Glow Edit✨

forty, edited style • gentle wellness • becoming

[thegl0wedit]

Life is still totally unhinged.

I have 20 days until my vacation, super excited. I am very tired. I can’t seem to catch up on my sleep. This weekend I didn’t really sleep which is weird. I got an average of 6 hours a night. I don’t really sleep in on weekends anymore. I am so sure my first day off vacation I’m going to nap.

Saturday I was up at 6:44, this morning I was up at 7;44am… I was also asleep by 2:30am.

Hubby and I saw the late showing of The Mandalorian and Grogu and didn’t get home until 12:50am.

I absolutely loved the movie. It was cheesy with tons of cute little Grogu scenes which is all I could have asked for.

May was not a nice month for me.

There was a lot of stuff going on behind the scenes. I didn’t lose any weight but I still stay on track for my work out routine. I did eat my feelings though! I did take my first sick day. I said goodbye to a lot of coworkers.

I worked Victoria Day Monday which sucked.

I still feel like I’m catching up on sleep.

Some positives about May.

The Weekenders was added to Disney Plus.

I LOVE The Weekenders.

One of my secret guilty pleasures is cartoons. I used to be to embarrassed to admit it but now at 40 I don’t give a shit. Cartoons just bring me back to good things in my life..

Anyways

I’m out.

[thegl0wedit]

[10] The Glow Up Diaries

WELL

I dropped off the face of the virtual planet.

Life got truly unhinged .

My coworker retired in April turning the should be 7 team into 5 team.. So I’ve had to be really flexible with my time. Which poses a problem since I am routine driven. I’ve had major anxiety as my schedule can be all over the place..

I gave up coffee in February.

Had a coffee in April, almost puked all over myself from the sheer anxiety of said coffee. Swore coffee off for lifffeeee!

Working out is still pretty consistent. I’m still on average 6 days .I’m still losing weight… slowly but surely.

Work is still work.

I have to work Saturday and the holiday.. I’m soooooooo sad.

[thegl0wedit]

[9] The Glow Up Diaries

Well it’s been a minute.

Work’s been busy and so’s life’.

Last weekend i was sick and this weekend I had a lot to do. I had to give the house a really good scrub to make up for last week. I still have a few things to do today.. Like I don;t know why ADHD makes it so hard to put laundry away.

I REALLY don’t. With every good intention I still don’t put the the laundry away.

Last night my husband and I saw Project Hail Mary. It was sooo good but it really did lead to some really weird dreams last night. Like I got into bed at 1am ( we went to the late show ) and put on a video on, apparently fell asleep and woke up at 3:39am confused af. I have no idea how my AirPods did not fall out.

I had a hard time sleeping in because Orion woke me up at 7am for food so I fed him. I couldn’t get back to sleep because every time I even tried to, but the cats would wake me up. So I made myself a smoothie and here I am.

I am pretty proud of myself.

I had a non-scale win this past week.. Like I had a really stressful week but I kept on track, I didn’t stress eat and kept up my workouts.

Next week I’m upping my workouts by adding cardio back. I stopped cardio for a bit because I was so tired of the elliptical but now I’m adding it back. I was hoping to go for walks but it’s looking like it’s not going to happen this week. It’s still looking like it’s going to be chilly this week.

Growing up I was really close to my grandmother. I used to go and visit her all the time and despite being 3 hours away…. I used to call her all the time and she would come visit during hunting season and sometimes at Christmas too.

Unfortunately I used to have to put up with her daughters to ( my aunts. ) I had this one cousin that my Aunts used to compare me to. In their eyes I was never smart enough, pretty enough, or skinny enough.

Now that I’m an adult I don’t really have much contact with them besides facebook. I’ve tried to keep up with them but they’ve shown there’s no place for me in their lives. Which I’m okay with. I realize now as an adult how fucked up the situation was. How much my grandmother has protected me from their BS.. I really miss her and with Easter coming up, my heart aches.

So my other little win?

I noticed the cousin I was always in a competition with has lost weight.. I’m not spiralling, not like I used to. If it was me 10 years ago I’d be spiraling eating and buying things to make myself feel better.

I’m very happy for her.

I’ve made peace with my childhood.

[thegl0wedit]

[8] The Glow Up Diaries

It’s been 4 weeks since my last glass of iced coffee and I am feeling incredible! No cravings unless I’m scrolling social media and I see a really delicious looking coffee..

