This month was a turning point for many of us as we looked at our lifestyle, health, and wellness. I know that writing about exercise 🏋🚵🏊, healthy eating 🍌🍍🍅, and moving more 🚶 🎳 ⛳  helped me .  It re-energized me and I am off to make the rest of the year even better.
 
Spring is peeking at us from around the corner and it brings fresh air and fresh starts. Let's all get re-energized and make fresh new plans to get healthier, happier, and more productive. Yes, I said productive. It doesn't matter if you are working or retired, we need to be productive in order to keep vibrant and healthy. If we ever sit still, we are done.
 
"If you have grown up
​by age 50,
You don't have to." 
- Unknown -

Now for the sparkles.....my four year old granddaughter loves anything that sparkles. In fact, I love sparkles, too. 

✨​

So here are a few sparkles for the month of March, hope you love them:

"You can be gorgeous at thirty,
Charming at forty
and Irresistible for the rest of our life."
- Coco Chanel -

“Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God.” 
- 1 Corinthians 10:31 (KJV) -

"It took 50 years to look this good." 
- Unknown -

"50 isn't an expiry date...It's a
go-ahead signal, honey!"  
- Tosco Reno, Canadian Health Writer -

"50 today! You can't turn back the clock, but you can wind it up again." 
- Unknown -

"You're only as old as
you remember you are." 
- Unknown -

"It's true that life begins at fifty, 
but everything else starts to wear out,
fall out, or spread out,"
 - Phyllis Diller -

"Those who think they have no time for exercise 
will sooner or later have to find time for illness." 
- Edward Stanley, Bishop of Norwich -

"If you really want to do something,
you'll find a way.
 If you don't, you'll find an excuse." 
- The 'Rock' Duane Johnson -

 “Most people don't grow up.
Most people age. 
They find parking spaces,
honor their credit cards, 
get married, have children
and call that maturity. 
What that is, is aging.”
- Maya Angelou -

“I've enjoyed every age I've been and each has had its own individual merit. 
Every laugh line, every scar, is a badge I wear to show I've been present, 
the inner rings of my personal tree trunk that I display proudly for all to see. 
Nowadays, I don't want a "perfect" face and body; 
I want to wear the life I've lived.”
- Pat Benatar,
Between a Heart and a Rock Place: A Memoir -

Make it a priority to get back on your health plan. Get serious about your lifestyle changes such as healthy eating, exercising and moving more. Maya Angelou has it right, don't let your lifestyle be defined for you...that's aging, instead you decide what your lifestyle will be and work toward that...that's anti-aging. 🙂

Bishop Edward Stanley hit the point exactly when he said that if we don't make time for exercise we will be forced to make time for illness. If you don't move and you sit or lay for extended periods of time you will eventually lose your good health. I would rather spend my time walking, bowling, dancing, or moving in some fun way than be sick and unable or not feel like doing anything. I personally try to walk at least three days a week and most of the time four or five. When I don't walk or exercise in some way, I feel sluggish. Moving makes me feel good.

“A merry heart does good
like a medicine: 
but a broken spirit
dries the bones.”
- Proverbs 17:22 (NKJV) - 

I spent the month of March writing about health and wellness for a reason. My hope is that someone who reads this knows that while you may have fallen back to your previous unhealthy habits, it is never too late to turn it around. It is never too late to start working on becoming all that you can be.  If you are successful with your new habits for three days, and then you fall back on old habits for one day, you are still two days better off than had you done nothing.

 ✨ 

Are you living the best life you can live? Are you moving every day? Are you exercising most days every week? Do you make conscience choices about what you feed your body and choose healthy foods? Do you feel good most days or do you struggle every day to get up and going? Share what works or doesn't work or you so that others may benefit.

XOXO 

A tight schedule or just taking a down day, having something in the freezer that you can pull out, heat up and stay healthy for lunch is important. Sometimes I just run out of ideas and need something new to eat in a hurry when I am at home.

