Kevin:  [00:00:00]Isn't it funny how a moment in your life can completely change everything. We often referred to these as defining moments. In my own life, I can think of several pivotal moments. Times when my life completely changed, its course sometimes in a positive way and other times, not so much. One of the main distinctions of a defining moment

is that it creates a dividing line in your life. A distinctive before and after.

A defining moment can be something big and momentous like the birth of your first child or the death of a loved one. Or the first time you kissed your soulmate or that terrible moment when you realized that divorce is inevitable. But other times it can be something much smaller. Off hand comment made by a relative.

By a relative.

Hello and welcome  [00:01:00]50 health and wellness show.

I'm your host, Kevin English. I'm a certified personal trainer and nutrition coach in my mission is to help you get into the best shape of your life. No matter your age. On this podcast, we interview amazing guests to help educate and inspire you on your healthy aging journey. We have a great show for you today.

Debbie Kroll is here to share her fitness story and advice on healthy aging. But before we get into that, I want to let you know that this episode is brought to you by the silver edge. The silver edge is my online personal training and nutrition coaching business.

Where I help you get off the exercise and diet hamster wheel and start making permanent healthy lifestyle changes. So that you can enjoy the second half of your life with strength and confidence. So that you can become the healthiest, strongest, most vital version of yourself. No matter your age.

If you're interested in learning more, [00:02:00] send me an email at coach@silveredgefitness.com and we'll start a conversation. My promise to you is no hard sales pitch. No annoying incessant follow-up emails. Just an introductory conversation about your personal fitness goals. Okay. Enough of that let's get on with today's show.

My guest today is Debbie Kroll. Debbie is a 64 year old author speaker, personal trainer and nutrition coach with over three decades experience Working with people from couch potatoes to pro athletes. Debbie has been active all her life. And as you'll hear in this interview, she isn't about to slow down anytime soon.

Debbie: As a kid, I've always had a ton of energy, just a lot of energy. I think that possibly I missed the boat.  I really do sincerely think that I should have been some [00:03:00] kind of   professional athlete because I had so much energy and I didn't know where to channel it. You know, my mom and my whole family was like, Debbie, just sit, still, just sit still.

And it's like, okay, I'm going to go in the backyard and do cartwheels or, you know, something like that. I always had to just have something to do. I never had been a sitter, you know, to sit down and watch TV. I never have been that girl. I always wanted to be out doing something.  I had an opportunity to be on the ice skating team at  ice palace in Las Vegas, way back  when I was going to junior high school with some friends of mine, they were on the team and they were like, Debbie wanted to come out and skate with us.

And so I did, and the coach asked me if I wanted to be on the team. And I was like, yeah, let me go home and ask my mom and dad and see what they think. So I went home and I asked them and they were like, we don't know how we're going to get you there because it was all the way across [00:04:00] town. And I guess we didn't have the funds.

I don't know. I just remembered that I wanted to do it really, really bad. And it just, it just didn't happen for me. So. Yeah, I was, I was always energized in 1981.  That's when I discovered  physical fitness and bodybuilding in, I was at a family, barbecue, and I was running around the house. I remember this and I was so winded and the kids were just running circles around me.

And I didn't like that. I just wanted to run with them and keep up with them. And so  my uncle asked me how old I was and I told them I was only 26, I believe 26 or 27. And he said, yep, this is where you start going downhill. And I was like, well, No, it just means I'm getting old. You know, that just means that I might as well hang everything up, you know, just changed into my polyester pants and go in to sit in the [00:05:00] rocking chair and, you know, but anyway, I just was not going to accept that.

I was just like, no, I'm not getting old. I'm just, I'm old. I'm too young for that. So I got home and the next morning I woke up and it was about five 30 in the. I got up and I went to the living room to turn on the TV and try to find some kind of exercise program. And there was Joni. And I was like, wow, man, this woman looked awesome.

And she was like, probably about 10 years older than me, and so she was doing these leg lifts on there. And I was like, she's talking about roadmaps on her thighs. And I was like, what is she talking about? I got up and I went to the mirror and I was like, oh my God, I have those, I have those.