I was so tired last Thursday when I wrote that post. I absolutely could not stand myself.

I slept so good and Friday was such an awesome day.

I took today off because we’re about to be super short staffed and taking time off is going to be impossible. I woke up at 8:30 and laid in bed for a bit. I got up, got ready, went outside into the garage and rowed for 15 minutes.

Than I did 30 minutes of strength training, and I feel incredible.

After I had a smoothie , did my nails, and now I’m just meal prepping.

Sometimes I sit back and can not believe how much I’ve changed my life the past 2 and a half months.

Since I started working out I’ve noticed huge changes in my own personality. Like at work when things go side ways.. I don’t automatically freak out. It’s like I’ve become more confident with this new found source of confidence.

I also noticed a huge change in my appetite and sugar cravings. Like I don’t eat as much.. I don’t get scared anymore if I think a meal isn’t going to fill me. I’m not scared anymore about being out and about and getting hungry.

For example, on Friday I was so groggy leaving the house I forgot my breakfast. I was so confused like what? When I got to work and realized. Instant panic, I was like Oh my god I’m going to be hungry for the entire day. Then I remembered I packed an extra yogurt.. So I had a protein bar and yogurt for breakfast.. I was okay. It all worked out. I survived the day and i survived getting groceries. It made me feel powerful?

I know it sounds stupid but my relationship with food has felt like a ball and chain. I obsessed, i restricted, I binged , rinse, repeat. Now I’m breaking the cycle and learning how to fuel my body and balance. It’s great, I’m not obsessing over food anymore.

Ooops, i went downstairs and forgot to bring my iPad with me.

I had salad and shake and bake chicken for supper. I’m ready for work tomorrow. I can not believe how fast this weekend went but it was a nice weekend. I watched season 4 of The Secret Lives Of Mormon Wives. It was.. a weird season. I doubt after today’s news I’ll keep watching the news.

[thegl0wedit]

[7] The Glow Up Diaries ‘

It’s been 3 weeks since I had a glass of iced coffee and i won’t lie.. I was slightly grumpy today because then time change is hitting different this time around. Like it really reminds me I am 40 now. I don’t bounce back as quickly as I used to be.

Today was kind of a fucked up day.

So since Monday we’ve had this freezing rain special statement. It got super cold during the day and it looked like the storm was going to start like right after work.

My work has a very strict work from home policy and basically we can’t work from home unless we’re given approval. Also can’t leave work and work from home unless you have a really great reason.

My team manager told us between meetings this morning that the storm wasn’t really happening until after work so no one could WFH this afternoon. By 2pm it was snowing and raining a bit.. Than at like 4:00pm WHOOSH. The freezing rain just started to downpour. So I was like aw fuck.

The drive home was gross and messy. It took forever and people drove so slow. Which I mean, fair, but like I just wanted to get home. . When I got home I started an instant pot roast beef.. Than took the chance to get my work out in. After we had instant pot roast beef’ with fries, coleslaw and vegetables. I got some laundry in, did up the dishes , got the garbages together for my hubby to take them out.

My work out was really good though.. I found this really intense apron belly work out and fuck it hurts. It’s good core work.

Now I’m watching old episodes of TLC”s Counting On while waiting for the dishwasher to finish.

Which I kind of hate because.. The Duggars are just so weird but I’m currently listening to Jill Duggar Dillard’s book Counting The Cost.. Now I’m going back to episode she mentions since things were edited for TV which is like.

Crazy to me. I mean, I get it.

They had money and an image to uphold .

Can’t wait for this to be over.

I’m grumpy. I can’t even stand myself. Lol

[thegl0wedit]

[6[ The Glow Up Diaries

I didn’t really blog last week because I had an actually busy week. Work was busy and it seemed like I had something on the go every week night.

This week is shaping up to be a little tamer.. All though tonight I did bake my very first loaf of sourdough! It came out good! My friend gave me some of his starter. The bread has this nice sour flavour. I still have starter and I need to feed it 30 grams of flour and 30 grams of water every Saturday.

I’m going to slice it and freeze it for this weekend’s breakfast. All though I’ve stopped eating eggs and toast for breakfast. I’ve been sticking to chia seed pudding. I broke my plateau ( YAY!!) and I’m pretty sure having eggs and turkey sausage every day was one of the reasons why I couldn’t break it,. I studied my calorie app and I was consuming way too much fat.

