Shout out to those that keep showing up.....and to balance in our lives...

Good Sunday morning to all my readers....especially those who struggle every day to get and stay fit and healthy.

Yesterday was the last day of a short 6 week weight/fitness program that was offered at my gym.  I only lost 2 pounds, but I'm sure I lost inches and I know I gained strength and built up my self esteem.  I fully recognize that weight with me has been and probably will always be a struggle/battle.  I saw a post the other day that really spoke to me especially yesterday.  I really was hoping to win. Grand prize was four 1-hour sessions with a trainer!  Now that's a nice prize. But as I said I didn't win...didn't even come in second or third, but in my mind, I am a winner, because it got me back on track.

.....oh the poster, bet you're wondering what it said....here it is...

Because that's what's really important....that we keep showing up anyway. And that we quit making excuses. So you ate an extra cookie yesterday or you went out to dinner and maybe ate something a wee bit past your allotted calorie limit. Getting fit and healthy, losing weight and maintaining the loss is a life style.  It is not (or should not be) a quick fix. Life happens, you have to live life or you will always feel deprived and when you feel deprived, you set yourself up for failure. If you didn't make it to the gym yesterday, go today or take a brisk walk. Just keep showing up when you can and as often as you can. 

But don't let "when you can" and "as often as you can" become your excuse (I just don't have time)....that my friends is just a lot of bunk! We had company this last week for a couple of days and we have company coming for a couple of days this coming week.....so poor pitiful Peggy started with the wa wa wa....I had fitness classes scheduled and I had to cancel them....oh woe is me!  What was I thinking, that was just an excuse. I asked at the gym what time they open??? 5:30 AM  Light bulb moment for me ....................

No I couldn't go to my classes that were at 9:00 and 10:00 but I sure could get up early, get to the gym, workout for an hour and be back home probably before anyone else in the house was awake...Life happens, but don't let it become an excuse.  Figure out an alternative or if you truly don't have an alternative....DO NOT GET ALL POUTY AND BEAT YOURSELF UP!
Show up the next day or ask your guests if they want to go for a short walk.  They might just surprise you and welcome a bit of exercise (especially if they've driven a ways to get to you).

They are going to do the program at my gym again in the fall and I plan to be ready for it. In fact I may not need it, because my plan is to show up every time that I am able between now and then, either at the gym or at my home gym or just to take a walk.  I'm going to do something. 

BALANCE....
So have you ever stepped on one of those old type scales where you move that little bar across and get that little lever at the far right to stop teetering right in the middle of the opening.  I hate those scales because they are usually more accurate than any of the floor scales we use most of the time. It's that little 1/4 of a pound that will make it stop bobbing up and down.  Sometimes it can be a yahoo moment and sometimes that 1/4 pound can be a real groaner but getting that point of balance is the true test of getting your accurate weight.

And so it is with our lives too. Don't get me wrong, my husband calls me a gym rat and I smile proudly when he calls me that.  I love exercising.  The gym is my happy place.  And I will be the first to admit, I can go overboard occasionally  (note John's eye roll as I say 'occasionally')....  It's taken a long time and the constant playing over and over and over again in my mind of my trainer in Texas (Shepherd Green) saying "Peggy, do you not know the meaning of rest" or "Peggy, you have to have balance in your life".  You set yourself up for failure if you just make one thing consume your life. Even true athletes who compete and practice for hours a day, have other interests.  I am learning to understand the importance of that concept.  I am learning that it works for me to get up early and get my workout in, which leaves the rest of the day for me to sew, write, paint, read a book .....to do the other things that interest me and bring me joy.  Early morning exercising works for me.  It may not work for you.  If it doesn't, then do it when it works for you. If you have to spend your day at work (if you aren't retired) and getting in an afternoon workout or an after dinner workout, works for you, then do that.  This is a lifestyle.  Find a way to make it a part of your daily life.  Fit in 15, 20, 30 or 60 mins. each day.  Just keep showing up.  Your body will thank you for it.  I have a tee-shirt I love to wear that says just that:

     I AM DOING SOMETHING TODAY

MY FUTURE SELF WILL THANK ME FOR

I am 68 years old....and this is what I want my future to look like.....this is what I want to be doing at 77 and beyond. 

