Best Friends

Besides working out, there’s another reason exercise classes make me feel so good...being with my friends there.

During my high school years I didn’t have a lot of girlfriends. Most of this was my own doing. I didn’t have the confidence to share my heart with anyone who could stomp on it with gossip or make fun of me. Back then, I didn’t know that I could pray and ask God to bring the right friends into my life.

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Best Kept Secret

My friend Tania has five little children, three boys plus twin girls from the Philippines. Her husband’s work takes him on the road for days at a time, yet she has the energy to lead a women’s ministry, sing in church, and volunteer for many school activities. How does she do it?

One way, I’m sure, is that she makes time to care for her body and spirit.

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Feet First

About once a month a student in my fitness class will come to me and tell me their shins hurt, or their knees, or ankles, or hips or…

The first thing I do is glance down at their shoes and ask, “How long have you had your sneakers?”

“Oh about two years.”

“I think we’ve found your problem. Your feet need more support. Wearing the right shoe makes all the difference!”

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Mental Health Day

Last month, within days of the release of my new exercise DVD for seniors, Time magazine featured a story called “Exercise to Protect Aging Bodies—and Brains.”

The article said studies confirm that exercise not only helps maintain good health but may also prevent the onset of chronic diseases, such as heart disease, osteoarthritis and dementia.

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Snow Day Stretches

We are snowed in today—again! Western Kentucky got five inches of snow yesterday and we’re expecting more today.

Our country roads are really bad and everything is closed—schools, stores and businesses, even the fitness center where I teach. My driveway is plowed in but I’ll let my sons and husband tackle that. Although snow shoveling is great cardio and strength training, I don't want to chance hurting my low back since I have some bulging discs in my lumbar spine. 

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February is Heart Month

Ladies, heart disease is not a “man’s disease”—it’s the No. 1 killer of women in the U.S. That’s why the American Heart Association declares each February “American Heart Month.”

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Balanced to the Core

There’s ½ inch of snow on the ground here in western Kentucky. You have to understand something about these parts: when it snows, almost everything shuts down so cars won’t slip and people won’t fall.

I was wearing heels last night while walking through the snow, stepping carefully to keep my balance. I was also thinking about balance because I was on my way to speak about that very topic to the women of Southeast Christian Church in Louisville, KY.

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Prepare for the Unexpected

Life throws curve balls, doesn’t it? Your car could break down…you could get the flu…your smoke alarm could go off in the middle of the night and you’d have to get out of your building quickly. Are you ready for the challenge?

Exercise prepares us for the unexpected challenges of life. Exercise builds our muscles and strengthens our bones. Exercise revs up our metabolism, which increases our energy. Exercise gives us stamina, the capability of sustaining prolonged stressful effort. In other words, exercise builds endurance. 

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Exercise to Release Tension

I’ve just come in the door from a long walk. A much-needed walk. Not for its cardio or muscular benefits this time…but for its emotional break. Exercise is often the only thing that can take my mind off of my problems.

Last night I shed enough tears to make my head hurt. Tears rolled down my cheeks and dripped onto my bathroom floor as I chastised myself for mistakes my children have made. I questioned my parenting and all the things I could have done differently to help them stay out of trouble.

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The Hidden Benefits of Exercise

I decided not to write a Christmas letter this year. The laughter generated from my family’s dysfunctional tales would have burned enough calories to heat my sister’s home for the three weeks we stayed there during the ice storm last winter.
 

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