Functional Fitness with Suzanne Andrews

How I lost the Weight

by Suzanne Andrews

Prevention Magazine Full Interview with Suzanne Andrews

How much did you weigh at your heaviest?

I was 186 pounds after giving birth in my 30's and since I'm only 5 foot 2", that's an uncomfortably large size. I had a background in fitness so I thought I'd just get the weight off right after giving birth.  But there was one big problem, weighing that much was painful!

 What made you decide to make a change in your habits?

Every step I took was excruciating. At 5’2″, I was putting a tremendous strain on my knees and hips. The simple act of walking was an arduous task. Walking places a force of 3 times your body weight on the critical joints of your body and I got bursitis in my hip which was very painful.

What did you do for exercise when you just started out?

At first I thought exercise was out of the question. I could barely see my toes; being able to touch them was a fantasy. Even having a background in fitness wasn't enough. It wasn't until I began working with a Physical Therapist as a Therapeutic Exercise Specialist that I realized exercise was the one thing I needed to do to get rid of the pain! I was so impressed with the results that I got a degree in rehab and when I'm not filming my PBS series, Functional Fitness with Suzanne Andrews®), I'm treating patients all over the country with the latest medically proven moves for specific conditions.

 My favorite saying to them when they say they can't exercise because they are hurting is "one day longer is one day stronger with Functional Fitness!" (They've been cleared to workout by their doctor). Since weak abdominals can cause back pain, non movement causes arthritic joints to increase pain: stiff shoulders cause frozen shoulder, a weak butt and tight hamstrings can cause back ache. You show me a fit, strong body and I'll show a happy body. Show me a weak body and I’ll show you a sick body.

 Did you know there's actually a condition/diagnoses that I treat called, "Generalized Weakness." That condition causes a host of diseases.  It's not easy getting to your healthy state, but so worth it! With that being said, there wasn't anything out there for an overweight, unfit person to do.

I also have a background as an esthetician (skin care and make-up artist). While working in New York City at CBS TV, a psychology guest told me meditation could help. I was skeptical. At first I didn’t understand how a sedentary activity like meditation could help me to lose weight. It was not long before I discovered the secret—during meditation your mind is the CEO and your body the dutiful employee.  Because the first step to weight loss begins in your mind. By meditating and visualizing myself at my goal weight, I designed an exercise program that a heavy person could do. I started exercising sitting down so I wouldn't hurt my hip and gradually progressed to a more challenging standing level. Little did I know I was designing the context of my PBS series. I was the first person to design exercises with modifications that included seated and standing levels - I even have walking workouts you can do seated!

What was a typical week of workouts like?

First, I would meditate (every day) for 10 minutes and visualize myself at my goal weight in an outfit that I wanted to wear right down to the color of the outfit and what I would be able to do without all that weight literally weighing me down!   I would do 30 minutes of chair exercises and two to three times a week I would incorporate weights into my routine. I had health issues from a previous car accident (back and neck problems) and had to work-out out without causing further damage. I remember the day I started doing the workout standing up. I felt lighter and had more energy when I woke up that day and so I thought, why not see if I could do standing low impact moves? I kept going until what you see on the TV today, two to three fitness levels demonstrated by myself and an expert guest or two.

What did you change about your eating habits?

Weight loss is 50% diet, 50% exercise and 100% determination!  I needed every ounce of determination when I decided to get some pre -packaged frozen meals to get me started losing weight. When I first saw the tiny amount, I thought I was going to starve!  Yet, when I didn't die from starvation and instead just kept losing weight, I knew the food was enough to sustain me. I'm Italian, and my entire family has weight issues. We love to eat. So the biggest change about my eating habits wasn't just downsizing portions, it was downsizing the excuses and realizing that even little snacks add up. 

How much do you weigh now?

Now I'm a healthy 125 lbs. It was never my goal to be an unhealthy stick.  I'm a woman. I have hips and a bust. Years ago in my 20's, I was swayed by the unrealistic images you see in the media. Well, now I am the media and have the opportunity to educate women that instead of striving for an unrealistic size 2, strive for a size healthy! I remember speaking with some beauty/fashion CEO's about the unrealistic portrayal of the ideal stick thin image in my younger years in New York City. They replied "women don't relate to real women, they want a model thin women to look up to."  If you read the letters I get from my viewers, you'd know they were dead wrong! I am real.  I am a women and proud to be a healthy role model for real women who want to be real healthy.

