Challenging myself in more ways than one

I'm just coming out of a 4-plus year relationship (3 weeks and counting), and as they say, looking good is the best revenge. So, as a loyal SELF magazine staffer (5-plus years and counting), I am about to start taking the SELF Challenge http://www.self.com/challenge ,

a 3 month exercise and eating plan. Last year, I started the Challenge and injured my achilles tendon (my fault for jumping into running a bit too enthusiastically) and guess what? Ended up gaining weight. This year, I'm holding off on the running and hoping to get motivated by just writing down my workouts and what I eat. I took a great girl trip in December to a place called the Red Mountain Spa http://www.redmountainspa.com/ , an amazing place that's as luxurious as Canyon Ranch but a third of the cost. (Stunning hiking, great spa treatments, excellent food and an incredible setting.

Plus, it's close to Zion and Bryce--that's the view from my room, above.) In any case, the spa trip got me going on a get-healthy plan, and I've lost 12 pounds so far. Would be nice to lose 10 more before I go off to Rome, but I'm feeling molto bene already. (Nice to fit back into some of those pants again.) Challenge plan for tonight--after I take my laundry out of the dryer, I will do this amazing half-hour Pilates tape I got from work (nice perk!), called 10-minute Pilates--though it actually takes longer than that.

Oh, and I promise this blog won't be all about diet and exercise. There's my book to talk about, which will be a lot, well, sexier. Here's my elevator pitch: Despite the fact that we live in a world that's saturated with sex, it's still tough for women to talk about sex, what we feel, what goes through our heads, the gap that often exists between what we expect sex to be like and what it's really like. The essays in this book, from cool writers like Susan Cheever, Julie Powell and Moon Zappa (yes--that Moon Zappa) will get at what sex is truly like for ordinary women who aren't necessarily living the Sex & the City life. Interested? Keep reading!

Ciao!