Empty Nest Is Just The Beginning

Being the mother to three children has been the greatest accomplishment of my life.  I was a stay-at-home mom throughout their growing years.  I contributed to the family income by making and selling various craft and clothing items, and teaching preschool music.   Even as a single parent, I was able to be at home with them.  This was a priority for me, and I felt very blessed to be able to do that.  I poured my heart and life into these daughters, so when they started to leave home, to go to college, I felt that they were prepared to live independently, as responsible adults.  But what about me?  What would I do to feel fulfilled? 

When the youngest was a pre-teen, I started teaching group fitness classes.  This quickly and steadily grew into a career.  One year after teaching my first class, I was the aerobic director for a fitness facility.  Shortly after Archer Fitness Consultants, Inc. was born.  In my twenty year fitness career, I have trained and certified instructors in thirty-six states, Canada, and Puerto Rico.  I’ve had the privilege to be a World Fitness Presenter, work for Jenny Craig, Int’l doing a national TV show, and starred in seven exercise videos. 

As time marched across my face and body, I began thinking about what I would do in the next stage of my life.  I didn’t plan to have two businesses, it just happened.  A hobby turned into Pamela’s Exclusive Floral & Event Design.  Both business ventures are still growing strong, plus I’ve added to them with being a columnist for our local newspaper, blogging, and now authoring a book.  I’m very involved in my church, and have just assumed the position of leading our Women’s Ministry Team.

The point I am trying to make is that life is as exciting and fulfilling as you make it!  I could have walked the halls of my house and mourned the fact that I no longer had children at home, but I chose to celebrate their independence.  I chose to enjoy the benefits of them becoming young women, because now they are my dear friends and confidantes.

The way that you deal with empty nest will depend on the value you place on your own life.  I felt that my time had arrived to pursue my interests.  I started a career at age thirty-eight.  I have been able to reach all of my goals and dreams to date.   I will never wonder ‘what if’, because I will I will continue to reach for the stars and never look back.   For me, empty nest was just the beginning!

For articles I’ve written on health and fitness, please click http://www.buzz.prevention.com/community

WHO’S STRESSSSSSSSSSSSSSED? NOT ME!

“WHO’S STRESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSED, NOT ME”

 

 

Talk about a buzz word!  In my opinion, the word stress is the most overused word in the English language.  Everybody is stressed out, or so it seems.  There are self-help books by the volumes, blog posts by the thousands, and doctor offices full of patients, that are dealing with the problem of stress in our lives.

We need to wake up and toss the tranquilizers.  Stress is here, and it is here to stay.  Society won’t slow down enough to allow us a chance to hop off this speeding train, so we have to learn to take it in stride and not stress about being stressed.  We can either let it get to us, or we can learn to effectively deal with it.

 

Personally, I don’t have a lot of time to do all of the, pamper me, kinds of things very often.  Don’t get me wrong, I would spend five days a week in the spa, if I could.  Nobody loves a massage more than I do.  My feet jump for joy, every time they are treated to a pedicure.  But, most days I have to settle for a brief sniff of the lavender soap in my bathroom.  Out of necessity, I have arrived at five things that I do every day, regardless of how busy I am.  Since I work from my home, I can’t get away from it.  These five tips are my personal de-stressors:

 

1. I walk away from my office for a few minutes.  I go to some other part of the house and do something I enjoy, such as piddling in my workshop, or straightening the contents of a drawer.  Not only does it relieve my stress level, but I enjoy a sense of accomplishment from completing a simple project during my break.

 

 

1. Call a friend.  It is very easy for me to be so focused on my work that I become a hermit.  I make a conscious effort every day to go outside or another room in my house, and call a friend.  A few minutes of friendly chatter can chase away the cares of the day.

 

 

1. Read.  Home decorating is a hobby.  I am a home improvement magazine addict.  It is relaxing to me to sit down with one of these pretty publications and renew my creative energy.

 

1. Take a shower – Do you remember the lavender soap I mentioned earlier?  I slather it all over my body and let the warm water rinse it, and my stress away.  Lavender is a healing scent.  It naturally decreases your heart rate, and relaxes you.  This is why I pass out frozen wash clothes, with lavender oil on them, at the end of my cycling classes.

 

1. I stretch.  Stress will cause your muscles to contract, particularly in the neck, shoulders, and back.  Stretching will elongate the muscles, helping to relieve the stress and lactic acid that builds up throughout the day.  Stretching will also improve your flexibility, which an important component of fitness.

 

I’ll bet that you are thinking, “I can’t believe that a fitness professional didn’t mention exercise.”  Do you have to be reminded to brush your teeth!  Exercise is a given.  I shouldn’t have to tell you to do what you already know to do.  My purpose in writing this article is to give you a new idea or two to help you to de-stress.  Make time during each day to do something you love to do, just don’t stress about it.

For more articles on health and fitness topics, check out http://buzz.prevention.com

 

About Face, One…Two…Three

Beauty is a relative term.  I have seen many women who are beautiful, who would never make the cover of a magazine, due to their size, shape, or age.  True beauty comes from within.  It is confidence, passion for life, spirituality, compassion, and love that evolves from a place deep within; a place where one has worked through many issues and conflicts to arrive at a place of self-acceptance. 

I could spend every day critiquing the flaws in my face and body, or I can make a conscious decision to embrace life and take care of what I have been given.  Being that I didn’t just fall off the turnip truck, I learned long ago how to take good care of my skin.  I can justifiably say that I have tried hundreds of skin care products, both high end and inexpensive.  I’ve found very little difference in the two.  I can with absolute certainty say, that regardless of the products that you use, my top three makeup tips actually come before you ever put makeup on!  If you take great care of your skin, any makeup you use will give you a better result.