How long did it take to reach your goal?

I lost 2 - 3 lbs a week.

Are you comfortable using your full name in this article for Prevention.com?

Yes.  Suzanne Andrews. Founder, Functional Fitness with Suzanne Andrews, PBS TV and president of healthwiseexercise.com

How old are you?

If you put in Suzanne Andrews in the Google search engine, you'd see people actually google Suzanne Andrews age.  I'm proud to reveal I'm 53 years young and owe my age to Functional Fitness!

Where do you live?

I live in Florida, but spend a lot of time travelling throughout the US teaching my evidenced based exercises to help others take back their life and be healthwise –exercise! It’s always a thrill to see how Functional Fitness helps them.

Suzanne Andrews founded Functional Fitness in 2008, the most popular fitness series for boomers and seniors broadcasting on over 159 Public Television stations throughout the US and Canada. Read Suzanne’s inspiring comeback story of how she survived a near fatal accident, From Deaths Door to Producing a National Fitness Series. Feel free to send Suzanne a message here.

Get Functional with Suzanne Andrews

by Suzanne Andrews

Get Functional with Suzanne Andrews Third PBS Fitness Series on PBS TV

PBS added the newest addition of Functional Fitness to its programming.  From Healthwise Exercise, LLC, the producers of the first and second series, Functional Fitness with Suzanne Andrews® is a show you’ll want to start watching this week on your local Public Television Station.

The 10 newest episodes added to the already airing 25 episodes offers people over 40 a unique at-home workout program that can be done seated on a chair or standing.

While the workouts can be done in a small space at home, each episode offers an expansive scenic view of locations across North America. From the famous Sunken Gardens filmed at Butchart Gardens in British Columbia, Canada, to the Ladew Gardens in Marlyland, the scenery offers a motivating background of stunning beauty to “put the fun in Functional Fitness®.”

Rather than only emphasizing weight loss or striving for an unrealistic image, Functional Fitness with Suzanne Andrews® offers fitness editions for specific health conditions. While many instructors show you what to do, Suzanne Andrews, a licensed Occupational Therapy Practitioner, also educates you on what moves you should not do for specific health conditions.

Already a best seller before it even aired on PBS, Suzanne Andrews Get Stronger Bones DVD carefully instructs the same osteoporosis safe moves Suzanne guides her clients through in rehab without the high priced rehab co-payments. Equally popular is Suzanne Andrews 30 Day Bladder Fix DVD, which demonstrates the only medically proven pelvic exercises that are done seated on a chair and lying in bed to stop urinary leaks. While each episode airs for 30 minutes, the DVD collection offers additional unseen exercises that can’t fit into the tight time constraints of television.  

Originally airing on 159 stations nationwide to over 49 million on the PBS network of stations in 2009, viewers embark on a transformative journey in order to reach their full potential.  It’s not about being a size skinny, but about being a size healthy. It’s about getting and remaining functional and independent well into ones mature years,” states the executive producer, Suzanne Andrews.

Get the series by emailing your local Public Broadcasting Station now and requesting, Functional Fitness with Suzanne Andrews®. To find your local PBS station, go to http://www.pbs.org/about/about-pbs/stations/.

Suzanne Andrews founded Functional Fitness in 2008, the most popular fitness series for boomers and seniors broadcasting on over 159 Public Television stations throughout the US and Canada. Read Suzanne’s inspiring comeback story of how she survived a near fatal accident, From Deaths Door to Producing a National Fitness Series. Feel free to send Suzanne a message here.

3 Affordable Age Proof Body Tips

by Suzanne Andrews

As the clock ticks on, so does your body's biological clock. Although no one knows what our expiration date is, with these tips you can increase your odds of stopping the three time bombs in your body and allow your time line to be long and strong!