Well really in my wildest dreams this is really what I'd like to be doing.  I know you're laughing and shaking your head at my "over the top" lofty goals.  But you never know....what I do know is I'm going to keep showing up

Have a wonderful Sunday.  Don't give up. Find creative ways to get some exercise in. Be creative in getting in some healthy meals.  Be creative in finding balance in your life.  And most importantly KEEP SHOWING UP!

Yours in healthy and fitness,

Peg

You haven't heard the last of me.......

Here we are 10 days into March, 2017.  How did that happen? I used to hear the older you get the quicker time passes by and oh it is soooooo true.  So we simply can't waste time in our effort to get and stay fit. The longer you hesitate to take that first little step, the harder it gets.   I was chatting on Facebook with my friend Peggy Ann, both of us agreeing that we've let our "ever older" bodies gather moss as it slowly rolls down the hill of aging.  And we both agreed to that we feel like we've been out of the saddle too long and it's high time we climbed back on that horse and get serious once again. 

And yes we are giving ourselves credit for that....and you should too!  Half the battle is to never give up.  Sometimes we do great and the marathon is on....and sometimes we get complaisant and start legging behind. But the secret is to get up off the couch and once again, put one foot in front of the next and move forward.  We just have to keep trying, keep moving, keep restarting.  Of course the way to keep from having to keep restarting, is to NOT STOP.  But we did...and we just have to not beat ourselves up. We have to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and vow that this time, we'll be more disciplined, more determined, more dedicated.

This morning, at the gym, when I was doing (or I should say, trying to do) my 1-leg stands and exercises on a BOSU ball, a song came on my iPod that I love.  It has so much meaning.  When I am "again" getting back in my groove, when I'm beginning to feel alive again, beginning to have people at the gym tell me they see some improvement in the way my clothes fit and in my attitude (EVEN IF THE SCALE JUST LAYS ON THE FLOOR AND BLATANTLY LIES TO ME!), this song pulls me through, this song makes me want to not give up.  This song makes me determined.  Because Cher had it so right..........You haven't seen the last of me!

And then as I progress on into my exercise, and when whichever leg I am on is shaking and I am reminding myself to "engage my core" to give me more balance...and reminding myself that I can get back to where I was....and I will get back up again....I listen to this song by R. Kelly and as he says...
"If I can see it, then I can be it.  If I just believe it......I believe I can fly!

If you're hesitating, make this be the day you walk 5 minutes, or walk around the block once, or do 10 squats. Make this the day you say.....(no make this the day you scream) "THIS IS NOT THE END OF MY STORY!" Make this the day you see a vision of what you want to be, a vision of what you want to look like......take that first step.....BELIEVE.....THE BODY ACHIEVES WHAT THE MIND BELIEVES.

Here take my hand....I'll walk that first time around the block with you.  It doesn't matter how slow you go, whatever you do, you're way outrunning anyone sitting on the couch.

Come on, together we can do this.  I know Peggy Ann agrees with me!

To your health and fitness,

Warm hugs,

Peggy Lee    

You can  contact me at peggylee57@aol.com

Ahhhh Adele......

Got up this morning to do my plank and my 100 push-ups (it's a self challenge I'm doing for 100 days) and while doing my plank I turned on this song....by Adele, "A Million Years Ago" and it made me think and relate it to my lifelong roller coaster ride with my weight...."I know I'm not the only one...that regrets the things I've done...."

I'm sure the song has a much deeper meaning than that....but words to a song (to me anyway) have different meanings at different times....

So with this short post, enjoy the song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7zIHI-Bw6Y   

(There's a short commercial before the song starts)

I'm off to my spin class.....see you later.

Do something to improve your fitness and health today.....take that first step....it will lead to a marathon!

