The Grateful Blog

Young me was timid. Growing up in a modest family of Italian descent, we rarely went to restaurants. We were told that it was too expensive. I had tremendous anxiety about eating out, and when I got involved in travel synchronized swimming it was a problem. The first time I went to a swim meet without my mother, I was …

Let me ask you a question: Is investing in your retirement a hobby? Of course not. Yet when someone says they are not into fitness, they are failing to invest in their retirement. Having a comfortable financial nest egg is a great goal, but if we don’t have health, and quality of life it’s useless. Quality of life has slightly different …

Glutes! As a kid, I would spend summer afternoons looking for four-leaf clovers to wish on. Four-leaf clovers were pretty rare in my yard, so I had to spend my wishes wisely. When I was about 10, I wished I could wear a maxi dress to school every day. Strange I know, but hey, it was the early seventies. When …

Beware of this motivation zapper.Most people see it as an honorable trait. But the truth is, this particular mindset is responsible for ruining countless good intentions, especially for women working on fitness over 40.The problem is that many people don’t identify this as a negative. In fact, this error is often viewed as an asset.What is it, you ask? It …

Planks are a gem of an exercise for a stronger core, especially after age 40. It is not uncommon for women over 40 with weak core muscles to have back and posture problems, which can, in turn, lead to digestion problems. Performing planks correctly requires multiple muscle groups. One of our most important exercise goals over age 40 is to …

How do you stop your arms from flapping after you stop moving them? This is an obviously popular question in the over 40 crowd. Do not fall for the claims that you can get rid of arm fat in five minutes a day Even if you see it posted on the internet……It’s fake news. 😂😂😂 The truth is there is …

Nature can have a wicked sense of humor, especially when it comes to fat distribution over age 40. Throughout the childbearing years, women are saddled with preferential fat storage around our thighs. (Aka saddlebags) Then when menopause sets in, the fat storage distribution shifts more towards the midsection front and back (due to declining estrogen) I’m all for love handles, …

Being a hockey mom was not something that I ever expected to become. I had been to exactly one very cold high school hockey game, and zero professional hockey games before my oldest son at age 5 begged to join a hockey team. Um, how about a nice warm sport, I thought, like swimming or basketball? Not a chance. Nick …

Questions often come up during our training sessions, that send me off to gather the facts*. Most recently, the topic of collagen supplements has been getting a lot of buzz. Companies that promote the sale of collagen claim that it can work virtual miracles for skin, bones, brains and our gut. But what do studies prove about this expensive supplement? …

It seems you can’t go anywhere these days without hearing or overhearing a conversation about CBD, and women over 40 are no exception. CBD products are readily available and widely marketed as a midlife wellness treatment,  so I decided it was time to find out what CBD is actually useful for. When I need to know more about a popular …