When you are over 50, what you eat is more important than ever. Eating like you are still 20, 30 or even 40 years old, can lead to health issues and excess pounds. Many times we discover that we have to change our diet due to medical issues. I am always on the hunt for quick, easy, and healthy food choices.

I purchased the Tastefully Plated Paleo Braised Beef with mole sauce, chipotle potatoes, and broccoli frozen meal. It comes on a square plate (plastic). It was very quick to prepare, 3 minutes to thaw and 3.5 minutes to cook in microwave.
 
At first when I removed the plastic cover after cooking, I was a bit disappointed in the presentation. The beef looked dry and the sweet potatoes looked thin. However, the taste was above average, very good. I would definitely buy again and I also want to try the other varieties.

Here's a little nutritional information on the Braised Beef dinner:

1.  Gluton, grain and milk free
2.  Contains 18g Protein
3.  Contains 250 calories (for this variety only)
4.  Contains Vitamin A = 120%; C = 70%; Calcium = 10%; Iron = 15%
5.  Carbohydrates = 25 g (Dietary Fiber = 5g and Sugars = 9g)
6.  Average Cost: $3.50

This was a good meal quick meal. It was crafted by a chef and the company says it is  restaurant quality. 

I am not following a Paleo diet, but I do try my best to eat healthy. Good tasting is very important to me. This is good tasting and healthy. 

Do you have a "go-to" home made "fast-food" that you turn to when pushed for time? Is healthy food or fast more important to you? Please share your ideas on this product if you have also tried it.
 
XOXO

Everyone's done it...I know I have. You start a new plan to eat healthier and exercise more and after about three days you are back to your old, comfortable unhealthy ways. This has happened to just about everyone at one or another. The difference in a successful setback and a loss is your attitude toward the setback. What do you do once you have gone backwards?

If you say, give up, then you have lost the battle and you will never achieve your goal of a healthier life. If you said, regroup and start again, then you will succeed. The key to achieving your long range goal of changing from an unhealthy lifestyle to a healthy one is sticking with it and being consistent. Don't let a slip up or set back stop your efforts.

Even though I am working out and walking regularly now, I still have days when I either over indulge in sitting on the sofa or taking a long nap instead of working out or walking, I don't give it up. I take that day off and then I am right back at it the next day. Sometimes a family crisis or an emotional upset will throw me off my game, but not for long. I get right back up and start anew.

As a result, I feel better, lose weight, and am healthier because of my persistence. Don't give up because you ate three chocolate chip cookies and watch a double feature from the comfort of your own sofa for a day. Enjoy the day off, then get right back on the following day. Everyone can use a break now and then. 

Just try to keep these "off" days to a minimum. Otherwise they are not "off" days, they are normal days and you have failed at your goal. Again, take the day off and then get right back on your plan the next day. 

"My attitude has always been, 
if you fall flat on your face, 
at least you're moving forward. 
All you have to do is get back up and try again."

- Richard Branson -
English Business Magnate, Investor, and Philanthropist

That's it! Get back up and try again. With every step forward you take, even if you take a step back sometimes, you are moving closer to your goal. It takes time to break old habits and develop new ones. Decide what is important to you, what you want, and then go after it. 

It's easy! You are successful for three days and then you fall off one. You are still two days ahead. Two days closer to your goal. You only lose when you don't get back up.

"Don't use all-or-nothing thinking. 
Take each day as its own day, and don't worry about it if you mess up one day. 
The most important thing you can do is just get back up on the horse."
-  Henry Cloud -
American Writer

To be successful at any goal, you have to be persistent. You have to preservere, never quit, and always press forward. When you fall, miss a step, or fail don't quit. Quitters never win - never. Stay with it and you will eventually make progress.

Eating healthy and moving more as we discussed in last week's blog, are two key elements to living a healthier and longer life. You will have set backs, but you must not  be discouraged if you are to succeed.  

"Three steps forward and one step back, 
you are still ahead two steps."
- Sheryl -

Do you have a written plan with attainable steps and smaller goals that lead up to your mail goal? If you don't, how will you know your progress? How will you know when you have achieved your goal? Celebrating the smaller goals will keep you motivated, do know what those smaller goals are? Do you celebrate all goals?
Remember your goal, remember what you want, remember your plan (SMART plan is recommended), and get right back in the game of winning. A healthier and longer life is possible if you never give up.

