I’ve a had lot of requests from clients to start a blog…something I am not necessarily comfortable doing, but I am willing to give it a try. 

There is a saying, you can’t know where I’m going if you don’t know where I’ve been.That is true to a certain extent, so before I begin giving you my advice, I am going to share where I have been.

Here is my story.

My mother had a heart attack and died when she was only 57 years old.  This was a lifestyle-induced early death.  Her mother lived to be 98!  I don’t ever remember my Grandma being sick. Mom smoked, drank too much, dieted in very unhealthy ways, never exercised, and she had a great deal of stress in her life that she did not deal with.  Her sudden death rocked my world.  I was 29 years old.
Grandma, on the other hand, never smoked, never drank, and believed in a good power walk every day.  She went out for her walks until her children finally told her they didn’t want her out walking by herself in case she took a fall.  She was in her 90’s by this time.  Grandma also ate the way we all should eat .  A big breakfast, substantial lunch (dinner) and light supper.  Supper at Grandma’s was usually soup.  If we were having a big holiday meal, it was served at midday, not for supper.

I had been working out for years and had dealt with weight issues, eating disorders, etc.  and, at the time mom died, I was very active and ate pretty healthy, but her death made me more conscientious about what I put into my body and how much exercise I got.  The take away from mom’s early death was that I wanted to live a healthy lifestyle as I grew older.  I didn’t want to do anything that would cause me to die young and leave my children (even if they were young adults) motherless.  I adopted the belief that you are in control of your own destiny and your lifestyle should be one that promotes healthy aging, not illness.

In 2003 I stumbled into the fitness industry.  I became a certified Pilates instructor, a certified personal trainer and a certified nutritionist.  I brought my passion for healthy living with me to work every day, and I still do.  My clientele was almost always older (over 40) women who shared my beliefs.  I am happy to say I have had a great career working with women over 40.  It is very fulfilling to help people find health and wellness.

I take college classes every year on physiology, nutrition, exercise, aging, illness, etc.  These are fluid sciences.  There is always new data coming in and we continue to learn what is and is not good for us.  I try to stay on top of the current science.  I don’t buy into diets or fads of any kind when it comes to health and wellness.  I believe in data.

One thing I know for sure is this:  Eating good whole, quality food is the best thing we can do for our health.  We absolutely need to stay away from processed and fast food.  Fruits and vegetable are good for us.  Fish (especially salmon) is good for us.  Red meat consumption should be limited.  Some of us have a hard time digesting grains.  Some of us have a hard time digesting dairy.  It’s important to figure out what causes inflammation in our guts and eliminate it from our diets.  Focus on what makes us feel good.

In addition to healthy eating, we all need moderate exercise.  Sitting in a chair all day, especially in front of a computer, is not good for anyone.  You’ve heard the term Move it or lose it?  It’s true.

The blog posts to follow will address a variety of issues concerning health and aging.

If there is something you would like me to Blog about, let me know!

Thanks for reading.