38 Days to Fit and Fabulous

Begin your day with gratitude.  I know, sounds cliche', but the truth is it makes a world of difference beginning your day feeling grateful for all that is good and positive in your life.  Not to mention, it's a great way to soothe the savage beast at around three in the afternoon.  Being in gratitude is a way to feel sense of strength and it makes us look a whole lot more beautiful to those who come in our path.  I have a little room in my house I call my sun room.  Within are a variety of oggetti d' arte that remind me of my gifts in life!

Mia chia, Egyptian cat, and grandmother's plate under mia chia are reminders to  me of how fortunate I am.

Organize your personal closet.  Find your best pieces of clothing and accessories and discover your most flattering outfits then stick to these throughout the duration.  I helps our motivation when we feel good about our appearance.  Spend thirty minutes today and tomorrow sorting through the out-dated, wrong size, not-ironed, ill-fitting and otherwise unflattering clothing and either store it out of site or get rid of it.  Spend some of the time creating new looks with what you have.  Challenge yourself to wear something showy, like a gorgeous scarf or a brightly colored handbag.  Maybe you've always wanted to wear those patent leather gloves but didn't feel comfortable.  Wear them!  Have fun, let loose and instead of allowing your ego decide what's right for you, let your soul lead the way.

It helps to organize by style and color, too.  

Drink alcohol in moderation.  The current rule of thumb for active women is one to three glasses of wine, beer or alcoholic beverage a day.  Before grabbing for another drink,  a lot depends upon your genetics and lifestyle.  So use moderation.  A glass of wine a day has great health benefits as does alcohol in general.  (Google 'health benefits of alcohol'.)  I always say, choose your poison!  When it comes to a desert or another glass of wine, I go for the wine 90% of the time!

Sometime before I turned fifty, I found wine, while loving it, make me kind of feel yucky.  this is my Bedecitini.  Premium vodka, pure pomegranate juice, soda water and ice,  Shaken, not stirred.  Sip slowly...

Remember, Monday, Wednesday and Friday is for cardiovascular exercise and Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday is for resistance or weight training.  Of course you can switch the order, but just make sure you alternate the resistance/ weight training!

Extra exercise for the day:  Right now, stand up, hold on to both sides of your low back with each hand just above the butt cheeks.  Pull your elbows back, open your chest and lean back opening chest further.  You should be able to allow your head to move back with your upper body.  If you feel tightness in your neck, it is time to pay attention to changing it's curve back to it's original natural position.  Hold a rolled hand towel in both hands with towel at the nap of your neck. Gently lean head back while pulling up on towel, pulling the vertebrae up and back.  Make this stretch a habit, especially those on a computer for hours a day!  Take these breaks regularly.  Most every job these days has us forward hunched.  Not attractive.  Keep a small towel at your desk, I have more exercises using it in the future.


Calories Count but so does taste.  The reason French women stay thin is because they opt for taste rather than portion size.  They prefer a bit of hunger to indulging on crap.  They would rather be seen vomiting in the middle of the first act of an opera than to be seen eating processed, junky food.  Similarly, they abhor gigantic amounts of food on their plate.  It just looks, well, uncool.

Easy Bodeci style dinner.  Baby spinach, sliced red pepper, cherry tomato and green onion tossed with Trader Joe's
Pad Thai noodles and thin sliced chicken breast from previous meal.  A dash of rice vinegar and a few Mandarin oranges

Imagine yourself shedding a few pounds of bloat and lethargy.  See yourself moving with less effort and with less pinch from the waistband.  Take a deep breath and continue to visualize this very near future YOU.  Continue to breath deeply while allowing a smile to broaden your beautiful and wise face.  Feel  the serenity of believing in yourself and all your glory.  Notice any little voices lurking that have a negative or critical tone.  Don't try to grapple with this voice, instead patiently notice what it is saying.  Is the voice valid or correct.  Break it down.  If the voice says, "you've tried this before and you will never be five pounds less or more fit or feel better than you have.  You just don't have the willpower..."  Whatever!  Listen, then tell the voice you have heard what it is saying and if you need it's help somewhere along the line, you will ask for it.  Smile and move on.  You Can Do This!

We have many little gremlins lurking inside our head.  Their voices are usually created from old criticisms, past hurts or unfounded fears.  Are they rational, do they merit validity?  Listen to the voice of your heart, dig deeper into your soul, banish the ego!  Find your own "fairy princess"!  It isn't just fantasy!