1. Age Proof Your Heart

As I was educating a 55 year old patient who was 100 pounds overweight and diagnosed with generalized weakness and obesity what she needs to do to have a healthy heart she proudly exclaimed  “I’m a go-getter,” and before I could even get out a full sentence she matter of fact stated many excellent heart health points.  Yet when push came to shove and it was time to actually do what she knew – well that was a different story all together.  

This is why 4109 of us have a heart attack every day. Yep, 1.5 million people have heart attacks every year in the US. Half a million die. But how can that be? Have you seen all the people running, swimming, biking or walking? Twelve hours a day there are countless infomercials selling all the latest gadgets for staying super fit. We should be a nation of supermen/women wearing a huge "S" on our red shirts.

But, alas we are not: for those twelve hours a day we are being sold gadgets that make everything easier including 800 numbers to call for easy help, and websites claiming, “lose 30 pounds in 30 days – fast delivery!.”

We are given the message that losing weight is easy. At this rate somebody will come up with a way where you don't even have to go to the door to pick up what was delivered! Sheesh!

Avoidance tactics are; a sensible diet with low amounts of fats and cholesterol. This may not be easy but it's a lot easier than undergoing surgery, so think about that next time you reach for your 2nd helping.

A daily exercise program that burns the fats and cholesterol will lower your blood pressure. Some people are even able to get off their blood pressure medications when they exercise and lose weight. (You should be under a doctor's care and ask your doctor's advice before going off any medication).

Keeping your stress under control (exercise helps). Exercise actually lowers your stress hormones and is as effective as medication for mild depression. The benefit? Exercise doesn't hurt your liver.

And getting a good night's sleep (exercise helps).

Money saved from having a healthy heart?  According to the National Bureau for Economic Research, “the average cost for the first 90 days following a heart attack is $38,501. Medicare spends over $14,000 per patient on hospital bills in the year after a heart attack, plus additional amounts for physicians and outpatient care. Moreover, these amounts are rising at a rate of 4 percent annually. “ That means if your co-pay is 20 percent – your total is 10,500.20!

2. Your Lungs

If you smoke cigarettes you might just as well roller-skate behind a city bus every day and get it over with in a hurry. Talk about a time bomb. You are literally lighting the fuse every time you fire one up. I know this may not be politically correct to say that, but I'd rather tell it like it is than see you gasping for air hooked up to tubes waiting to die choking on every breath. If this sounds a little harsh, it's not as harsh as dealing with smoke related diseases.

When you inhale smoke, it smothers and kills the microscopic tissues that make up the tiny air sacs in your lungs. When you sleep, some get repaired, others don't. Years of smoking kills these little sacs faster than they can heal and repair themselves. That's why people who quit can recover and lead longer healthier lives. Also people who exercise have better oxygen saturation. Why? Because stronger muscles require less oxygen.  Need another reason to stop smoking? Smoking gives you wrinkles.

Since I've never known anyone who enjoys gasping for air after climbing stairs, or having weak muscles, low bone density, burned clothes and furniture or smelling like an ashtray wherever you go, I can't imagine that this would be anyone's legacy in life. When you do quit, you'll smell how offensive the smoke is and you'll also have a better sense of smell for all the wonderful things in life - fresh flowers or ocean air.

The human body is made to absorb air because the trillions of tiny cells that make up the human body need and use air as much as you need to breathe to stay alive. If you poison the air they breathe, they die. As they die, you become weaker and sick. It's that simple. Every time you put out a cigarette, you've quit. Make this one the last one and then go outside for a breath of fresh air.  While air is still free, smoking is not. A pack of day habit costs smokers $12,775 a year in health related illnesses and that’s not including the cost of the cigarettes!

3. Joints are for Moving

Here's a surprising statistic, every 8 and a half seconds, someone in the US turns 50. That's right! That translates to 76 million people today and that number is growing. Of that 76 million, 46 million, that's more than half, will suffer from painful joints. It may be you, it may be a friend, or it may be someone you love.

For many years doctors thought that exercising with arthritis would damage your joints. Fortunately, doctors are now aware that therapeutic exercise is vital to reducing and eliminating joint pain.