Have a great day.

How many excuses.......

                      

Hi from the land of sunshine and oranges. 

Did you think I had dropped off the face of the earth? 

I can certainly understand why you might think that.  It's been way way too long since I posted (8 months to be exact) and oh so much has happened since then.

We took a road trip to Florida in July, 2016 just to look around, ended up in Ocala, Florida (horse country, smack in the middle of the state) and decided we'd take a leap and move there.  We figured we'd be closer to our girls in Maine, closer to our friends in Florida, and what the heck....closer to Mickey an Minnie!!! But still a short 2-hour non-stop flight back to visit sweet family in Texas and an even closer flight to see my son and daughter-in-law in Louisiana.

We found a home in a gated active adult community, went back to Texas, put our house on the market, started the tedious task of packing, sold our home and ventured out to our new home in Florida. We started this process in July and were finally here the end of September......but didn't get fully settled in until after the first of the year!  Well I don't have to tell you (or maybe I do) that with all the selling, packing, traveling, unpacking, furnishing, making new curtains, dealing with illness that hit us both after we got here, getting settled in, then the holidays.......(OK those were the excuses!) I had very little time to go to the gym or workout and my healthy eating basically went down the tube.  I hate to admit it, but, as we say in Texas, "boy hidy" I fell off the wagon big time.  Heck, I didn't just fall off the wagon, I fell into a vat of biscuits and sausage gravy and wallowed around in it like I'd lost my ever lovin' mind!  And I don't have to tell you, if you don't eat healthy and don't exercise for 4-5 months all that hard work you did prior to your fall pretty much goes out the window....and that little dress I got into in May.....is in my closet crying under the plastic cover I have over the hanger....and me along with it!

But that is not the end of this post...oh no....say it isn't so! I sat myself down, took myself by the shoulders and shook myself and in the famous words of Cher, in the movie Moon Struck, I said (to myself) "SNAP OUT OF IT".  I did it before, I can do it again.

So I joined a gym, hopped back on that horse, got me some great DVDs for home workouts and I am happy to say.....

 

Oh my friends, I have a ton (ugh no pun intended) of work to do to get back to where I was, but I will do it....and if you don't mind, I'll take you on my journey.

Moving to Florida has been stressful on me for some reason (and I'm a stress eater), I've moved a billion times before (OK maybe not a billion), but lots...so you'd think this would have been a breeze. But it wasn't.  I'm finally chilling out and starting to enjoy life here and I have to say a lot of it is the wonderful gym and the people there that have boosted me back up on the horse....

"The Ranch" (How appropriate is that name) is a wonderful gym.  I'm back to doing spin classes (which I love), strength classes, TRX and I've even tried out a class called BEAT where you exercise with drum sticks...sometimes known as Pound Workout https://www.youtube.com/user/PoundRockoutWorkout It's wild!

So that's where I've been, and this is where I am.  I know the climb up the mountain will be slow and tedious. But as Earnestine Shepherd (80 years old and in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest woman body builder) always says (and has printed on all her workout clothes) you have to be DETERMINED, DEDICATED AND DICIPLINED. And that is my goal for 2017. And as my friend Stephanie Kathmann (Beachbody online coach) always asks "HOW BAD DO YOU WANT IT?

There is a lot of room on my wagon.....If you want to join me in this continuing journey.....jump on board.....it's game time!!!

Remember.....THE BODY ACHIEVES WHAT THE MIND BELIEVES ...and
YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD -- IT'S NEVER TOO LATE.

It's not the destination....it's the journey and you have to keep moving...

June 18, 2016

Good grief....where have I been.  My last post was a year ago!!!  But Woooo Hoooo...... that my friends is great news for me because I realize that I'm still as motivated and passionate about getting healthy and fit as I was a year ago.