So I got right back to work, squeezing really harder with everything repetition. And it just kind of took off from there. Eventually I found another, another show right after her and it was called best Mata and it was a 20 minute workout and [00:06:00] she was amazing too. And you know, these guys had the cutest little outfit too.

I'll never forget that. How cute they look in their little outfits. I'm like, where did they get those outfits? Cause that's what I want. And you know, I wanted all of it. I wanted it all.

Well I was never obese.  I was never a large person, but inside I was, I considered myself very, very unhealthy, even with all the energy that I did have.

I drank probably six Dr. Peppers, every single day, I smoked two packs of cigarettes.  Maybe even a little more  every single day I had  I had no, no ambitious. I was a stay at home mom. I tried to just have fun with my kids. And I was, I mean, I was energetic, energetic, and we did a lot of things in the summer and around the clock basically.

But  yeah, I knew that when my uncle said that to me, I was like, okay, something needs to give, I need to start cutting back on the Dr. [00:07:00] Peppers start, cutting back on the cigarettes while I did all that. And it was a gradual process. It wasn't easy  was a gradual process. And eventually I just gave it up and then I just thought I had energy.

I got more energy. Then I was just overall sense of wellness, just, and I started trying to learn how to eat better. yeah, it kind of took off from there, That's when things really started coming together for me

Kevin: so there you have it in offhand remark by an uncle at a kid's party, turned out to have life altering effects for Debbie. His it's all downhill from here remark shook her and she decided then and there, that that would not be her fate. But in spite of being an active child, she found herself in her twenties, smoking two packs of cigarettes

and drinking a six pack of Dr. Pepper every day and she was paying for it. I'm sure you'll remember. Back in the 1980s, it was the heyday of aerobics on TV. [00:08:00] Cute outfits and all. So the very next day, Debbie gets up and starts following along and she's hooked. But i wanted to know where she found her information on nutrition

Debbie: Gosh back then, I don't really know. I know, I know for a fact that sugar was, was big donuts, in the mornings.

Maybe fast food.  I knew that those two, I had to cut out. We all had to cut out just as a family. It wasn't just me. It was a, for the health of my family as well. I know that the, and when the doughnut stopped, the kids just went nuts. Like, mom, what are you doing? Making eggs and toast. It's like, well, I'm just learning.

I was, and I think it really let's see, when did I get that nutrition Almanac? I'm not really sure when I purchased this book, but I went to the library and I got a nutrition Almanac. And read it from the front to the back. And I learned a tremendous [00:09:00] amount in that one. I started getting more and more bodybuilding magazines  and I was looking for nutrition information, just basic diet information, nutrition information.

I really felt like that was at that time was a big, big deal. ,  it was a game changer. So the more I learned about it, the more I changed inside.

Kevin: So Debbie's completely turned her life around from a health and fitness perspective. And she's impacting, not just herself, but her entire family. She mentioned that she started getting bodybuilding magazines, which will certainly come into play later in our story. But for now she's mainly seeking nutrition information.

But she's hooked on this new, healthy fit lifestyle and she wants to take the next step.

Debbie: So I had been working out at home for awhile  with Joanie greens and Beth Mada. And I called this [00:10:00] one studio because I wanted to work. And teach. And I just wanted to be in a gym environment. I wanted to be surrounded by other people like-minded so if that makes sense. So I call president's health club and I said, hi, are you guys hiring any aerobic instructors?

And they're like, do you have experience. No.  Well, I'm sorry. We're looking for experienced. And I was like, dang. So I hung up the phone and I thought, where in the world do you get experience?   I ended up calling  lane powers.

It was a small women's fitness studio was really small and I called them and I had to use a different one. Cause I did have experience. I just didn't have experience working anywhere like that. So my experience came from home. I called him up and I asked if they were doing any hiring. And the girl says, well, yes.

