Retirement - Re-Invent Yourself!!!

Are you looking at retiring within the next couple of years?  Have you make plans or are you dreading the whole process?  I am sixty -two (62) years old and I am  looking forward to retiring as early as next year.     However as I speak with persons my age around this issue I get mixed feelings on the subject.  Most of us have been working since our teens so the question becomes "What will I do when I stop working?".  Also there are issues around money and being able to maintain your present lifestyle. Some said they would be bored.

How  nice would it be to wake up and not have to worry about being late and punching that time clock? What about not having to figure out how much time you have to take that vacation you want.  Or just waking up and doing whatever pops into your head. Our generation has spent most of our lives taking care of husbands, kids, grand kids and our jobs. We work hard to make the company we work for grow. We are good employees, getting to work on time, staying late to finish that project that was due yesterday, and never using a sick day. While all of this looks good for the job, what are they doing for you? Younger people are being hired and you are training them. Those promotions elude you because you don't have a degree even though you been on the job more than twenty  years.

I say stop dreading the process and embrace it. I suggest several years before you plan to retire you do a couple of things.  First, you start with a financial plan and then a plan to reinvent yourself.  The possibilities are endless. You could write that book or turn that hobby into a business. Maybe you like gardening or painting. You could even take cooking classes to prepare that gourmet meal you always wanted.  You could travel, or just read all those books you never had time for.  With the Internet at our fingertips there is an  app for almost anything you want to do. So relax, and don't see boredom in your future but the beginning of the next chapter in your life.  Remember: Re-Invent Yourself and Enjoy !!

Guess What: It's Just Food!!!

It Just Food!!!

Do you remember the movie "Soul Food"? That movie brought back so many memories for me around food. The Sunday dinners our family used to have.  Eating until you couldn't move. Never leaving the table without have a second helping.  But it was not just Sunday, we ate like this every day. There was no such thing as fast food for dinner, my mother cooked every night.   So I grew up with a love for good food. I am guessing that many of you did as well.

Now with all the cooking shows on television, you too can be a gourmet cook. Fixing those wonderful meals like all the top chefs'. Making all those wonderful desserts (chocolate cake, cheese cake, muffins, cookies and the list goes on and on). But guess what? It gets better! Now there are restaurants, bakeries  and all kinds of places where you can get all this wonderful food without having to  make it yourself.

When I started having weight and health issues the first thing the doctor wanted to take away was all my wonderful food.  Because I could not imagine life without my chocolate cake, ice cream, cookies, fried chicken, fried fish,  mac & cheese and potato chips, my health issues just continued to get worse year after year.  Somehow I came to understand that  I didn't need chips, ice cream and chocolate to survive.  Rather than making food the most important thing in my life I kicked in down a few levels. Being here to enjoy my family and friends became my top priority.  I finalized realized: It's just food.

Shirley

Thinking Outside the Box!

Have you noticed that we tend to follow a pattern in the way we live our lives.  But where did that pattern come from?  We raise our children the way our parents raised us, we eat the same foods that we were taught to cook, and sometimes we even work in the same jobs just like our parents and grandparents.

So is it no wonder that we carry the same problems generation to generation.  Those wonderful recipes passed down  through the years tend to yield the same health problems for each generation. Some things are heredity but some are just us doing the same thing over and over again.

Why not try  thinking outside of the box and  look at changing how and why we do things. We might need to bake sometimes rather than fry.  Maybe we need to look outside of the "food pyramid" for our healthy eating choices. What might have been a healthy choice twenty or thirty years ago may be the wrong choice today.  Dare to be different and start a new trend for the next generation. Throw out that old way of thinking and embrace "thinking outside of the box".

Shirley

What's Really Making Us Fat?

There are many causes of overweight and obesity but eating too much and exercising too little (aka energy imbalance) seem to be the only reasons that people focus on.  As a matter of fact, if you read the page I've just linked you to, energy balance appears to the main cause while everything else is "other". 

For little over a year now, I have been focusing more and more on the "other" causes of overweight and obesity.  I have been growing especially concerned about the chemical additives that are in foods.  This has been mostly because of my personal experiences with weight loss combined with information I picked up in school.  However, this week I was going through my copy of the January issue of Prevention magazine and I stumbled upon an article that seems to validate my concerns. 

