Days 30-32: I feel pretty, oh so pretty

So here's a secret (or maybe not-so-secret) tip to feeling pretty even BEFORE you lose a significant amount of weight: get a great haircut and/or color and highlights to freshen your "look". When your hair looks like a million bucks, you FEEL like a million bucks. It works every time!

For years I have dabbled with different hair lengths. Often, I want to grow my hair out because I like the way longer hair looks on OTHER women, especially in France where women often wear their long hair "up" in a twist or chignon. However, longer hair doesn't really do anything for someone my age except drag down your features, and I've never looked good with my hair "up" (and wouldn't know how to pull off a chignon if my life depended on it). So who am I kidding when I grow my hair longer?

I have finally come to terms with the fact that I do look much more attractive with short hair. I still want it to look sassy and feminine, but shorter is better in my case. The challenge with shorter hair is that you have to have it cut more often to maintain the look, and when I'm feeling pressed for funds I will sometimes take scissors in hand and try to trim it myself.

It never really works out well. And then I am left to apologize to my stylist the next time I go in and they exclaim, "WHO did this to your HAIR?" I should just save myself the embarrassment and let the professionals do the work.

Then there's the color. Mine is naturally a dark, rather mousy brown, and now it's mixed with a lot of steely grays that don't really look good on me at all. I do envy women who are able to pull off gray or even white hair and still look young, hip and fabulous... but that's not me. I've been doing the home hair color thing for years (again, to save money) but the past few times I've been very disappointed in the results, even though I'm using brands I've used for years. They just don't cover the way the professional products do.

On Thursday, I went back to the stylist across town who gave me a really good cut, color and highlights back in the spring. Of course, now it's 3 months later -- much too long to have waited -- so my hair was shaggy and overgrown, and the dark/gray roots at least 2" grown out. Every time I would look in the mirror, I would notice how tired and worn out I looked. I felt like I looked older than my 51 years, and who the hell needs THAT?

Three hours and 130€ later (and believe me, that's VERY reasonable), I feel like a whole new woman. I feel (and have been told) that I now look younger, thinner, sexier, more gorgeous, smarter and even RICHER with my new "do". I think that's time and money very well spent.

You know how when you start to lose weight and see results, you begin to carry yourself differently? You feel good about your progress and how you're looking, so you stand a little straighter, and you start to walk a bit more confidently?

You can also get the same results from making the most out of your appearance OTHER than with your weight. I have stopped wearing any clothing that doesn't fit me well (even though I haven't dropped a size yet) or that I just don't like how it looks. I'm back to wearing at least some makeup every day when I go out of the house. And now I've got this fabulous new hair.

To me, this is going to fuel my desire to drop the excess weight and to get healthier. I now feel like I look my best at my present weight; it's a natural next step to getting leaner and even more attractive. It's all part of taking care of myself in all the RIGHT ways (as opposed to, say, "treating" myself with the foods that got me fat in the first place).

If you haven't had a great cut and color in a while; if you've been walking around in frumpy, baggy sweats or yoga pants; if you've stopped even putting on lip gloss or mascara... maybe it's time to change that. Why wait until you've lost the weight to look and feel pretty? Who says you're not allowed to feel pretty TODAY?