As a matter of fact, we are. And I was like, oh my gosh, what do I do now? And I got nervous [00:11:00] and I got really super nervous. And  she says, do you have any experience? And I said, well, yes, I do. I trained with them. Johnny Greg gins and best mater. And these were well known people back then. And she was like, oh, no way, are you kidding me?

And I said, yeah, well, I was in my living room. They were on TV. . It's the truth. They are, they were my trainers. They were my coaches, so to speak. So, anyway, I went down, she said, why don't you come down and audition and see how you do. And I was just so scared.

Well, they gave us a routine to do all the instructors. There had a routine to do. We had a low platform to stand on.  so I walked in and had the audition and I was hired. I think I did like two to three classes a week.  that's, when it just all came together, I thought I don't ever want to do anything else.

I don't ever want to do anything else. I looked out I was on this little platform and I remember looking out at all these ladies that were just sweating and [00:12:00] they were pushing me. They were in better shape than I was because they had been doing it. And I was, but just not like they were and. I don't know, I just, it was my calling.

It was right then and there. I decided this is it. I'm going to take this as far as I can go. And I really didn't know what else I could do with three small kids at home, but we ended up moving. I taught three days a week and it was amazing. I just loved it. That place. We moved to Texarkana. And I applied for this gym.

It was a, it was a bigger gym, had a koozie Whirlpool racquetball courts. It was big. And I called and asked him if, if he was doing any hiring for aerobic instructors. And he said, that's cause that's all I knew. I didn't know anything about bodybuilding, But he said  well, let me, let me get back to you.

So it was a long, long time before. He actually got back to me, but I would bug the crap out of him, man. I would [00:13:00] call him like probably once a week, And finally, the last time I called him, it was like, probably gosh, a good two months later, I kid you not. and I said, this is Debbie again.

What is the deal pickle? Are you going to hire me or what? And he, he just started cracking up and he said, All right. All right. All right. Come in and audition. And I did, and I got the job.  This was a little different than the studio.  it was a co-ed aerobics, which I like too, because there was a lot of guys in there that were really, really gut best in it too.

And then I had to design my own workout. it was all me. I had to come up with my own music. So I use a lot of Michael Jackson, Huey Lewis  men at work, you know, all the old,  bands and stuff, but it was fun. That was a fun, most fun I've ever had. And I have a lot of memories, lot of memories back in those days, I [00:14:00] did start out with the aerobic competitions.

So instructors said, Debbie, there's a competition, Rebecca. I said, well, what do you do? Well, you have to do a three minute routine. It's got to include four high leg kicks, four pushups for sit-ups and four jumping jacks. And it's all got a choreograph into a routine. Had no idea what I was doing. None, none whatsoever.

So we go down there. There's probably five of us. We all go down there in Malvern and it was called the spring fantasy aerobic competition. I won the dang thing. I won it and I was, they were like, wow. And they all knew that I had potential. I mean, I knew I had potential. I just, the biggest thing with me is I was enjoying what I was doing.

I was, I was loving the process and then didn't know where it was going to lead me, but I was just having a really, really good time, took my kids, you know? And [00:15:00] they were on their goal, mom, you know, and all this stuff. So, and it's the first time that I'd ever won any cash? Actually, I won a hundred dollars.

And then I went to the Arkansas state in, came in fourth and there was a lot of girls there a lot.

So there was some girls. in guys at the gym that were telling me, man, you really need to get into bodybuilding. You got the physique for it. You're you got the shape for it.  Your proportions are good. And then when I didn't have any idea what they were talking about, I just know that I didn't want to look like that.

You know? And back then in the eighties that those bodybuilders is like the norm for today. It's like, so you look at those women that were like real big back then. I thought like, no way, I don't want to look like that. But I got a better understanding of the sport and learned what it was all about. And  so we moved to Wisconsin and I joined this gym and these two girls getting ready for a competition. Oh, [00:16:00] Debbie, you should do this with us. So I'm like, I don't know anything about it. I've never even been to a bodybuilding show. Never. And they were trying to get me to do it. And I said, okay, I'll do it.