The printed version of the article is titled, "What's Making Us Fat?" and it talks about a study done on the effects of obesogens.  Obesogens affect us by 1) increasing the number of fat cells in the body or storage capacity of fat cells; 2) changing our metabolism; and 3) affecting the way our body regulates hunger and fullness (Henig 2014).  Get this: exposure to obesogens will affect future generations.  Example--you could be exposed to an obesogen but the effect will be felt by your children and grandchildren.  Whoa.  Please, read the article to get more information on obesogens-what they are, where they are, and who's at the highest risk. 

Let me just say, I do not think that this absolves us of our responsibility to eat better and to exercise.  In fact, I think eating better (by better I mean real food) could possibly help the body cleanse itself of the toxins we're exposed to.  And, I've been clear that I believe in exercise. I just think if you're trying to lose weight then it's important to recognize everything that has contributed to your weight gain or is making it that much more difficult to lose weight. 

Antoinette


Reference:
Henig, Robin M.  (2014 January).  What is making America so fat?  Prevention. 

Is Time Really the Issue?

 

The number one reason people give for not exercising is, “I don’t have time” (Springen 2014).  This fact is probably the motivation behind several workout programs that are geared toward that belief.  For example Shaun T’s Focus T25® and 10 Minute Trainer by Beachbody®.  Even the CDC advises that 30 minutes of daily recommended exercise can be done “10 minutes at a time” (CDC 2014). 

I wonder though, is time really the issue?  I say that because this is what I know about people:  people make time to do the things they want to do.  If that’s true, then the real issue is that people don’t want to exercise.  And if that is true, then the next question is, “Why?”

Ok, ok.  I know I’m making some really broad, general statements but it is based on what I have observed of my family; friends; former co-workers; and acquaintances.  They always seem to have time to watch TV, read a book, or go to the mall, etc.  And of course, they find time for anything involving their children or meeting the needs of family members.  But let’s get back to exercise. 

Everyone says, “I need to work out” but very few people ever say, “I want to work out”.  If desire is the real issue, then how do we address it? 

Easy (or maybe easier said than done), find something you actually want to do!  There’s so much to choose from: walking, tennis, rollerblading, roller-skating, volleyball, hula hooping, dancing.  Try one, try them all! But most importantly, do something.  Exercise is so important to our health, we can't afford not to.

Anyone who know me knows I love line dancing.  I love it so much that I travel to line dance workshops and I’m constantly on YouTube looking up dances.  I even created a workout, HustleFit™, that is based on how I like to learn and practice line dances.  I invite you to try it out at www.dancepartythrive.com.   Oh, and don’t feel like you have to stick with any one thing.  I’m going to try a kickboxing class with my sister later this month.  Who knows, I might find something new that I enjoy.  Hmm---can I cross line dancing with kickboxing?  LOL-- even if I could, who would do it? 

 

Antoinette

Choices, Choices, O MY!!!

Everything we do in life involves making a choice. From what car to get, where to live, what to wear or what to cook for dinner, a choice must be made. The choices we make every day have a profound effect on us as well as the people in our lives.  So, let me ask this, how much thought do you put into making choices that will change how you feel and live?   I am sure that it is was  not any one's choice to gain weight and to then become burdened with  health issues.  However, it is your choice whether or not to address these issues or to let them ride.

It came to me one day that I had made a choice and I didn't like it very much.   The choice was to ignore the fact that I felt bad and was tired all the time.  I choose to  listen to  "you are just getting old" as a answer to all my health problems. ( yes that answer was for the weight gain as well) One day I made a choice to become serious about living a healthier life.  I chose to be an active participant  in making my life better and healthier. What choices are you ready to make to live a healthier lifestyle???  Choices, Choices O MY!!! 

Shirley

What is your Aah Ha Moment???

Making changes is not an easy task.  But what is even harder is breaking old habits and starting new ones. Our head might know what we need to do but our body is not playing along.  We fall into bad habits that somehow become the norm and we don’t understand why we need to change.  For years I blamed my weight gain on having my children and that somehow made it OK to be overweight.  Well, when they became adults I had to find another reason for the weight gain.  So let’s see, college bills, my job, family issues, health issues, and the list could go on and on.   In other words there was always a good reason for the weight gain and that made it OK.

Have you noticed that instead of changing we adapt. For example, when I would go out to eat, I couldn't fit comfortably in a booth or on a stool, so I always sat at a table with room for me to maneuver. When I would fly I would try to sit next to my kids because they wouldn't care if I was sharing their seat. And guess what, I always had to request a seat belt extension from the flight attendant. I would always be the last person down the steps because I was walking slow and breathing hard and trying not to hold everyone up.  I did this for years, so you see rather than change I adapted.