Anyways. Bed is calling!

[thegl0wedit]

[5] ‘ The Glow Up Diaries

Today was another very productive day. Work was super busy today, so busy I didn’t even finish my water. I did finish The Help audiobook. I started Jill Dillard’s Counting The Cost. I also bought Healthy As Fuck. I started listening to it as I made supper. So far I like it. Didn’t really get too far into it so I’m not so sure if there’s any useful advice yet.

When I got home I hopped on the eliptical I did weights after supper and it was such a good work out.

I ended up crying half way through.. I kind of did it to myself.

So when I scroll instagram I send myself on facebook any good dumbbell work outs I think are going to work out for me. Tonight while organizing my work out I found an old video titled ‘ When Grandmother’s House Isn’t The Same as Before’

I completely forgot about the video and watched it.. Then promptly bawled my face off the last 10 minutes of my work out.

Growing up I was really close to my grandmother. She’s been gone for 11 years now and every march break I get this little hollow feeling in my chest. I spent every march break with her, even though college. I even spent the summer with her the year I was laid off from work. Her house was my safe haven..This time of year is hard for me because I always think I about her. Her kindness, her love, and her gentle words of wisdom.

So my work out finished and I took a shower.

[thegl0wedit]

[4] ‘The Glow Up Diaries

Oops.

I never finished my journal entry so I just deleted it.

My bad

I have ADHD so starting and stopping things are like my super powers. I sleep so much easier now that I no longer drink coffee. This past weekend I fell asleep Friday and Saturday night on the couch at 11pm. Then got up and went to my actual bed at like 1am. I don’t wake up anymore int he middle of the night..or keep waking up and checking the time. ADHD is contributing factor I’m sure.

Giving up coffee has been easier as every day passes. I think the weekends are like the hardest part… I’m sure summer will be to. There’s nothing better than a large iced coffee with Torani’s coconut syrup and 1% milk with ice cubes. Especially if it’s drank by the pool. It’s better this way though. I haven’t slept this well in probably years.

I had a great weekend.

Friday after work Hubby and I went out and ran some errands then picked up supper from Big Leagues. I also got a cute Yeti for the pool this summer.

Saturday was Costco and house cleaning.. I really got lucky at Costco. I was able to get a flat of strawberries for 13 dollars.. I’ve been eating strawberries none stop. They were so good too.

One of my best friends turned 50 this weekend so we took him out for a beer. This coming weekend we’re going to have a gathering at my house.

Yesterday was meal prep day. I made chia seed pudding for the first time and it was actually really good. I made it with protein chocolate milk, yogurt and strawberries. I got these cute little meal prep pudding jars to take it to work.

Work.. was work

[thegl0wedit]

[3] The Glow Up Diaries

I could have really used an iced coffee this morning. The wind was so bad last night it kept me up half the night. It also bothered the cats so much they were very active last night. Work was busier than normal. I had to cover another team for half my morning.

So I never finished this entry.

It’s now Feb 25th.

2 hours and a 1044 calories burned I was WIPED from shovelling last night . The snow storm brought high winds and the hot tub area was completely snowed in. It took my husband and I 2 hours too shovel it out. I started as soon as I was done work at 4:30. The door to the back yard was snowed in and we couldn’t use the snow blower until it was shovelled out. My husband surprised me with Dixie Lee for supper. It was so sweet because by 6:30 I was HUNGRY. I know Dixie Lee is take out but it was so well earned.

The great thing was it was one of those crisp warm winter nights . I put on my Beats, played the Eras tour set list and I locked in. I didn’t really notice the cold until I was back inside.

I was back in the office today. It was just a normal office day but I had a little non-scale win. One of my favourite shirts is getting to big for me. I was in a rush this morning and wasn’t really looking…I noticed half way through my day and the collar of the shirt dips down and my bra peeks out. Ooops. It feels great but

I did a little meal planning tonight and grocery list planning. Saturday is my Costco morning so I like to be prepared to not overspend. Next week I think Im going to have chia seed pudding for breakfast… A Costco chicken and sheet veggies and than the normal suppers.

[thegl0wedit]

[2] The Glow Up Diaries

Today turned out to be a work from home day yay!