And so we trained alongside each other and I won, I, we, we went to the competition and I just, I don't know what was going on. Yeah. No that I was enjoying it. It was just loving life. So, and this was the Stevens point. It was in 1986, my very first competition.  Yeah, I knew what a quarter turn was. I knew what a  front double bicep was.

I just didn't know. Pull it off, but I did, I don't know how I did it, but I kind of was looking at the girls next door standing right next to me. I'm like, yeah. I mean, I had a copy from them when it, what was I gonna do? So after that, it was just like, from there. That's when that's, when it [00:17:00] disliked snowballed.

And I just took off with it and I was winning all these shows and everything. And I met this guy. His name is Doug, Andrew ski, and he shed a lot of light on nutrition and training and rest periods. And. Just workouts in general, he's has a vast amount of knowledge  in fitness, health, and fitness. He laid out a diet plan for me and, oh my gosh, I can't believe the changes, but I was shocked because I couldn't have this.

I couldn't have that. I couldn't eat this. I couldn't eat that. I was like, what? He said, just eat more, eat more, eat, more, eat, eat, eat. And that's what you have to train your body to do. And I was like, okay. And that took a long time, but I got to the point where I was eating full course meals, like big meals, every two hours.

And, and I just, I just exploded. And of course I was working out. I couldn't eat like that if I wasn't [00:18:00] working out that intense. But  my workouts were probably one hour long  five, sometimes six days a week. And I would add cardio to that. Of course, back then it was a robot. You know?  So yeah, that's when things really, really took off for me.

I did think that my last competition was in 93, which I won   Arkansas classic bodybuilding competition. So I won that. So. Yeah, but I competed one more time. It was in 2015. I went to the Rhonda Coleman. I don't even know why I did it.

I just, I just did it anyway.  Probably to prove to myself can get that back. It was probably a test for me to just to see if I can get in that kind of shape again. And you know what I did. I did. I was trained in the same way using the same meal plan. The problem was I peaked three weeks before the show [00:19:00] and I F I freaking just lost it.

My weight just plummeted. And I think I weighed in at 1 21, which is like really light for me.  So yeah, I learned a lot too.  so yeah, that's pretty much it. I'm now currently retired, enjoying life.  Spending time with my grandkids and  got a little house project view of the house projects going on and yeah, loving life.

Kevin: Okay, so you get the picture. Debbie found a passion for fitness and never looked back. She made a career out of fitness  and competed first in aerobics and then as a bodybuilder. And although Debbie is no longer competing. She is still very fit and healthy. I asked her about her nutrition these

Debbie: days  My nutrition is very it's low carbohydrates. I eat no processed foods, which foods you get dinners, you get [00:20:00] in a box or a jar. I don't  eat a lot of sugar. My. Probably eight to 10 grams, a day of sugar.  I start out with fruit in the morning, like a banana and an apple, and you know what? I might not even need until 12.

I get up at six, maybe 5 30, 6 o'clock, six 30. And my first thing I do is guzzle 16 ounces of water. And then I have a banana and then maybe an hour later, I'll have an apple. And so I would call it my lunch or meal too. Would be, I love salmon. I eat a lot of salmon.  Farm-fresh eggs and a lot of vegetables.

That's, that's probably about it. In a nutshell, somebody asked me the other day, well, what kind of foods do you eat? Give me everything you eat for, you know, I don't, I just can't do it. I can't lay it out like that because it's all done. You know, but this is the basic, the basic way that I eat is low carb, no processed, low [00:21:00] sodium, not to exceed 2,400 milligrams a day of sodium and then low sugar.

And then lots of water. I went to the chiropractor.  One time. And he could tell that I had, this is going to probably shock you, but I'm probably about 1 30, 1 33 pounds right now.  But I went to the chiropractor. And  he, he kind of weighed me. I went in at 1 51 and  and so I was just, I was just, I thought I was eating really good.

I really did think that I was eating good, but he could tell, you know, he could tell I've been going to him since 2009 and every now and then I'll get an adjustment. He said, how's your diet? And my diet is good. I mean, good. He said, well, do me a favor. I want you to do this for one week. Just one week. I said sure.