Therapeutic exercise has been medically proven to relieve and correct joint pain and that's why insurance companies pay for expert treatment to stabilize weakened muscles and improve range of motion. By incorporating regular, targeted therapeutic exercise you can relieve joint pain and ease muscle tension. So what type of therapeutic exercise? Exercises that include flexibility and muscle strengthening provided by a licensed Physical or Occupational Therapy are best. Just as a nurse has specialized training in pharmacology, therapists have years of intense training in therapeutic exercise, physiology and kinesiology, which is the study of human movement.

These are simple rules to live by and a far cry from spending your hard earned money on medical bills. Tick, tick, tick, tick. You are the detonator or the bomb squad to the rescue. You have the power to choose. Choose Functional Fitness and I’ll be with you every step of the way! 

Suzanne Andrews founded Functional Fitness in 2008, the most popular fitness series for boomers and seniors broadcasting on over 159 Public Television stations throughout the US and Canada. Read Suzanne’s inspiring comeback story of how she survived a near fatal accident, From Deaths Door to Producing a National Fitness Series. Feel free to send Suzanne a message here.

3 Worst Exercise Mistakes

by Suzanne Andrews

That saying, "bite your tongue" means to not say anything. That can be very difficult for many of us at times. If that were a literal statement, I would come back from the gym with a swollen tongue! (LOL),

Why? Not any everyone appreciates advice and some people get downright mad so I keep my mouth shut. It doesn't matter that I'm giving free medically proven advice medical insurance pays physical/occupational therapy agencies a hefty fee for.

I see so many people doing exercises that can either hurt them or not help them. If you're doing your workout and wondering why you're not getting the results you need, today's tips can help you reach your desired goal.

1. MOVING TOO FAST

When strength training you must move through the movement slowly. This means a slow controlled movement when lifting and lowering weights. You will get fitter FASTER! Medical insurance wants us rehab therapists to get our patients off caseload quickly and in most cases in 30 Days. And our patients come in very weak. So we have to get them strong quickly and safely. Science proves that lifting slower is more effective. (I'll spare you the science details, but if you want to know email me!)

2. THINKING YOU SHOULDN'T USE WEIGHTS with ARTHRITIS or OSTEOPOROSIS.

I just had a DVD reviewed and while it got 4 out of 5 stars, I know if it was reviewed by a Physical or Occupational Therapist it would have gotten 5 stars. The reviewer was not aware that using hand and leg weights with arthritis helps to [decrease pain] in the joints or that weights improve bone health. I don't blame her as she does not have the training that physical or occupational therapy professionals have.

This brings me to mistake number 3. Of course if you have arthritis and you're having a flare up, common sense, which I know you have, tells you to lay low.

3. FITNESS ADVICE FROM SOMEONE OUTSIDE SCOPE OF PRACTICE

This one is going to surprise you. Many people think that MDs know everything about exercise. While very knowledgeable about diseases, medications and diagnoses, MD's get very little exercise training. Physical and Occupational Therapy practitioners get 3 - 6 years of training, depending on the degree. On top of that they have ongoing training requirements and teach exercise all day to people with all kinds of medical complications.

Suzanne Andrews founded Functional Fitness in 2008, the most popular fitness series for boomers and seniors broadcasting on over 159 Public Television stations throughout the US and Canada. Read Suzanne’s inspiring comeback story of how she survived a near fatal accident, From Deaths Door to Producing a National Fitness Series. Feel free to send Suzanne a message here.

Ease Arthritis Pain

by Suzanne Andrews

 5 Ways Water Aerobics Eases Arthritis Pain

Water aerobics are one of the best ways to ease arthritis pain with benefits lasting long after you’ve completed your water aerobics session. If exercising on land is difficult for you due to joint pain, water aerobics are the perfect way to gain muscle strength without having to worry about excess pressure on hurting joints. Listed below are five ways that water aerobics ease arthritis pain.

1. Water Provides a Cushion

   Simply being in water for Water Aerobics provides a cushion for fragile bones and joints affected by arthritis. Most water aerobics are done when you are immersed in water to your waist and at that level of water your body will be bearing only 50% of its weight. The buoyancy of water allows movement with less pain than traditional out-of-the-water exercise for joints and muscles stiffened from arthritis.