I woke up this morning at 5:30 and started getting ready for the day when I randomly decided to check my work email as I began to do my make up. I noticed the Senior Director of my group sent an email at 12:30am this morning titled ‘ Winter Weather Update’ I wish this was sent earlier because I would have definitely slept in a bit.

Turns out the office was closed due to the impending weather. That storm didn’t roll in until 3pm and she came in hot. It’s so bad even the buses were off the road by 6:15pm.. Which never happens.

I promptly stopped doing my makeup. ( Thank god I had just applied primer ) and changed out of my work clothes into comfortable WFH clothes. I wore a pair of Lululemon align leggings and an oversized Torrid tunic that I have.

I love being in the office but the odd WFH is so nice. I also can’t explain why but I always crave iced coffee when I’m working from home. Today I stuck to water and Diet Coke. I am definitely seeing the changes. Falling asleep at night is so much easier for me.

I had a super productive day at work, plus I took advantage of the WFH day. I worked out on my lunch and kept up on my snacks and water. Two things I struggle with because when I get busy, they’re all forgotten. Breakfast and lunch was my meal prep.

I worked on my shopping list for this week since Saturday is my Costco day on my lunch.

I made shake and bake for supper, did a few loads of laundry and still got some time on the couch. Which is really rare for me. Ever since I locked in and started this life style change in January…I barely ever get time to watch TV at night. While I was enjoying an episode of King Of The Hill… I got a text message from my manager, tomorrow is another work from home day! SO happy, I am definitely sleeping in tomorrow.

Which is why journaling is so important to me. It keeps me on track and keep my thoughts straight, just like lists. I’m working hard on becoming the best version of myself. Which includes getting more comfortable with photos.

[thegl0wedit]

[1] The Glow Up Diaries

So,

I’ve given up coffee.

It wasn’t an easy decision since I really love a nice cold iced coffee with 1% milk and pistachio syrup but it’s the right one.. I feel like since I like my coffee with lots of milk and full sugar syrup it’s hindering my health journey. Also I think it’s been making a lot more anxious than I normally am.

Earlier this month my work has pulled us back to the office 5 days a week. Which I don’t mind because I love being in the office.. ( Besides weekends and holidays when I’m in the office alone..) The new routine has made me tired. We went from 1 day in the office, to three, four and now five. I totally understand the decision and not against it.. Just woof, getting back into the 5 day routine is hard. I’m sure the schedule change has caused the new anxiety which fair.

The real test will be tomorrow because I’m working a 10 hour shift.. Which normally doesn’t happen on weekends but there was some coverage issues. All though I do find Liquid IV’s sugar free peach has perked me up in the mornings.

Today was my day off.. I woke up at 9:30, i laid in bed for a bit.. I did get up and worked out … I made breakfast, cleaned the house , showered and now I’m just journaling for a bit. I drank my 3 litres of water.Tonight I think I’ll make pizza on a protein wrap and some fruit… I’ve been focussing on eating protein and fiber.

Feb 22,

I stopped writing and never finished.

I worked yesterday and it sucked.

I got home yesterday and put out a pizza from Superstore for supper. So Orion decided to knock the box over to get the cheese. So we got Swiss Chalet.

Non-scale win? I didn’t order dessert.. I didn’t have fries besides like 3 and I ate chicken, salad and a roll.

[thegl0wedit]

I hesitated before starting this blog.

Not because I didn’t have anything to say — but because I have ADHD, and the idea of “maintaining” something has always felt loaded. Like I had to promise consistency, energy, and follow-through in a way that hasn’t always come naturally to me.

But here’s the edit I’m making at forty:

I don’t need to do things the right way. I just need to do them in a way that works.

GlowEdit isn’t about perfection, routines I’ll never keep, or reinventing myself overnight. It’s about small, intentional changes — in how I dress, how I care for my body, and how I show up in my life. Some weeks that might mean outfit posts. Other weeks it might mean thoughts, resets, or quiet progress that doesn’t photograph well.

I’m not interested in filming myself. I’m not chasing trends or algorithms. I wanted a space that felt slower, more honest, and more forgiving — a place where evolving style and gentle wellness can exist without pressure.

This is me, editing my life instead of erasing it.

Learning what fits now. Letting go of what doesn’t.

Showing up when I can — and trusting that it’s enough.