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Excerpts

Foreword

Hello Again! It's me, Kathy. You asked for it, and just as I promised, I'm back between the covers of a book. Assuming that you all know that it's better to laugh, this time I'm going to be talking about life after forty, okay, maybe after forty-five, but you get what I mean -- I'm talking second half here, and it's my chosen task to tell you how to make the most of your silver and golden years!

My theory about life after forty is simple: "Try it, buy it, diet, but do it." And, to illustrate my philosophy I'm going to cover a variety of subjects from romance to health and beauty.

As far as romance, I don't know about you, but for me, dating the second time around is a major issue, especially since the ongoing search for the perfect date means you have to subject yourself to a never-ending parade of imperfect dates. I ought to know, I've gone out with them all: the short and the tall, the fat and the small, the poor and the poorer, the almost right and the totally wrong, the old and, here's the twist, the young(er)!

Once I get through with the men in my life, it's on to health and beauty. I'm going to let you know about my efforts to stay in shape. I'm going to talk about my body -- you know, my bra size went from 36B to 36 Long, my stomach went from a molehill to a mountain, and my thighs went from slim to thunder -- and my face -- yes I confess, there's something to tell. And I'm going to tell the truth about the breakthrough diet program that changed my life. (Remember, I used to be the girl who never ate one of anything, except a turkey.)

I'm also going to tell you about the influence of the Internet on my life. Hey, when 350 e-mails say there's something wrong with your face and your figure, it's time to look in the mirror. I'll be talking, too, about people I know who've been caught in and nearly strangled by the Web.

Before I've finished, I'm going to touch on something that all of us will come up against after we've passed the midway mark -- mortality. Suddenly, it's not just "older" people who die, it's your contemporaries.

I lost my best friend, the most important person in my life, and was devastated to the point where I couldn't think straight. You know me, I'm the biggest cockeyed optimist in the world, still, I had to work hard, very hard to find the Kathy my family, friends, and viewers have come to know.

Anyway, I'm back now, and I've put down all my experiences. I'm sure you'll feel right at home reading about many of the situations I've run into and if you don't, trust me, it's just a matter of time. Oh, one more thing, I always try to use real names but here and there (you'll know where) I've had to change them to protect the guilty as well as the innocent.

Onward to life after forty. Enjoy it, be over the top, not over the hill, and don't regret anything.

Copyright © 1997 by Kathy Levine