About Me | kicking-ass-after-50

Me at age 9
Along with one of my older sisters

I had always been a skinnier kid and had never considered my weight until those two incidences. It was true, I was gaining weight, and it all due to what I was eating in "sort of" secret: I was eating ice-cream by the gallon (literally) with Hershey's chocolate sauce generously poured on top. I was embarrassed to go to the store to buy my own so I would talk my younger brothers into going for me, and pay them to get me my ice-cream and chocolate sauce fix. I don't know where I found the money to feed my habit, but I found it somewhere!

I'm not sure what was going on in my life that catapulted me into eating ice-cream and chocolate sauce by the ton, but obviously there was some reason it started and then became an ongoing "thing". This was the first time I struggled with my weight and eating one type of food as an addiction.

I didn't really know what I was doing, or anything about willpower, but I managed to quit the ice-cream and chocolate sauce addiction and started exercising, privately, in my bedroom everyday after school. This is also when I started caring about what other people thought of me and stopped thinking about what I thought of myself.

In my early 40's
I could no longer deny how crappy I felt
Disclaimer: This photo is not at my heaviest weight

I ignored the fact that I had to keep buying larger clothes, that a few people I knew made comments about my appearance, and that I was out of breath just going up the stairs in our house.

My wake-up call came when I discovered that I was the same weight I had been when I was 9 months pregnant.

At 7 or 8 months pregnant my doctor had told me I was putting on too much weight (because I was making a Chocolate Cake every week and eating the entire thing!!!) so at my 9 month pregnant weight, and not being pregnant....you get the picture.

That was the turning point for me.

I knew it was time to make a change.

I had already battled cigarettes, and won. I could do this too.

My family became my why: why I wanted to make a change and why I needed to make a change.

I wanted to be a better role model for my daughter.
I wanted her to realize that there was more to life than pizza boxes, bags of chips, chocolate bars and movies.

I wanted to be able to do fun things with her instead of wheezing my way out of bed every morning with my body fighting against the extra weight.

I didn't want to buy any more big clothes!

At 59
Empowered to be who I was meant to be.
There are no excuses. Just hard work, determination and the knowledge that no matter who you are, you can be your ideal version of yourself.

I started this website because I knew I wanted to do something geared to working with women on physical and emotional transformations. I knew that I had something to share: that I wanted to let women know that no matter what their age, background or beliefs that they could set all of that aside and become who they were meant to be.

They could follow their dreams, desires and goals.

That it is never, ever too late.

Here's my story:

When I was in grade 6 two of my friends, together, asked me what I had had for dinner the night before. When I told them, they started laughing and asked how high everything was piled on my plate. I wasn't stupid, but it took me a few minutes to realize what they were getting at: they were indicating that I was a little on the plump side. I tried not to let it bother me, but when my older brother came home for a visit and made a comment about the corduroy pants I was wearing because they made me look "fat" I secretly thought that I had to do something to change other people's perception of who I was.

The next time my brother came home for a visit there were no more comments about how "fat" I had become.

Except for those two incidents I never really struggled with my weight, until my late thirties. I could happily eat just about anything, but, looking back, I realize now that I was also getting in lots of cardio exercise because I walked everywhere, I spent a good deal of time on the dance floor every weekend, and I wasn't really eating all that much food since I often skipped breakfast, had minimal food for lunch, and dinner was hit and miss. Thin but unhealthy.

When I got married, in my mid-twenties, the hubby and I were both super slim and we took that for granted. We thought nothing of spending weekends binge watching movies while eating pizza, chips, chocolate bars, and pop. We were so well known at the pizza parlour we just called in our name instead of our order!

Soon enough the dancing stopped, walking became a thing of the past and and we continued eating all those unhealthy foods. And my baking! I loved to bake: chocolate cake, cookies, date squares, anything sweet, chocolate or sugar based.

The weight started piling on.

I was about 16 in this photo

My family started out as my "Why"
in particular my daughter,
but my "Why" has now become much more

I started walking every day during my lunch and breaks, then my husband joined me and we added in after work walks (this was a great bonding time for us). After a year all the extra weight was gone.

Then I started working out to VHS tapes, then DVDs and now I stream my workouts online through Beachbody on Demand. I LOVE Beachbody because there are literally hundreds of workouts to pick from, so I can never get bored, and they hit every aspect of fitness: Cardio, HIIT and Weights.

And then there's the nutrition: each Beachbody Challenge includes a nutrition plan. It's all right there, just waiting!

I have discovered so much along the way:

Although what we do at an early age can affect our health as we grow older, it is never too late to make changes and improvements to our physical, mental, and emotional health and well-being.

I believe we can do and be anything that our heart desires. You just have to want it, believe it and never ever make excuses for why you can't, but make reasons why you can.

Don't allow anything to stand in the way of becoming your best you. Age, current weight, lack of knowledge, not enough time...these are all excuses.

Let yourself become that person you've always imagined, push the limits of who you thought you were and become the person I know you can be.

I would love to help you on your journey to better health, fitness and becoming that incredible you!

Check out the Work With Me! page for details on how we can work together to make magic happen in your life.

It is never too late to make a change to live the life you've imagined.

No matter your age, your ethnicity or your beliefs about who you are, there is always the opportunity to become who you've imagined you could be!

**Always consult your physician before starting any exercise program or before making any drastic changes to your eating habits.**