2. Water Decreases Swelling and Soothes Stiff Joints

   Nothing feels as good as something warm on stiff joints and water not only provides that soothing relief but it can also relax sore muscles, decrease joint swelling and provide comfort when exercising is difficult and painful. Pools heated from the summer sun are an enjoyable way to ease arthritis pain as you can experience immediate relief in the water. Performing water exercise in a pool that is between approximately 82 and 88 degrees Fahrenheit is ideal for pain relief. Heated pools can do for your whole body what other forms of heat can only do for specific areas to which it is applied. Warm water provides the ideal environment to do exercises that a person with arthritis might not normally do.

3. Water Is Less Stressful

   Water Aerobics provides an environment for exercise that decreases the stress on painful joints compromised by arthritis. Some people have referred to water aerobics as "floating traction" as it stretches, loosens and flexes joints in ways that would be impossible if they were not in water. During water aerobics, painful joints are relieved and their range of motion and flexibility are increased. All these difficulties make living with arthritis painful but with water aerobics they can be dealt with in an environment that accommodates each individual's fitness and health.

4. Water Builds Up

   Water Aerobic exercise works all the muscles at the same time and increases the cardiovascular endurance without the impact on your body of traditional aerobic exercises on land. Being immersed to your waist, upper torso or neck increases the return of blood flow to the heart from the extremities. Increased blood circulation to the joints and muscles facilitates recovery and strength-building, all of which can lead to a less painful life with arthritis.

5. Water Workouts Burns Calories

   Swimming, water aerobics, and water walking all contribute to weight loss. Losing weight can help reduce the impact of daily living on painful joints due to arthritis and lead to less pain. Water aerobics reduces swelling due to increased circulation from the low-impact movements that exercising in water allows, leaving the painful areas free of stiffness and swelling, which in turn relieves the friction that causes pain in joints.

If you have arthritis, what are you waiting for?  Make a dash to splash in a pool and start relieving your arthritis pain!

Suzanne Andrews founded Functional Fitness in 2008, the most popular fitness series for boomers and seniors broadcasting on over 159 Public Television stations throughout the US and Canada. Read Suzanne’s inspiring comeback story of how she survived a near fatal accident, From Deaths Door to Producing a National Fitness Series. Feel free to send Suzanne a message here.

Keep those letters coming!

by Suzanne Andrews

I'm filming my 4th series for PBS TV this week and just wanted to share why I do it. With 12 hour days and doing the exercises over and over, filming can be exhausting. But I get a letter and - instant energy! Here's a letter that motivates me. Keep those letters coming!

"I saw your show yesterday for the first time on PBS in Daytona Beach, Florida. WOW!  You are like an vision of hope and EXCITEMENT for me! Thank you! I used to be trim and thin and something happened called stress and life! (giggle) and I hit 52 very lethargic, very over weight, out of shape and yet I have goals of riding mountain bikes and have such a worry about being able to "lift my leg up and over!"...so obviously I need to get into shape to ease my mind and ease my body. I tried Jazzercise and killed my knees and felt VERY OLD with the newer music - I loved it when I was 30 and 40 years old but something happened to the music since! (another giggle)...so thank you. You brought LIFE back into me, I feel wonderful today.  What great results!  You EVEN got me and my husband off the couch on a SUNDAY AFTERNOON!  I was so proud of myself. Can't wait for my Yoga Chi for Energy DVD to arrive.  You are like Sunshine in our lives!!!  Thank you!  Mrs. TJ G, Palm Coast, Florida."

Suzanne Andrews Response:

Thank you much TJ!  You are exactly the kind of person who I developed Functional Fitness for.  I was once overweight and can relate. Plus I'm not in my 30's or 40's so I REALLY relate. People actually google, "Suzanne Andrews age."  Functional Fitness keeps you ageless!  Now I just strive to be a healthy weight and leave the unattainable size teeny to the younger crowd. Be proud of your curves! Glad you like the music. We spend hours combing through music to find beats that motivate.  

