I have extremely sensitive skin (as you’ve no doubt read in countless posts), so I’m always looking for cosmetics, skin care products, hair care products, and even home and laundry products that won’t leave me covered in hives or completely broken out. Skin lotions seem to be a particular challenge – whether it’s because the reaction they cause is compounded by the amount of body area that’s affected or if it’s because of basic ingredients used in making lotions.

In a stunning new survey done exclusively by Glamour, young women recorded an average of 13 brutal thoughts about their bodies each day (some had as many as 35, 50 or even 100!). 300 women of all sizes from across the country were asked to note every negative or anxious thought they had about their bodies over the course of one full day. The results shocked us—97 percent admitted to having at least one “I hate my body” moment.

Setting a weight loss plan, especially with a time limit, can be frustrating. Thankfully, my husband has a much better diet than I do, and he prefers healthier foods than I do. That will be a big help getting me over one of the first reasons that “diets” fail – lack of support. Knowing that my husband will be backing my healthy lifestyle changes and encouraging me to eat better foods will certainly make it easier to lose the weight than if my husband had as much of a sweet tooth or love of rich foods as I do.

Another goal I’m setting for myself that will be a bit more challenging but will help me achieve my goals is exercise. Living in South Florida, I have to be careful as a woman where I go alone for exercise, and I’m leery of taking things like early morning jogs on my own. However, if I can reinstate my gym membership and hit the gym around lunchtime, rather than during off hours or late at night, I’ll have a much better chance of sticking to the routine safely. Unfortunately, I don’t have a nearby gym buddy that I can call on to be my partner/motivator on off days (my dearest friend lives in Florida, but she lives about 45 minutes away – NO one in Florida is nearby!), so that will be a challenge, and I’m hoping that by posting regular updates about my goal, I’ll be pushed a bit more to meet it than if I set a quiet goal on my own and no one out there was watching the scale with me.

I found this great guide online that has some low-cal substitutes for high-cal favorites:

In 25 days, I’ll be 30. When I was younger, I shuddered to think that some day, I’d be that old. Now, while I rejoice in my age and wisdom, I realize that there are certain things that I’ll be leaving behind with my 20s – and the one of them that I miss the most is my metabolism. At 22, I could (and did) eat anything I wanted without gaining an ounce, and I have a diet that reflects that. Once I hit 26, however, that metabolism went away, and, combined with a job that required me to park myself on a bus for 5 hours a day (just for my commute) and then sit at a desk for an additional 8 – 10, I quickly started packing on pounds. That job, combined with the exhaustive commute that saw me eating junk fast food during quick lunch breaks, filling up on sodas and lattes to stay awake, and keeping me from the gym and my prior routine, left me 20 – 25 pounds heavier than I had previously been.

When I left that job for my first work-from-home position, I lost that weight, going from 140 back to about 125, where I stayed, give or take 5 pounds, until this last year, when I saw a layoff that left me depressed and sitting on the couch, giving up my gym membership to be able to afford basic bills, and switching my happy hours from martinis to happy hour beer specials which are FULL of calories. While that period (thankfully) ended quickly after the layoff, the stresses of consulting again, planning a wedding, family stresses and never renewing that membership have left me at my heaviest ever – nearly 150 pounds. At nearly 5’9″, I can carry the weight without feeling overly heavy, but it all seems to have settled in my midsection, hips, and upper arms, leaving me self-conscious and unhappy that I no longer fit into the clothes that I love so dearly.

For my 30th, the hubby is taking me to San Juan for a romantic week-long getaway with our close friends. I have, from today, just over 50 days to try to get myself at least a bit more into shape so that I am not quite as self-conscious in my bikini, and so that I can enjoy the city without having to squeeze into my new collection of Spanx (which I also would never have imagined myself wearing). I am not going to risk a crash diet or starve myself, but I do know that I have a lot of excess water weight (again, from a combination of stress, lack of exercise, and salt-heavy, unhealthy diet).

I’m not a weight loss expert, but from what I’ve read online, I can safely and relatively easily lose about 1 – 2 pounds per week without serious side effects. To lose 2 pounds per week, I’ll have to have a deficit of about 1000 calories per day, according to Mayo clinic. Given that I have just over 8 weeks to lose weight, and knowing that I can quickly lose the water weight I’ve got clinging to my midsection, I’m going to set a goal for myself to lose 15 pounds in 8 weeks – but more importantly, to get back into a healthy exercise routine that will give me a much slimmer core that I’ll be comfortable showing off in a bikini.

So – by numbers:

Current Weight: 147
Goal Weight: 132

Current Measurements: 38 x 37 x 41
Goal Measurements: 36/38 x 32 x 40

Time To Lose Weight: 52 Days

I hope I can accomplish these goals, and not only for the sake of going on this trip. I have a love of rich foods, sweets, and realize that I can’t continue to eat like I do, without healthy exercise and habits that will help keep me looking and feeling young as I start into my 30s.