 20s. I happily leave that time of discomfort and instability behind and never look back. My friend desperately wishes she were 20 again, and tries to recreate the experience now, 20 years later. I don’t care about anything that I cared about way back then. My life is so different now and you couldn’t pay me to go backwards. The two of us have nothing in common except the past and until her recent defriending of me on a social network I hadn’t really faced that truth.

So where do we go from here? We didn’t really have a fight. We still care deeply about one another. But our conversations have lost the excitement of the past. We went from seeing each other once every couple of weeks to once ever 3 months or more. I’m pretty sure that she’s annoyed with me because I pointed out some ugly realities. I’m frustrated with her (from my perspective) lifestyle stagnation. Like when you are getting a shot and you see the needle moving towards your arm and you cringe and wait for the pain only to find out it’s all over and it didn’t even hurt, I’m not upset by this breakup. In a way, I’m relieved that I no longer cringe and anticipate the ending of this friendship.

On the very same day of that boot to my butt, someone I’ve known for about 6 years or so, a good friend of a good friend, whom I always thought was an interesting and fun person but we never really hung out together reached out to me. Come to find out, this person is going through some large-scale friend shifting herself. We had a nice conversation and discovered new things we have in common. We have plans to get together soon.

My new-found friendship will never replace my long time friendship. The only relationship between these two events is their proximity in time. That proximity in time only highlighted to me what was inevitable: Time to express gratitude and let go, time to embrace and move forward with the ever-evolving friendship flow.

Reconvergence of Divergent Paths

May 29, 2010 By Lisa Leave a Comment

One of my favorite poems depicts the oft accurate story of my life journey:

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And being one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth.

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same.

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I–
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

~Road not Taken by Robert Frost

So I took the path of entrepreneur, sensual lifestyle and wellness coach. After all the (law) schooling, (office) training, (fun) sacrifice, and attention not paid to the naysayers. I loved helping people to manifest their deepest desires, having control of my time, and living a sensually spiritual lifestyle and being authentically delicious 100% of my time. La-la-la-laaaaa…

Enter a contracting economy. With a dwindling client base and mounting financial stress I decided to get a daytime office contract gig. Nothing ambitious, just something easy that yields a predictable base pay and requires no overtime. But of course, nothing could be so easy for me. Just shifting the remaining clients from daytime to evening, going on the short commute (to the other side of my neighborhood), doing some boring paperwork, and then coming back to my delicious life. Not quite. I ended up in a slightly different (higher) position than I had applied for. Word got out quickly that I’m also a lawyer and the responsibilities quickly multiplied and I found myself being sucked into the miserable abyss of indentured corporate (gum-ment) servitude.

A series of unbelievable events occurred and a year and a half later I found myself popped right into a real legal position under the wings of two top-notch mentors from my alma mater, earning a decent keep. Wha? Nooooooo! This was not what I intended to happen! I thought I was leaving all this behind when I founded LifeBliss Solutions. I wondered what would happen to my delicious life now? But this opportunity is one I could not refuse. So in the true spirit of sensual spirituality I decided to take it on, and just go with it. It was undeniable that I could shore up resources for the future of LifeBliss for years to come. I didn’t only decide to go with this, I decided to bring my delicious life along with me.

Living a delicious life does not mean always being free to do whatever you want, whenever you want. I’d almost forgotten that it means always making the best of what you have in the present moment. After all, it has been my life work to help others live deliciously, whatever their current circumstance may be. Now I had the opportunity to demonstrate in real-time.

I happily took on the new challenge and obtained the necessary assistance with LifeBliss’s functions, which I now have ample resources to procure. There are many bright sides to this spot I am in right now and since I am more comfortable that LifeBliss Solutions will continue to thrive and support the mission to change the world, one person at a time, I feel fully delicious again. It’s as though I have one foot on two different paths and I like it. With me, things never go as the textbook predicts. So I’ll just go with it.

Raw Vegan Thursdays and Chocolate Cake Fridays

May 17, 2010 By Lisa 1 Comment

I decided to take on a new challenge, and inevitably drag my friends, family, and coworkers into it. Raw vegan Thursdays. It may get me over the last 5 lbs to lose plateau as well as train my palate to enjoy more healthy, natural fruits and vegetables.

On raw vegan Thursdays we will eat only raw foods, and no dairy, meat, or other animal products. Now, unlike some raw vegan extremists, I will not be purchasing any expensive kitchen gadgets, growing sprouts in my kitchen, or using enzymes to make the food into something it is not. I’m not eating any raw vegan fake meat or bread, because since I am an omnivore, I can eat real meat and bread when I feel like it. Anything that was not intended by nature to be eaten raw will not be eaten by me on raw vegan Thursdays.

It will be challenging, a little fun, and unconventional but I am sure there will be benefits. Want to try it? We start this Thursday.

One coworker suggested that we chase raw vegan Thursdays with chocolate cake Fridays. Sounds like a plan!