My aah ha moment came one day  when I was at work talking to two of my co-workers who were 7 or 8 months pregnant. Imagine my surprise when  I realized that my stomach was as big as theirs and no I was not pregnant. That was when I decided to stop adapting to my weight gain and make changes to lose it. Even though change is hard, it gets easier as you work at it one day at a time. When you reach your Aah Ha moment  be ready to embrace the  changes that will make your life better.   

Shirley

Are You Planning to Have Fun This Weekend?

 

After a week at work, I know there are some things that we need to catch up on over the weekend.  For instance, housecleaning, yard work, grocery shopping, laundry, etc.    But I still think we can find a few minutes to do something enjoyable for ourselves.  Curl up with a good book; take a day trip; or give yourself a home spa treatment. 

Fun is subjective; what might be fun for me might not be fun for you.  Also, there might be some chores that you enjoy doing.  For example, I’m going to spend some time over the weekend working on a Hustle Fit™ workout.  It is work but it’s also something I really love to do. 

What other fun stuff do I have planned?  Well, I’m going to start reading “A Discoveryof Witches” by Deborah Harkness.   I read a lot of non-fiction so I like to treat myself to fiction every once in a while. 

I’m also going to practice applying dramatic eye makeup.  I really liked JLo’s dramatic eye look on this week on American Idol.  I don’t want to duplicate her look per se, but I want to see if I can pull it off.  It gives me a great reason to dust off my Mary Kay consultant caseJ. 

 

Do you see what I mean?  I’m not doing anything adventurous or even spending a lot of money or time but I am doing some things that relax me and take my mind of off my stress. 

So, what fun things are you planning to do this weekend? 

 
Antoinette

What is fun for You??

Do you remember the fun things you did as a child? When you went outside to play what did you do?  Did you jump rope, hula hoop, roller skate, play dodge ball, stick ball or just ride your bike? Can you remember the joy you had in doing these things?  Isn't it amazing that while you were doing any number of these things you were also keeping your body healthy and fit.  You played hard, slept hard and woke up the next morning refreshed and ready for whatever the day held.

Why then as adults  have we forgotten how to have fun. We have taken the joy out of healthy living by doing what we think will gain us the best results. We do a number of things that we may dislike such as, jogging, running on the tread mill, lifting weights, or exercising 2 - 4 hours a day. If these things are your idea of fun then I say enjoy.  But if not, find something that is fun for you.. Because if you don't like whatever form of exercise you select, you will not stick to it.  Several years ago I was introduced to line dancing.  I found that I loved it. It is fun,  the  music is great (takes me back to younger days) and I get a great workout doing something that I enjoy. So when you are planning your healthy life changes put something in your plan that you love and will be fun for you.  Doing something fun will go a long way to ensuring that you meet your goals and keep them. Think FUN!!!

Shirley

I Want to Be Fit and Fabulous!

Although extra body fat has been shown to contribute to the development of some illnesses and diseases, being thin is not a guarantee that you will never develop those same illnesses and diseases.  So I have tried over the years to focus on health rather weight.  Easier said than done; after over 12 years, I’m about 2/3 of the way there. 

Looking at health from a holistic view rather than a strictly biological view has helped me.  Yes, biological health is important.  Blood pressure, cholesterol levels, physical fitness, blood sugar levels, weight, etc.—those are all very important.  However what is also important is how we feel about ourselves; how we manage stress; and how we take care of ourselves. 

I’ve decided I want to be more than healthy, I want to be Fit and Fabulous!  I want to have more energy and I want to be free of sickness, but I also want to be mentally and spiritually healthy.  And, I want the same quality of life I have now or better.  It's a lot to ask for but the better I am, the better the world is.  That sounds arrogant but imagine if everyone felt that way.  The world would be an awesome place. 

I can’t change the world, but I can change myself.  So I put together a list of things I needed to focus on to be Fit and Fabulous.  This list is by no means complete, but it’s where I needed to start.  I’m still working to make a few of the items a daily habit but I know I’m not a failure; I’m going to keep trying until I do J .  Click here to download it.  Read it and let me know what you think! 

 Antoinette

Living in the NOW!