What's that? He said, cut out all your starchy carbs  and your sugar, [00:22:00] those two things. Just do it for a week. Oh my God. You talk about changes. And I never thought that I was at low carb. I thought, man, give me the carbs. But no, they, they, he convinced me. I mean, I was convinced I was sold on it and I was like, okay.

And we're going to make some changes. This is, this is where it starts. And gosh, weight just fell off. But more than that, it was like, I was feeling better because at the time I was kind of sluggish, I was sleeping a little later. I was inflamed. I had inflammation  just all these bad things were happening to me and  could be COVID too.

I never caught COVID or anything, but during 2020, it was, it was a trying time. You know, everybody was gaining weight. And so I contributed to that, but  yeah, so that's, that's what my diet consists of like today. And I will, [00:23:00] I will stay by it not to be, I'm not perfect, but weekends. Heck yeah, I have a piece of pizza.

I might have a cheesecake. Nobody's perfect. But next day, I'm back on track

Kevin: So it sounds like even super fit people like Debbie weren't immune to the COVID 15. But if you're looking to start your personal nutrition journey. There's some solid advice here. Avoid processed foods and sugar. Don't eat carbs and access and watch your sodium intake. And don't be too rigid with your diet.

At any rate. Not only is Debbie very physically fit. She's extremely mobile and flexible.  And i asked her what her workout routine looks like these days

Debbie: Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning, I go to hot yoga. That has helped me tremendously with joint endurance, because as we age, we lose those muscle fibers and those fibers  that are very important, which causes you [00:24:00] to go into osteoporosis.  Your joints weaken, you lose your mouth. It's just you, it causes you to age.

So I'm fighting it every step of the way.  So that's Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday night, I go to the gym for weight training. So it's twice a day that I work out many. Was he in Friday? So, and then Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday, I'm practicing poses at home.  I swim  or something like that, but that's what it basically consists of my workouts.

I'm pretty, pretty consistent.

Bodybuilding baby. It's, it's a bodybuilding workout for me.  My husband joins me too, so I have him doing, you know, things like planks and he likes some of the machines. I'm not really a big fan, but  we'll do like overhead presses. So here's one workout. I can just tell you the workout we did last Friday night.

We did bench press four [00:25:00] rounds, and it was heavyweight four rounds of maybe, I don't know, six to eight reps and then we did overhead presses for the same thing.  I think we pyramided up, we started light and went heavier and heavier and heavier for four rounds.

Love pyramid training, and we did some negative side laterals.  So. I use 20, 25 pounds on side laterals for eight reps, eight to 10 reps. Let's see, what else do we? Oh, triceps. So we had chest shoulders and triceps, and then we did dips, kickbacks and overhead dumbbell, tricep extension. Yeah. Oh, and the way you do.

And then we did the line bar, bill  skull crushers, so to speak.  We were pumped man, when we left there, I don't want to give that up. And I. I never will give up bodybuilding.  When I was in competition, it was like, hardcore, this is what we're going to do.

It was laid out and I followed it to a team now [00:26:00] I it's just like, whatever. we don't really have a routine. I have to stop and think, okay, what was the last thing we did? And you know, what haven't we hit in a while, you know, because it's all nutrition anyway, you know, it's all nutrition anyway.

And so yoga is really important to me. That's made me stronger.  The weights haven't made me stronger. The joint endurance has made me stronger because you can only lift as strong as your joints are. And yoga has made me stronger a lot stronger.

Kevin: I think that's a very interesting thought that Debbie finished with right there. That the weights haven't made her stronger.  The joint endurance from yoga has. When you get a minute, check out Debbie on Instagram.

She's at Debbie Kroll trainer. And I'll add that to the show notes for this episode, [00:27:00] over@silveredgefitness.com. Slash episode 64. But she defines what we normally think of when we consider a 64 year old woman. Many people assume we lose both strength and mobility as we age. But there were people like Debbie out there who were defining these preconceptions.

I asked Debbie to elaborate on the role of flexibility in aging.