I'm Not a Cat Person but Oh, How I Loved My Kitty, Ziggy

May 1, 2010 By Lisa 1 Comment

Ziggy was our cat for about 5 years. We adopted him from another owner who adopted him from the shelter but discovered she was allergic. He was tall, handsome, macho, and bad as hell. He loved to kick over the kitchen trash around 4 in the morning. He didn’t want us to know that he loved chicken tenders or french fries, so if we tried to give him one he’d roll his eyes and refuse. But if you left that food unattended for a second he’d snatch a tender or fry and take off somewhere. When we got him he was not very affectionate but over the past year or so he would climb onto my lap, but only late at night after everybody went to bed or when he wanted my attention while my best friend visited.

According to my husband, he and Ziggy had an ongoing battle for “control of the household”. I can’t verify that but Ziggy definitely preferred pretty girls and ladies, especially those with curly hair, to anyone male.

Ziggy recently became very ill and had to be put to sleep. I’d never lost a pet before so I had no idea how much heartbreak ensues for the family. I still wake up in the morning looking to see what mess he made overnight. I look for him when I come home. He was so funny and quirky but also snotty and aloof. He was a gorgeous big, burly tiger. But, so goes the cycle of life. I love you Ziggyboo.

I'm 40 Years Old Today!

January 18, 2010 By Lisa Leave a Comment

So I woke up this morning. The sun was shining. My face didn’t look like a road map, my body didn’t suddenly become creaky and decrepit. I went out today and yes, the same number of men were up in my grill as were when I was 39, and interestingly more than when I was 30. I had a birthday coupon to my favorite clothing store so I hopped on a bus to it. I bought some nice things and I didn’t feel the least bit sad because I wasn’t shopping at the teeny-bopper joint for low-rise skinny jeans only for super-unbootylicious little girls. It was such a nice and warm (for January) day in the mid 50s-unlike last January 18 when it was 9 degrees that I walked to the several blocks to the train home. So what’s all the hoopla about turning 40? I am smarter and more fabulous than ever and life is good. I’ll keep you all posted.

Do Goddesses Tweet?

May 17, 2009 By Lisa 6 Comments

I’ve been doing some routine research on online business marketing tools for LifeBliss Solutions as business people periodically do. Twitter keeps popping up. I have come so close to signing up for an account just to see how this thing works. Each time I stop just short of putting my name in the box by the notion that there is something inherently amiss with the whole idea that I would give a rat’s ass about what anybody does every moment of the day. I just don’t. I am sure I would not “follow” anyone. Equally amiss would be that I am so narcissistic as to believe anybody in the world wants to latch on to my ass and follow me around for 24 hours of my day, every day. To me this tool seems like something for a bunch of weak losers with low self esteem who need constant reassurance that they are [fill in the blank with worthy, interesting, cool, fabulous, etc.], celebrity groupies, and teenagers.

Who has time to tweet or have their ass twiggled by some random strangers all day long if they are busy living life? You can miss so much of the moment if you are fumbling around with some electronic gadget instead of absorbing all the stimulus in the present moment. And please, nobody write to me claiming that they are “multi-taskers”. Multi-tasking always diminishes the full experience of the moment, PERIOD. When your eyes are focused on a little bitty screen then the beautiful scenery around you is nothing but a sideshow in peripheral vision. While your fingers are busy tippy-tapping on a keyboard, they can not be running through your lover’s hair.

I don’t want to tweet.

8:00 am – I am late, scurrying to the shower anti-twitter

8:01 am – Damn, there’s a pimple on my cheek

8:06 am – Wait, I’ve got to take a crap

8:18 am – Where’s my sock?

8:50 am – Should I have a smoothie or a latte?

WTF!!!!????????? This seems excrutiatingly trite, irritating, and tedious!

I came so close to being converted when I read stories of people increasing web page traffic exponentially with Twitter. So I took another look and read some techie articles to educate myself because boy, would I love to have a million viewers a day to my site. But the idea as I interpret it has been that as a business you can spy on your competitors, which does not appeal to me because my services are so unique and because when you are working from a philosophy of plentitude rather than scarcity it just seems like a waste of my time. I also learned that I can spam my followers to death. Well, Goddesses and potential Goddesses abhor spam, and they are so intelligent that they can spot it a mile away and surely would not encourage spam abuse by spending money on spammer’s products and services. Let’s face it: My name is not Willie Loman and I don’t sell widgets. I don’t have suppliers and secret proprietary potions. LifeBliss Solutions is what it is and that’s that.

The last thing I learned is that Twitter is a great tool for networking with both potential clients and peers and generates word of mouth promotion. Hmm, sounds good, ethical, and not unhealthy to me and holds some promise. Which brings me to the key question: Do Goddesses tweet? Goddesses don’t need to tweet, the same way that we don’t need to wear t-shirts that say “Goddess” on the front. Goddesses are busy, self-assured, taking disposable time to enjoy the present moment i.e. smelling flowers, dancing, riding a bike, reading a book, laughing, admiring art, savoring chocolates, connecting with real interesting humans in real life…etc. Why would a Goddess tweet, when she does not need others to validate her existence? Pray, tell me this so I can confirm once and for all that besides the fact that I won’t like it, that there’s no logical economic reason for me to tweet. I probably will not tweet but I just want to have all the information before I make the final decision.