Do you give up completely when you have a slip-up in your plan for change? Do you consider your successes over your losses? Do you have a written plan for your goals? Do you celebrate small successes? Without a plan, you will wander around without any direction to your goal.

XOXO

This is one of my own weaknesses - exercise. I take this in spurts, doing it well for a few days then finding excuses not to do it. It's too cold, it's too hot, I've got laundry piling up, I need to get that blog post written, I'm tired, you name it, I can find an excuse to not exercise. That's the not so secret, secret...exercise.

Exercise has a multitude of health benefits for our body, mind, and spirit. This becomes more and more important as we age. 

Some of the benefits are: 

⦁    Heart health: increases circulation, lowers blood pressure
⦁    Reduces risk of diabetes and helps to manage diabetes
⦁    Reduces risk of developing Alzheimers
⦁    If you already have Alzheimers it helps to slow it's progression
⦁    Promotes energy, quality rest, and sleep
⦁    Helps maintain a healthy weight
⦁    Helps manage stress
⦁    Helps alleviate mild to moderate depression
​
We've all heard this before and yet, how many of us actually stick to a regular exercise plan? I want to tackle the excuses for not exercising. 

Here are a few common excuses:

⦁    I have bad knees
⦁    I have arthritis
⦁    I am too tired
⦁    I am too busy
⦁    It's too cold, it's too hot, it's raining, it's windy, it's.....you get the idea
⦁    I don't want to go walk alone
⦁    I don't want to exercise with other people
⦁    I don't have the money for a gym membership
⦁    on and on and on with the excuses

Let's deal with a few of these and maybe we can see the big picture:

⦁    Bad knees: Even with bad knees (and I have one) there are things we can do to exercise. We can walk for a short distance, sit for a bit and get up and walk for another short distance. Any walking we can do, will help our knees get stronger. If you can't walk, then do exercises in a chair, against a wall, or in water. Water is easy on the joints. There are tons of exercise we can do that don't require walking. Bad knees are not an reason to not exercise.

⦁    Arthritis: Most experts agree that some movement is good for arthritic joints.

    "A decade or two ago, when people had an arthritis flare-up, we treated them with     aspirin and told them not to get out of bed until it got better. Now we know it's much     better for people to remain as active as they can,” says Kim Huffman, MD, PhD, an expert in muscles, activity, and arthritis at the Duke University Medical Center. (Courtesy WebMD.com)

    Experts at the Mayo Clinic recommend water-based exercises (walking in a pool, swimming, any type of movement in water), Tai Chi, and Yoga. These exercises can be     easy on joints while providing the movement needed to alleviate pain and swelling associated with arthritis.

⦁    Too Tired: If someone told you they would pay you $50,000, tax free, and all you had to do was walk three miles, would you do it? Of course you would at least try and I imagine the motivation of receiving $50,000 would almost insure your completion. Think of your heart, joints, blood sugar, your life as just as important as money. What good is a lot of money if you don't live long enough or are physically unable to enjoy it? Research has found and I know this to be true, that the more you move, the more energy you have. Yes, we get tired after we walk a mile, but after the recovery period of a few minutes, we have more energy than we did when we started. 

We could go through every excuse and as you can see, we can find research that proves our excuses wrong. If something is keeping us from exercising (moving) then we need to find out the facts and do what we can to find a way around it. ( NOTE: No one should pursue a new exercise plan without a clearance from your doctor). We want to move more so we can live longer, but we also want to be wise in the choices we make to accomplish this. Your doctor can help you with this if you have health issues.