Healthiest Blessings,

Suzanne Andrews founded Functional Fitness in 2008, the most popular fitness series for boomers and seniors broadcasting on over 159 Public Television stations throughout the US and Canada. Read Suzanne’s inspiring comeback story of how she survived a near fatal accident, From Deaths Door to Producing a National Fitness Series. Feel free to send Suzanne a message here.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

by Suzanne Andrews

Why Slow and Steady Wins the Race: The Secret to Getting Fit Faster

In my travels, I often run into women who think that to be really fit, they have to jump up and down, and do the moves real fast. While this train of thought is common, it is also a guaranteed way to injure yourself and not get the results you seek.  You ever see the same person at the gym who never looks any fitter?  Watch how they work-out, I’ll bet they lift the weights really fast. In order to achieve extraordinary health, you've got to get outside of what everyone else is doing and find successful methods that work without making you feel like you have do insane extreme workouts.

One of my favorite examples is from a Functional Fitness fan who wrote me. “A few months ago while flipping through the TV stations, I came across “Functional Fitness with Suzanne Andrews.” I had just finished eight weeks of an exercise program to try to help me walk without hip pain and all that hard work didn’t help at all.  My doctor told me I needed a hip replacement. But I wasn’t ready to try surgery and so I pulled up a chair and did your workout.  At first I thought, this is too easy, it’s not going to do anything! But I trudged along and by the time I was able to do the standing level my hip pain was gone, I am more flexible and best of all I no longer need a hip replacement.”  Elizabeth from Maine.

For the uninitiated, working out at a slower pace looks easy but since you are contracting your muscles longer, you get FASTER results. As a rehabilitation clinician, I (and my colleagues) spend much of our day instructing our patients to slow down. Not only will you build strength quicker, you’ll burn more calories–even after you’ve stopped working out. If you’re a mid-life or older person like myself, it sure beats the “beat yourself up workouts” where you feel like you’re going to die!  Which, by the way, is the fastest way to not wanting to workout anymore.

Which brings me back to Elizabeth. If she hadn't taken the time to try a different method and really give it the time it deserves, she never would have experienced the amazing results she got.  No it wasn’t instant, but it was worth the results.

Suzanne Andrews founded Functional Fitness in 2008, the most popular fitness series for boomers and seniors broadcasting on over 159 Public Television stations throughout the US and Canada. Read Suzanne’s inspiring comeback story of how she survived a near fatal accident, From Deaths Door to Producing a National Fitness Series. Feel free to send Suzanne a message here.

Ever wonder how I get my inspiration?

by Suzanne Andrews

Ever wonder how I get my inspiration? From my wonderful fans! This letter is what inspired me to write last week's blog and it really touched me so I'm sharing it with you.  (She said it was OK to share). 

Do you have something to share?  Email me (contact info below) and don't worry, I won't divulge your email address.

Love and healthiest blessings, Suzanne Andrews

Suzanne Andrews founded Functional Fitness in 2008, the most popular fitness series for boomers and seniors broadcasting on over 159 Public Television stations throughout the US and Canada. Read Suzanne’s inspiring comeback story of how she survived a near fatal accident, From Deaths Door to Producing a National Fitness Series. Feel free to send Suzanne a message here.

Don’t Hate Me Because I’m a 10

by Suzanne Andrews

Size 10 that is!

Don’t you despise the prejudice against fat in the United States?

Spending my young adult years in New York City, I was surrounded by the fashion industry bombarding me with media images of women who looked like their last meal was served in a starvation camp. Working in television, I knew many young models who starved themselves regularly. I don’t blame them.  It was either conform to the expected size or don’t work.

So my question is: why idealize a size that can cause osteoporosis, heart attacks and in some cases- death?  Do you know women are actually having their ribs removed to be thinner?  That’s crazy!!

As the host of a national series on PBS TV, Functional Fitness, I feel it is my duty to help you become ALL that you can be without the numbers on the scale dictating what kind of day you’re going to have. 

Stop comparing yourself to those photo-shopped images of anorexic waifs. You are so much more than your size.  For example, I’m a wife, a mother, grandmother, an occupational therapist, and producer. What are you? You’re a unique individual and yes -  you are BEAUTIFUL!   