When you woke up this morning did you think about all the possibilities that lay before you. Did you think "today is the first day of the rest of my life"?  Maybe you just started to worry about all the things you did not get done yesterday.  Maybe you started that to do list for tomorrow and the rest of the week and wondered how you would get it all done. Living a healthier life involves more than getting your body in shape.  It also involves the right mind set, free from as much stress as possible.

Sometimes we forget that illnesses such as high blood pressure and high cholesterol often stem from living stressful lives.  Every commercial or ad tells us how we should look head to toe. How your hair, face, and body should look and how to achieve those goals. We hear this so often that we totally forget about feeding the mind and soul. Where is the ad about living in the now and enjoying it? Where is the ad about taking life one day at a time?  I am sure they are out there buried deep beneath the surface of how to  look good and  how to keep your body in shape. 

I suggest that when you wake up tomorrow you think "today is the first day of the rest of my life". With this as your mantra your possibilities are endless. Leave yesterday behind and focus on the positive for today.  We need to feed our mind, body and soul in order to be healthy.  So start living in the now and make today a positive statement for feeling good. 

Shirley

What's My Motivation?

 

 

One of our Twitter followers posted a list called, “10 reasons for weight loss”.  I was so disgusted by that list!  I’m not going to share it because I don’t want to spread I what I consider to be negative ideas about people who are overweight.  But I will say that the list further promotes the stereotypes that our society seems to have about people with extra weight.  They lack confidence, don’t love themselves, and are embarrassed by their personal appearance.  WTH?  Do you have to have extra weight to have any of these issues? Aren’t these issues that anyone can have? 

After I calmed down, I started thinking about my motivations for losing weight.  The real motivations that moved me from trying to lose weight to actually losing weight.  They are:

·         Age

·         Health

·         Quality of Life

How many people do you know who started complaining about various ailments once they turned 40 or 50?  I know quite a few.   I told myself I didn’t want to be one of those people who start falling apart at 40. 

I’ve read too many articles, books, magazines that talk about the link between overweight, obesity and disease--cancers (some), diabetes, heart disease, stroke, and probably a few others. 

As I grow older, I want to enjoy the same quality of life I have now, if not better.  I don’t want to spend my mornings taking ten different medications; I don’t want to travel with an oxygen tank; I don’t want to spend three days a week in dialysis, and I want to maintain as much mobility as possible. 

So those are my reasons, my motivations not just to lose weight but to be healthy.  What are yours?

Antoinette



Slow & Steady wins the Prize

We live in  a time of instant gratification.  The main  question seems to be  how fast can we get what we want? We don’t want to wait or plan,we just want it now. And when we don’t get it “now” this leads to disappointment and frustration.

As you move towards a healthier lifestyle don’t get caught up in the fast and easy.  Don’t get caught up in the hype that in seven days or seven weeks you will be the person you were twenty years ago. The reality is that no one went to sleep and woke up fifty pounds heavier.  It happened slowly over an extended period of time. Just like it took time to gain, it will take time to lose. Save yourself the frustration and disappointment and take it slow and steady.  Just remember the tortoise and the hare: "slow and steady wins the prize every time".

Shirley

Relieving The Stress of Weight Loss

Weight loss has been a part of my life for the last 25 years. I have to say that I have tried almost every diet plan there is (I know I missed a few, but who is counting?).  Although the plans changed the one thing that remained the same was the level of stress attached to each one. First there's the husband or boyfriend who only remembers what you looked like when you met  in high school or college.  Then there are family and friends who only remember what you looked like prior to having children.  Then there is society who states that everyone should be a size 0 in order to have a fulfilling life. And last but not least, is your doctor who at the end of every appointment states: your numbers are good but you need to lose weight.

When you let people know that you are losing weight, then everything you eat  becomes suspect. If you are eating anything other than salad you are questioned: why are you having that cake or candy or ice cream ?  So you stay stressed out all the time.  Trying to get back to the high school or college size (for the husband or boyfriend); trying to get rid of the baby fat (for family and friends) and lastly trying to keep your doctor happy at your yearly appointment. So the end result is that you are so stressed and worried about the expectations of others that you don’t lose weight, but in fact gain more.

What I finally realized was that: my loss weight is all about me. No one else has a say  in when or how I go about it.  Once I cut out everyone's opinion and thoughts on what I should be doing or eating my stress level dropped to zero. I figured out why I wanted to lose weight, how I wanted to do it and found a plan that worked for me.   Now since I only have me to answer to, I am confident that I will continue to meet my weight loss goals and be happy achieving them.

Shirley