Maintance

Today, girls and boys, we are going to discuss maintenance, and I don't mean about cars.

I was recently introduced to Nora Ephron's book I Feel Bad About My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman, and had a delightful time listening to it in my car. She has a chapter called Maintenance, which was a new concept to me. Now, at 61, I have an assortment of body parts sagging unattractively. I exercise and eat better than I ever have, but I haven't ever considered this a maintenance plan, more like a desperate attempt to stall the inevitable. To torque my thinking around maintaining what I have is more positive and doable than option of arresting the march of time so commonly referred to.

Ephron had me in stitches saying she now has a need for facial waxing, and groused about the lengthening times between bikini waxes. How she used to have a manicure maybe two times a year, but oh how the times have changed, and manicures are de rigueur in her weekly schedule.

She goes on, and if you are a 50ish woman wanting to feel like you are not alone as you watch the remarkable changes happening to your hallowed body, get a copy of the book.

My point is, we don't have to buy into our bodies cracking into broken bits as we age. Yes, some body changes are inevitable, but we have more control over that than we believe. I'm not talking cosmetic surgery, I am talking about making new choices about what we eat, drink and how we move our body. Choices which are healthier than we have made in the past, that are part of a full scale maintenance plan for living the rest of our lives in the best way we can so we don't become a drag for our kids or friends to have to deal with.

So much for that little kick in the butt... Tell us what you are going to do to make some healthy changes.