Debbie: Yeah. People succumb to that and they just said, well, I'm too old for that.

Or I can't do that. Or I'm not flexible. I hear all kinds of. Reasons why people don't want to stretch. But to me, flexibility is the most important component of physical fitness.  If you're not flexible  how are you going to break a fall if you go and, you know, you lose your balance.

If you're not flexible. imagine the tin man from wizard of Oz? A man? No. Seriously. Imagine him tripping. There's it's just like that. He exactly like that. [00:28:00] You're so stiff. You can't even barely take a, take a step, but  yeah, so I know that's important. So I'm on top of it. I stay right there. I stay right there on top.

but I'm always at the class. We, I have an amazing teacher. Sarah is amazing.  She's really good with their cues.   it's a small class. I just love it. But if I'm not doing that, like this week, she's out of town and I'm going crazy.

I'm like, man, I gotta be doing something, you know, so I'm not really good at doing yoga, you know, a yoga routine. Like she takes us through this flow and it's. It keeps you going. It keeps you going. So it's good for the heart, the lungs, the muscles, the blood vessels, the joints, the core. She does a lot of balancing stuff.

So what I do, what I've been doing this week is just doing stuff on my own, more like posing and doing some poses. I see these, I think these are really eclectic. Poses as some of these [00:29:00] girls are doing and I'm like, oh, I bet I can do that. Even though it takes me two days to warm up, it takes me forever to warm up.

I did something this morning and it took me probably a good 15 to 20 minutes to warm up, to do some eclectic poses, really off the wall. But I love doing that. I love it. I do. I love it.

Kevin: We mentioned in the intro to this episode that Debbie has been active her whole life and that she really hasn't slowed down yet. And I think you're starting to get that impression by now. She's very active with her yoga and working out. And I wondered how she manages recovery from all this activity.

Debbie:  It's active rest. It's out of the gym. It's it's here at home. It's wherever in the park.  Wherever I am, I gotta be active, but I do, I do enjoy sitting down and watching like a Netflix movie, but I can't do [00:30:00] that anymore than like an hour and a half. I mean, I got to get up and do something, cause I, I don't know.

Maybe I feel guilty. I'm just sitting too much. I don't know. I don't know, but I ha I have to stay active. It's active resting people think if you rest, you just sit and watch movies all day or sit all day. And I, I couldn't do that. I never have been able to do that, but recovery is important.

Resting your body is important, really, really, really super important to recover. And refresh and, you know, after a hard workout, I wouldn't want to go unless I was competing. Now, when I was competing, there was no rest days, maybe one rest day, maybe.  But you need at least 24 to 48 hours to recover from a heavyweight training session.

And I get that. We get that. So I sleep pretty well. I might get up one time to go to the restroom. Other than that I sleep pretty [00:31:00] good.  I cut way back on my caffeine. I haven't had caffeine in a very long time, so it helps me sleep better. It helps to calm me down.

Besides, I don't need it anyway. I don't really need it anyway.

Kevin: Okay. So Debbie has dialed in her nutrition, her exercise, and a recovery pretty well. She's found what works for her. But she's been at this for a long time. Well, over 30 years. I asked her how she manages to stay motivated.

Debbie: you're not always motivated. So what you have to learn is to be disciplined. You have to discipline yourself to do stuff to be active, to go out and take that walk a walk, a mile, walk a half a mile, make it a goal.  Lay out a plan.

Motivation comes from within, and it takes a lot of discipline if you're not motivated for me. A new pair of tights motivate me, [00:32:00] maybe a new pair of tennis shoes.  Put a dollar in a jar every time you take that walk, or every time you go to the gym and work out, and then at the end of the month, go buy yourself something, it's just, it's all about disciplined. And once you get into the habit, you know, it takes 21 days to form a habit so once you get in that habit, it's all good. So yeah, it's all about discipline. It's all about how bad do you want it? I mean, that's what I say.