I've decided it's time to start writing in this blog again and I promise I will.  Today's post will be short, but I had to write it to do a shout out and bring to the lime light and to your attention a woman that I recently discovered. A woman that is motivating me to another level.  Her name is STEPHANIE KATHMANN.  Here's a link to her Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/Stephaniekathmann3       She has tons of YouTube videos (ie.) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHKWxN4BlDo

She is a Beachbody coach and I want to tell you this lady has more energy, enthusiasm and motivation to offer than almost anyone I've ever seen.  Check her out. You will not be disappointed.

This past year has found me trying to get to the gym or at least get some kind of workout done every day.  I've discovered TRX straps and love them.  Check it out at https://www.trxtraining.com/?c3api=3300,{creative},www.trx.com (with these you use your own body weight)

  I've been doing cycle spin classes avidly with a new instructor Cara Cunningham.  If you are in the Georgetown, Texas area check her out   http://www.cdchomeworkout.com/

I've been mixing up workout routines to try new things. 
JUST KEEP MOVING! 
DO SOMETHING!
TAKE THAT FIRST STEP!!!
NO EXCUSES! 
YES YOU CAN!

I recently went to my 50th Class Reunion...(graduated in 1966)  What fun!  I worked really hard to try to look great in a dress I made from scratch....Here it is:

At 67, I was happy with the way it turned out.....the dress and me  :)

Don't give up....keep pushing....as you can see I've been working for over a year  (well really most of my adult life) and I finally found the secret...I've only just begun....I fully intend to be FIT AT 99! 

(The secret is...."The body achieves what the mind believes")

  And I believe .....NEVER TOO OLD  NEVER TOO LATE  to get healthy and fit.
Check back, I'll be here again soon.

To Health and Fitness...

Peg Snyder

The Best Day Of My Life! (Me sing a song?)

Good Morning!  I hope your day is starting off as wonderful as mine is. There is a reason  for that and please feel free to use it to kick start your day too.

I don't know if any of you know this, but I am a music person....no I don't write music (I wish I did), no I don't sing (I really wish I did.....in fact in my next life I plan on singing and dancing on Broadway), but I just love music.  I like to dance to it (yes lots of times in my living room, by myself!), I like to power walk to it, jog to it, run to it...) music (all types) brings me joy.  Mostly I try to find songs to add to my playlists on my iPod that have a real beat to them (and yes even at 66 sometimes that includes rap...Ha Ha!)  Recently I've been looking for songs that inspire me, that talk about being a fighter and a survivor and a champion.  I've come across a song that actually came out in 2013 (where the heck have I been?)  It's by a group call American Authors and it's called "The Best Day of My Life".  When I found it yesterday, I decided it would be a great song to start each day, so starting this morning, I got up, plugged my ear buds in my ears and played this song.....and yes danced in my living room. That was about an two and a half hours and I'm still smiling.

Here's a video of the music and words.....THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE (by American Authors)

(If the video doesn't work when you hit the arrow, copy the link below into your browser and enjoy!)

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0fTUj9mfnUk

I'm a firm believer that every day when you wake up, you have two choices.  You can choose to be happy or choose to be unhappy.....or as I've heard it so appropriately put  "you can rise and shine..... or you can rise and whine".  And I don't care how old you are,  or what your circumstances are, this is true.  I am inspired every day when I go to the gym by people who have 20 years or more on me, who are using walkers, braces, in wheel chairs who do not let anything stop them.  They choose each day to live to the fullest.  They choose to make each day, the best day of their lives. They truly make me ask, "Now what was my excuse?"

I met a 60 year old woman yesterday who has lost 100 pounds. Her trip like many of ours has been up and down...the proverbial roller coaster ride of losing, gaining, and losing.  But she joined Weight Watchers, stuck with it, started going to the gym, got a trainer and even got up the courage to train for and enter an onstage contest where she had to wear a two piece bathing suit and high heels.  She looks amazing....not like a body builder, just toned and firm....but more importantly healthy....and most importantly happy.  She was just beaming from the inside out! It's true that we do get happy when we lose weight (if we're trying to lose weight), but we also have to be happy to lose weight.  You know a lot of it is a mind game.  You have to "see" the person you want to be in your own mind's eye.  You have to believe you can accomplish whatever you set out to accomplish.  You have to set goals and push yourself each day just a little further, a little bit out of your comfort zone.  The time doesn't matter.  If you're trying to balance on one leg and you can only do 10 seconds....then do 10 seconds, and keep working at it until you can do 20 seconds etc. etc. etc. and repeat  You'll get there.  Remember as Jesse J (if you don't recognize the name, she's a pop singer) says in her song "Masterpiece" 

