FAQ #1: Why all the changes post-40?

Finally!  A FAQ series for the blog!  It only took me a year and a half to get to it.

My first FAQ–Why all the changes post-40?–felt huge.  I hit some serious writer’s block because there is no rhyme or reason to the changes.  So I have decided to simply have a conversation with you, via video, to talk about what has happened to me post-40 and how it impacts my blog mission and vision.

I polled you on Facebook and Twitter and many of you said you were interested in a video and others preferred text. I’m offering you a hybrid. If you really want to “get me” and to understand my evolution, please, grab a cup of coffee or a glass of wine and watch the video.  If videos aren’t your thing, I have summarized key points below.

In summary:

• I’m not the only person who has had significant life changes post-40. But at the age of 45 I took an inventory and realized how many new things I had experienced post-40.  I started blogging to bring a different voice to the food and fitness community.

• I don’t think I’m inspiring or special but I do write my blog to inspire change, to offer hope and to encourage people to think beyond what they are currently doing, whether it’s their career, health or diet.  We all can change whenever we want.

• What’s changed post-40?  I’ve run two marathons, 17 half-marathons and multiple triathlons. I changed careers, went vegan, let my hair go grey and became comfortable in the kitchen.  I no longer diet.  None of these changes were intentional.  But they occurred and now I write about them.

• Fitness:  In my late 30′s I found myself very uncomfortable in my own skin due to my weight.  I gained weight through (unsuccessful) fertility treatments and I was left with added pounds. At the age of 37 I was heavier than ever, smoking and sedentary. I went on a diet, lost weight and then quit smoking. When I quit smoking I started to exercise by walking on a treadmill.  In my 38th year I transitioned from walking to jogging and then running.  I ran my first race (a 10k) and got the bug. One month after turning 40 I ran a marathon (ran another six months later!) and then transitioned to triathlons. I had a pretty robust racing streak.

• Career:  I’m back in a career that I had been trained for in graduate school (higher education) but I left the field at the age of 26 to work in the nonprofit sector.  Seventeen years later I transitioned back into higher education by first teaching at a local university and now working full-time as a fundraiser at a college.  I didn’t plan the change but I did take an assessment of my experiences, skills and ambitions and connected them to make an opportunity.

• I went vegan. I had been vegetarian for eight years. I didn’t plan a “transition,” per se.  I was content being a vegetarian. I did a two-week cleanse two years ago and the only animal product I consumed was a hard-boiled egg.  The realization that I was an egg away from vegan pushed me over.

• I fell in love with the kitchen.  In my 30′s cooking was basic and uninspired.  Veganism introduced me to foods and methods of cooking that I had never imagined. I love finding ways to eat nutritionally sound food in quick and easy ways.  I’m busy and don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen, but I do want quality time. On any given Sunday you will find two pressure cookers, a rice cooker, and the bread machine going in the kitchen. Why all the appliances? I want my beans in 12 minutes not four hours (exaggerating) and I don’t want to knead bread.  I’m that kind of cook. My recipes reflect my quick and easy philosophy.

• I don’t diet anymore.  I attribute this to being vegan.  I appreciate food; it sustains me.  I am grateful for it.   I am no longer depriving myself and I have redefined what healthy and beautiful looks like on me.

• So, why all the changes post-40?  Why Not?  It wasn’t a plan.  I’ve simply opened my heart and mind to try things that are new, things that might have once felt scary.  I write this blog with the hope that I will inspire you to do the same.

Tagged as: FAQ, vlog