1. Cleanse – your skin morning and night.  Oils and dirt can build up and clog your pores, creating unsightly blemishes.

2. Moisturize – your face and neck daily.  Stay ahead of the aging game by being proactive in fighting it.

3. Hydrate – your skin by drinking lots of water.  Dehydrated skin looks dull and lifeless.

Yes, my solution is simple.  It would probably shock you to know that, having tried all of those products through the years, the most effective cleanser for my skin is Dove soap.  I hear you gasping, “Soap is terrible for your skin.”  Dove is a conditioning moisture bar poured into a soap mold.  It also rates a “0″ on the scale of toxicity to your body.  My skin is smooth, soft, and wrinkle free.  I’ve used it for twenty years, and it works great for me.  Experiment with various products to see which ones work for your skin, but be aware that many of them contain harmful chemicals, parabens, and phylates.

Click here to check out your personal care products for toxicity at Cosmetics Database.  It is a great source for learning about the safety of our skin care products.

Mid-Life Is A Trip

Shopping for estimates is time consuming!  I feel that about all I get done, since I reached mid-life, is to run around to various doctors’ offices to get estimates to repair some part or piece of my body.

 

It’s much like owning a car.  About the time you get one thing repaired, another tears up.  Even when you make a special effort to keep it clean, serviced, and fueled, high mileage catches up and you have to either patch it up or trade it in for a newer model.  Turning back the clock so that I regain my youth isn’t an option, so my only choice is for a tune-up and/or repair, or as I say…since I can’t make it look much better, I can keep it from getting worse.

 

Mid-life is a trip!  I’m not talking about the years it takes to get there, but what happens once you arrive.  Hormones fluctuate or leave.  You inner self finds its way to the outside, around your middle.  The teeth that once glistened in the sunlight now drop to the bottom of the jar on the bedside table.  The hair that you used to have to shave almost daily is gone from your legs and underarms and made its way to your upper lip or chin.  And all of this happens if you’re normal!  This doesn’t include any bumps in the road or in your sagging breasts. 

 

I taught a seminar for group fitness instructors and personal trainers recently for the Aerobic and Fitness Association of America (AFAA)..  The seminar is titled “Midlife Fitness for Women”.  The seminar agenda called for a 9:00am-5:00pm time-line.  One comment was, “Why not talk only about the positive aspects of reaching mid-life?”  My response was, “Because, we would have been finished by 9:03!” 

 

Honestly, this is the best time of my life!  My children are grown and self-supporting.  My husband makes me laugh almost every day.  And, I get to do what I love to do and make a reasonable living doing it.  So what if the old six pack of abs are hidden under my mid-life crisis?  I can still exercise intensely, as long as there is someone close by who knows CPR!  I’m just teasing.  I can still exercise vigorously; I just need to recognize the fact that my body needs more recovery time than it did ten years ago.

 

Whether or not you are at this stage in your life, we must put our bodies into perspective.  What do I mean by that?  I mean…place our body right in there with a healthy mind and spirit.  The three must work in harmony and balance to get through mid-life or any other time in our lives.

 

As I was sitting in the dentist’s chair yesterday, it occurred to me that in America we practice segmented fitness.  To illustrate my point, I was thinking that, though we go to different doctors for different ailments or treatments, they are all a segment of the whole.  You know-the shin bone is connected to the leg bone and the leg bone is connected to the hip bone – and so on and so forth.  However, most of us don’t approach our health or fitness with this in mind.  Much like our automobile…we take it to one place for an oil change, another for a tune-up, and another for tires.  All of these are important stops to result in a smooth running vehicle, just as preserving and maintaining our physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health requires a plan of action.  Regular check ups and preventive maintenance are essential.

 

From the doctor’s office we go outdoors or to the gym for a bit of physical activity, and later in the week to church for a spiritual check-up.   We tend to view taking care of the mind, body, and spirit as three separate issues, as opposed to each being a part of the whole person.

 

So what’s wrong with that?  Nothing really, except that we never seem to connect the dots.  We never seem to get that we can eat right and get all the exercise we need, but if we don’t manage the stress in our life, we can’t be healthy.  And, it is vital to take care of our spiritual well-being.  What better ay to reduce the stress in our life than by casting our burdens and cares on God and let him handle them?  By the same token, if we spend all of our time with our noses stuck in Bible study and meditation and none keeping our body healthy, we are going to get sick or lose our quality of life due to lack of physical activity and then what good are we for ministry?

 

How did I get from mid-life to preaching!  Blame it on the hormones.    Mid-life has many positive aspects and benefits.  I intend to experience them all and with as healthy a body, mind, and spirit as I can muster.  Adopting a positive mental attitude is half the battle.

 

I misplace things all the time and I can’t remember whether I’m coming or going, but wherever I’m headed, I am going to enjoy the trip! 

How To Have Perfect Skin

How to Have Perfect Skin

 

Prevention Magazine now has an on-line presence.  Filled with lots of tiips and articles for health and fitness, you can find answers to just about any question that you may have.

I have been accepted as a writer for them, so my articles will be featured there soon.  I will post a link to them in the next day or two.

They have a neat tracking tool for your skin type.  Check it out at:

http://www.prevention.com/perfectskin

I will be posting a lot more fitness information for you than ever before.  Please be patient with me.