How bad do you want it? I mean, and you get in there and you get in that habit, you're going to see changes in that. Right? There's your motivation. You can't work out and eat clean for one day and then take off for two, two weeks. It's just not, I mean, you can't do that. Feel the changes. You see the changes in your eye. All right. I got this, I got this and that mental stuff, you know, that mental stuff is in there. You just got to pull it out and use it. Just get mental with it, you know, change your ways of thinking. [00:33:00] You don't want to go to the gym. You don't want to walk.

You don't want to eat that food and you just don't want to do that. But dad, given people just got to get tough. That's all this tough. Just toughen up.   Somebody asked me the other day, how did you lose all that weight? And I was like, well, this is how she is. And she's like, oh no, I can never do that.

I was like, oh, okay. It's a lot to be said for mindset. You got to look at it. How you spend your day too. What do you do all day? I mean, do you listen to sad music? Do you read sad books? Do you watch sad movies on TV? What is it that you do all day? Cause this has a big impact too, of what you surround yourself with.

You know, how do you live? What, you know, you gotta look at your lifestyle over it.  I have a big, huge supporter is my husband. He's huge. Anything I do, he's backed me 100%. My whole family's like that. My [00:34:00] kids, my grandkids, you know, they, you get a lot of that support, but if you are in a situation where you don't get the support, you know, you're living with somebody that tells you, you can't do it or.

You know, just cut. You got to find a way to surround yourself with positive like-minded people so that you become that. And that's what I surrounded myself way back when, when I first started this, it was a big thing. I'm kind of glad I thought about this. Cause it's. How do you spend your time?  Yeah, you just got to flip that switch and turn it to inspiring and happy and upbeat and lifting.

Who do you follow on Instagram? You follow sad people on Facebook, default, you know, you know what I'm saying? It's just you follow the negativity.  Yeah, it's, it has a lot to do with how you live your life.

Kevin: Debbie has some great advice [00:35:00] here. When I asked her about motivation. The first thing she mentions is discipline. And then she goes on to say that we just need to toughen up. And that she says is how we get motivated. In other words, we get motivated when we do difficult things. That we get a sense of accomplishment and that we feel good about ourselves, which in turn motivates us.

Debbie finishes her thoughts on motivation by talking about the importance of support and community. And I think this is an area where many people, especially those of us over 50 often underestimate when starting a new, healthy lifestyle journey. We assume that our spouses and other family members are automatically going to be on board and excited for us. And hopefully that's the case.

But sometimes those closest to us are unsure of our newfound passion for fitness. Maybe the time isn't right. For them to make healthy changes in their lives. And this is where it's critical [00:36:00] to have a support group of like-minded people. And many of us find this in existing friends that we rope into exercising with us.

Or in new friends made at a fitness class or in the gym. Social media is also great for this. You can join or create a global virtual community. At any rate. I asked Debbie what she thought her life would be like if she would not have chosen to get healthy and fit back on that fateful day, when her uncle told her.

It's all downhill from here.

Debbie: I don't even want to think about it. Probably. I don't know, not in a good place. I was still be smoking and drinking Dr. Peppers and drinking  or eating fast food and fried foods. And my kids wouldn't be healthy.

My grandkids wouldn't be healthy because their kids weren't raised like that, you know? And yeah, my kids were raised healthy. They, [00:37:00] they know, they know exactly what's up.  They're all married with, with amazing kids and life is good. I don't know where I would be. I really honestly don't know if I had never found fitness.

I don't know. Maybe something else would have come my way. It's hard to hard to judge it. That's a God thing. I can't really say, say, cause I wouldn't, I don't know.

Kevin: Okay folks, that's our show for today. If you'd like to learn more about Debbie or potentially work with her. Head over to her website at www.debbiecrallfitness.com and that's D E B B I E. C R a L L fitness. And I'll put a link to that as well as all the links to her social media in the show notes, which you can find [00:38:00] over@silveredgefitness.com slash episode 64.

And definitely check her out on Instagram. She's very active there in her account is a lot of fun and very inspirational for those of us interested in healthy aging.

If you like this show, would you please do me a favor and give me a five star review on whatever platform you're listening on. I'll be back next week with another great guest. So until next time. Stay strong.