The Most Important Beauty Product

April 5, 2009 By Lisa 2 Comments

I love beauty products. I am sure I have done enough research about beauty products and makeup to earn a Ph.D. on the subject. I could spend all day in the beauty store and only come out to eat. However, when I find an excellent product I can stick with it unless something changes, unlike many cosmetics junkies who one day claim to have found the holy grail and less than a week later are on to something else.

The most important beauty product hands-down is sunblock. It is imperative to use sunblock every day because it prevents skin cancer, hyperpigmentation, burns, and the breakdown of skin cells that leads to permanent wrinkles. If you don’t want to look like a troll someday, you have no choice but to wear sunblock daily unless you never go outside. But I HATE sunblock! It smells bad, it is too thick and greasy, or, in the case of the nice mineral ones, leaves a chalky white cast on brown skin. I have exotic brown looking but normal/combination sensitive rosacea-prone pale red-haired Northern European acting skin, which is hard to protect from the sun. For YEARS I had been satisfied using Purpose Redness Reducing Moisturizer SPF 30, except at the pool or beach because it is not water resistant ( I have a different, thicker SPF 45 for that). All of a sudden this past fall this same product began to break out my skin with a crunchy red itchy rash. I stopped using it for a while since it was winter and my day job prevented me from seeing the light of day anyway. But now with spring arriving and longer days I tried it again, hoping maybe my face forgot about the abuse it took from that sunblock before. But no, the itchy rash is rearing up again, dammit! I asked my dermatologist(s) to recommend a sunblock that is:

fragrance free
lightweight and easily absorbed
broad spectrum
portable and sanitary–not packaged in a jar
moderately priced
gentle but not zinc or titanium oxide-only (because of the white chalky film)
does not leave a shiny sheen
SPF 20-30
doesn’t burn eyes or stink too badly
water resistant (ok- wishful thinking)
can be worn under makeup

but they seem to find this topic way too boring. All they say is find an SPF 30 that I like. But here are hundreds of them!!!! Even the ones with the best reviews are horrible. Now I am hunting again. According to my research this time, which consists mainly from reviews by Paula Begoun, I have 3 good viable choices: Neutrogena Age Sheild SPF 30, Neutragena Active Breathable Sunblock SPF 30, or Ultra Dry Touch Sunblock SPF 30. I am headed to the drugstore today to smell, feel, and read the lables of the products. I am not in any way promoting these products. I am promoting the use of daily facial sunblock. I encourage everyone to find the right sunblock for themselves. I do however, recommend my most reliable beauty product information resource, Paula Begoun aka “The Cosmetics Cop”. Check out her website and books for comprehensive objective information on hundreds of makeup and skin care products.

On a Mission

April 4, 2009 By Lisa 1 Comment

This is my third week on the plan with the weight loss doctor. Just like before, it’s working. I am exercising too. On my way

So here's my BEFORE photo--Hahahahaha!

to the exercise class I saw some free books on a stoop, which is a fairly common thing where I live.

I spotted the Perricone Prescription book and scooped it right up. So many times I have contemplated buying that book but just never did. (Thank you, neighbor!) I had used some of the concepts from my previous shape-up a few years back when I got into the best physical shape of my life, since I was about 20. The eating plan I followed was basically the South Beach Diet with some Perricone ideas thrown in. I am never an advocate for silly faddish temporary “diet” plans. These are sensible guidelines for eating for great health, enhanced beauty, and reduced fat stores. The book provided a little inspiration. It provided another resource for my quest to be fabulous. It was a sign to keep going, I’m on the right track.

In less than a year I’ll be 40 years old. I don’t feel apprehensive about it the way I did about turning 30. I freely own my age thanks to the wisdom and authority is has brought me. I know everything. (At least that’s what my husband says). I do what I want and don’t give a rat’s ass what others think about it. I don’t feel any pressure or worry at all about turning 40, it is just another year. But just knowing how people typically react to a 40th birthday makes me want to start a new (well maybe not) project. Fabulous at 40. I think it will be so much fun to do my own mini extreme makeover. There will be NO surgical face lift and NO liposuction and I won’t be changing my style to look like a wannabe supermodel. It’s gonna be authentic Lisa, new and improved, and sustainable! YEAH! Of course this means I’ll have to have a party. Any reason will do.

Having a Coach is Work!

March 12, 2009 By Lisa 1 Comment

It is the first week with my coach and I’ve already had two homework assignments. You have to make time to do these things. The best thing is that these assignments are interesting and eye-opening, unlike school homework. When we have something to do it is so easy to get all caught up in thinking in terms of what needs to be done, to the extent that it can become overwhelming and then NOTHING gets done. Coaches ask a million questions. Often, getting the task done is hidden beneath all those questions. I feel some energy bubbling up!