Finally, I want to leave you with this ENCOURAGING statement, courtesy of the Mayo Clinic website:

    "Fortunately, it is within our power to combat this natural process of muscle loss.  With exercise and an active lifestyle, we can begin to bring some muscle back. And the really good news is that exercise can help at any age. Several studies have compared people between 70 and 80 years old with people 20 to 30 years old engaging in the same regimen: a strengthening exercise program with weight lifting for 12 weeks. Researchers evaluated the participants' strength before and after the  program and found that the amount of strength gain in both groups was similar, despite their age difference. So it is never too late, or too early, to work on protecting your muscle mass."      http://mayocl.in/1PUpjgg

Do you exercise as much as you should? Do you make excuses? If you do exercise, what type do you do? Do you have physical limitations that prevent you from doing certain types of exercise? Let's start a discussion, maybe you can help someone else.

XOXO

Here we are in the third month of the new year. We are two months into our new year's resolutions. How are we doing?

Most people choose to begin a healthy lifestyle with the beginning of a new year.
It may or may not include losing weight. Whatever it is that you committed to do for 2017 in relationship to improving your health, it's time to evaluate to see if you are still committed and how your doing.

Here's my update to get it started: I determined for the last year not to make weight loss a goal. My thoughts were that every year I start out trying to lose weight and every year, I do well for a few weeks and then it falls by the way side. So last year and this year I decided to make getting healthy a goal. I decided to make eating better (not dieting) and moving more (both for exercise and fun) my goals for the new year. So, how did I do?

I did great! I am very happy with what I have done since I gave up the losing weight goal. I am working out 3-5 times a week at the YMCA and walking 4-6 times a week. I work out for at least an hour, sometimes two and I walk at least two miles a day and sometimes as many as six miles. As a result, I feel great! My knees don't hurt as much, I am able to get down on the floor to play with my granddaughter and get backup on my own (lol), I don't feel sluggish in the mornings instead I wake up ready to go, and I have lost weight. I am happy with my progress
. 
How about you? Did you stick with your goals? Did you use the SMART plan to set your 2017 goals? I did and I believe that contributed to my success in sticking with them. I had a plan to follow with realistic steps. If you are not familiar with the SMART plan to set goals see my blog dated: 1/6/17 Life: A Brand New Year! 2017 Could Be Your Best Year!  You will learn a great way to set any goal and how to create a plan to achieve that goal.

If you have fallen down on your 2017 healthy lifestyle goals, it's not too late to pick them back up. Do it now in the month of March. Set your goals to eat better and move more. Make a commitment to live a healthier life. 

This commitment is for
you and only you. 
Concentrate on yourself
for a change. 
Make yourself a priority. 

Eating better and moving more are only two goals of a healthy lifestyle. Be sure you add regular checkups with your physician to your list of SMART goals. Don't put off the yearly checkups, mammograms, A1C check, and all the other important tests and screenings that you need to stay on top of your health.  If you catch an illness early enough almost all of them are curable, manageable, or treatable. If you wait, you are putting yourself at risk of discovering an illness too late and possibly dying as a result.

I put off my colonoscopy for a long time.
I was afraid that something would be found and I didn't have time to deal with it and for a short period of time, didn't care. After I had it done, I was surprised at how easy it was and how much better I felt after it was over. I was healthy, nothing feels better than hearing that from your doctor.
 
Even if you haven't been to the doctor in a long while and then you go and discover something wrong, consider yourself lucky. In most cases you can still be treated and hope is not lost. A positive attitude can make the difference in life and death many times. If it is not treatable, at least you know. If you didn't know, you would still face the same fate, but knowing allows you to live and do the things you want before you go.

Let's be honest, we are all going to die at some point in the future. We can make the commitment to live a healthy life and hopefully prolong our life and at the very least improve our quality of life for the time we have left.
 
"Don't focus on death,
focus on life. 
Focus on living even
in the face of dying. 
Respect the life that God
has given you and
make it count."
- Sheryl, 2017 -

Get out there and start living better.
Start today! Make your SMART plan and follow it. Give yourself six months and then re-evaluate. You can always make changes to your plan, after all, it is YOUR plan. 

Did you set SMART goals at the beginning of the year? If so, have you achieved any of your goals? Please share your stories in the comments so that we might learn from each other.

XOXO