I still fall on my face sometimes and I
Can't color inside the lines 
'cause I'm perfectly incomplete
I'm still working on my masterpiece 

That my friends is the secret, you just have to keep working at it.  Yes we all have bad days when we overeat, yes we all have days when we DO NOT WANT TO GO TO THE GYM, or go for that walk, or get off the couch....so have that day....and then start fresh the next day....just don't give up.  The greatest athletes, the greatest authors, the greatest painters, the greatest business men/women, and yes, the people who have succeeded and maintained in this sometimes grueling world of weight loss and control, failed a million times before they were a success.

Some of you may not know, but I'm doing Weight Watchers.  I love it!  I love it!  I love it! 
I love it because nothing is off limits (NOTHING). It's all about portion.  You never feel deprived. It makes you super conscious of what and how much you put in your mouth.  Some people hate counting the points, but if you've never tried it, give it a go.  There's a meeting place in almost every city.  I've lost 27 pounds since February (along with 10 pounds I'd lost on my own before I started), so I'm down 37 pound since last November.  And yes I have weigh ins where I don't lose a pound and even some where I've gained a pound. But after lots of tears and fretting, I've come to understand that's just part of this crazy game....you win some, you lose some.....but you just have to keep trying.  And it is never ever ever too late.  You are never too old.  You are never too overweight.  As the sayings go:

   

I'll end my post today with something else I'm sure you don't know that I did.....and the funny part...

There is a new show coming out on NBC (next spring) called S.T.R.O.N.G. (Start To Realize Our Natural Greatness).  It's by the same people who do Biggest Loser, The Voice, and Survivor.  It's not a weight loss show, but rather a show for people who want to get strong....who want to start realizing their natural greatness.  They will pick 6 men and 6 women and 12 trainers (each person will have their own trainer) and they'll compete for a prize.  There was a casting call in Austin about a month ago and I went to the casting call and tried out.  I was the oldest person there and..... I didn't get a call back (at least not yet..wink wink), but I went and I tried.  I stepped out of my comfort zone and just went for it!  So here's the funny part.  A few days ago (or I should say a few nights ago) I had a dream that I got the call....YOU'VE BEEN CHOSEN FOR S.T.R.O.N.G.     Yahooooooo, in the dream I was jumping up and down and screaming with delight.  I flew out to Los Angeles and when I walked in the studio, this is how the conversation went:

Them: "What song did you write and are going to perform?"
Me:  "WHAT? I have to sing a song?  I thought this was 'STRONG'!
Them:    "No....this is a SONG competition!"

I woke up laughing........ I probably won't get that call back to be on that show....but I am still happy I went and tried out.  I've decided that's how my life is going to be from here on out.  I'm going to keep trying.  I'm going to be happy and live life to the fullest.....I'm going to step out of my comfort zone more often.  I'm going to try new things.  I'm going to push myself at the gym and challenge myself to do one more push up or one more minute in a plank......I'm going to win this battle with my weight and every morning I'm going to choose to be happy and tell myself....

THIS IS GOING TO BE THE BEST DAY OF MY LIFE....

Let it be yours too!
 

A Few Simple Words

This morning my words to you are simple....actually they come from a poster I found on Pinterest....I currently have this as my screen saver to remind me....when you're  running short on time (as I am today) you just have to keep on trying....In 30 mins. you can do a great workout....(or 5, 10, 15 mins.. Just do something)  EVERY LITTLE STEP KEEPS YOU GOING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.....