Growing Out of My Forty Fabulousness

I've been hearing this a lot lately: what are you going to call your blog now that you're turning 50?

This is 40, but this isn't me.

My first reaction is slight resentment. My blog hasn't really been about the fabulousness of a specific age, more about having fun exploring this gratifying stage and celebrating the joys of midlife. Can't "Forty Fabulous" refer to the general state of being over forty and still include women in their fifties and beyond? Besides, many of my readers are still in their forties, I don't want my aging up to leave them behind.

I started this blog five years ago when I was already well into my forties and knew they were great, so the name made sense. But on the brink of this milestone birthday, I don't know what to expect from the next decade yet. At my book club Thursday night, the women looked lovely and the wine was flowing, but the tone was far from celebratory. One of our members' mother had died that day and another friend was at the hospital, keeping vigil at her gravely ill father's bedside. Two other women had lost parents within months. There was a lot of sadness in our circle, and the shared recognition that - at this stage in life - we'll all be required to do some heavy lifting.

Not every aspect of my 50s is going to be fabulous and I have to say the name "Forty Fabulous" seems a little outdated and cutesy anyway. But I'm still me, and I intend to continue to approach life with a sense of wonder and adventure and a little naughtiness. I'm still going to write about relationships and sex and the arts and fantastic women and fashion and teenagers and growth and finding meaning and connection - and I fully intend to have a fabulous time doing it, damn it!

So what do you think? Does this blog need a name change?  (I'm kind of coming around to the opinion that it does.) And if so, what should it be? Maybe something that doesn't refer to a number at all.

Please help me out! I really would love to hear your suggestions.

PS - I toyed with the name "Ripe Peach" to convey a sort of juicy, delicious. ageless maturity. But when you google those terms, you come up with a lot of porn.

The Next Feminist Movement Involves Dancing

As women, we've been conditioned all our lives to be in conflict with our bodies. But there's a new feminine movement in the world, demonstrated here in this incredibly powerful Ted video. I'm so grateful I had the opportunity to meet and interview S Factor founder Sheila Kelley two years ago. Her work is about much more than dancing around a pole. It's about helping women resdiscover their erotic creatures and reclaim their bodies by moving them and feeling pleasure in them as women do.

You and your body should watch this. Then put on some sexy music and dance dance dance.

Hello 2013, Bye-Bye Jigglypuff

After the holidays and the vacation and the feasting and boozing and general debauchery, I, like the rest of the world, am on a diet. I know, what a yawn. I personally feel there's nothing more boring than people on diets, especially at the beginning, when they're all virtuous and in love with their new dietary restrictions and feel obligated to educate you on the dangerous nutritional contents of your favorite foods. I don't care about the horrors of trans fats, dude, just let me eat my nachos.

Well, usually I feel that way, but today I'm the embarking on a new healthy eating program and I'm going to talk about it. Because if I don't babble incessantly about how I'm not eating as much as I usually do, I will go to my pantry and inhale the Costco combo pack of Carr's water crackers nestled there. And I'd like you to know those four boxes of white carbs are pure evil.

You're so 2012, Jigglypuff.

Other people's diets are a snore, but I feel entitled to tell you about my new dietary resolve, because MY self improvement project is special. It's not just that I intend to lose weight. It's that I intend to lose weight before I turn 50. Wow, fifty. I had a hard time even typing that number. The dreaded birthday is right around the corner and I am not planning a party. I'm still trying to find the fabulous spin on an age that is undeniably getting up there.

(Hey, do you find people whining about their upcoming milestone birthdays to be even more tedious than hearing about their diets? Me too, girlfriend, but you're in too deep to turn back now.)

Look, the only way I can think to embrace the next decade is by showing up on my birthday (11 weeks from now) feeling my best. And so I'm gonna shape up and shed some pounds, especially in the area I've come to refer to as my Jigglypuff - that soft, squishy round creature who has made herself at home around my middle. Jigglypuff is a much kinder term than Belly Fat, don't you think? Jigglypuff sounds friendly and harmless and sort of adorable - just like the little Pokeman pictured above.

There have been a couple times in my life when I felt really happy about my physical self. The first time was when I turned 40.  I lost 16 pounds on Weight Watchers and felt fantastic. I had so much energy! And that energy helped launch what I think has been the most surprisingly fulfilling, fun decade of my life. Call me greedy, but I want more. It's not even about appearance; it's about feeling fired up and optimistic and being in charge of my life. If I feel that way when I hit fifty, I'll throw a damn block party! But I've got some work to do and in the meantime, my Jigglypuff and I are going to have to part ways.

Now, I officially resolve to be less boring in future posts, and wish you all the happiest, hottest, high-energy 2013!

P.S. - Another time I felt great about myself was when I did this this "Four F's to Lose Four Fast Pounds"video series a few years ago with the awesome personal trainer Sharon Davis. The four keys are Focus, Food, Fitness and Fun! Check it out if you need some inspiration - I did.

http://www.fortyfabulous.com/2009/05/four-fs-to-losing-four-fast-pounds.html
http://www.fortyfabulous.com/2009/06/four-fs-to-losing-four-fast-pounds.html
http://www.fortyfabulous.com/2009/06/four-fs-to-losing-four-fast-pounds_07.html
http://www.fortyfabulous.com/2009/06/success-it-took-little-while-but-i-lost.html