Starving yourself is insane. I should know, I’m an expert at it.  I struggled with my weight for years.  Turns out I have Hashimoto’s disease which really slows down metabolism. 

I used to be a size 18 and dieted down to a size 4.  That’s impossible to keep and I’m just not going to do that to myself anymore.  Yet because I’m 5 foot 2, being a size 10 is larger than what the media considers attractive.  Well I don’t need to be a size 0.  I want to be a size healthy!  

How about you? Do you want to be a size healthy?  No starvation diets, no crazy insane high impact exercise moves that leave you feeling like you got hit by a truck.  If the answer is yes, Functional Fitness is for YOU! 

Suzanne Andrews founded Functional Fitness in 2008, the most popular fitness series for boomers and seniors broadcasting on over 159 Public Television stations throughout the US and Canada. Read Suzanne’s inspiring comeback story of how she survived a near fatal accident, From Deaths Door to Producing a National Fitness Series. Feel free to send Suzanne a message here.

Overcoming Death Defying Odds

by Suzanne Andrews

Overcoming Death Defying Odds: A True Story

This is a fairly personal blog. But I hope it inspires you to keep going, to never give up on your dreams.
You might know me from my DVDs like 30 Day Bladder Fix or from my PBS TV series, Functional Fitness with Suzanne Andrews®.
But today I'd like to share something that you might not know about me...

Twenty years ago, I left a safe great paying job to start this crazy dream of producing a fitness show. I wanted to inspire people and help them improve their lives. I didn't really know how, but as I always say 'A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step.' Even if that first step has some pretty big bumps that included:

• A car accident that injured my neck and back (that’s where the Back and Neck DVD came from).

• Surgery complications that resulted in eerily similar circumstances like the late Joan Rivers surgery gone wrong- a lady I had worked with while at CBS studios in New York City. (died on the operating table)!

• A work accident while treating a patient that made my left shoulder totally useless – I couldn’t lift it one inch! (the patient lost control of her power wheelchair and the force from holding back her chair so she wouldn’t get crushed tore up my shoulder). It took me a year to regain function of my left shoulder and just one week later, my right shoulder tore while working with another patient. Another year that included surgery and lots of therapy. The most painful recovery you could ever go through.  Worse than child birth.

At that time, no one knew me. TV studios turned down three of my proposals, hordes of potential sponsors didn’t return phone calls. Many were kind. Some were cold. None believed. Imagine the frustration of everyone telling you NO. For some reason, I just didn't let their opinions dictate my potential.

My first DVD, Beginners Dynamic Yoga was a DVD about releasing stress and accomplishing your goal and I knew I would accomplish my goal to help women over 40 regain their health with programs that were not like anything you see anywhere else. While Beginners Dynamic Yoga was the first yoga video that you didn’t have to be a contortionist or require you to get on the floor, I still wanted to add another dimension to my workouts.

At that time, there weren’t other programs that offered two to three fitness levels for specific health conditions.  And degreed medical professionals showing exercises in both sitting and standing was simply unheard of! Other fitness programs didn’t have doctors giving health tips and again I was the first.  Being the first is not all it’s cracked up to be because you have to convince the powers that be that there is a strong need for your idea. People who sit in offices and despise exercise.

Yet I knew there was a need for a corrective exercise program that helped people overcome health challenges like overactive bladder, arthritis and osteoporosis in the comfort of their home and so I persevered.

Finally an executive saw the wisdom in my proposal.  But it didn’t come easy: I volunteered numerous hours working 7 days a week and risked my finances to achieve my dream. The show became a success with PBS, and broadcast on 159 stations.
The reality is it's okay that those professionals doubted me. My past didn't reveal anything about me becoming a #1 Best Selling DVD producer with 30 Day Bladder Fix DVD, COPD DVD and the award winning Arthritis DVD. (I've designed from conception to completion 35 shows with 10 more not yet released).

Nothing about my circumstances back then would indicate my series would reach an area of 49 million on Public Television. No one imagined my DVDs would be on Collage Video, my favorite fitness DVD site.

I simply BELIEVED that if my intention was to serve and I demanded the best of myself every day then things would turn out well.

Luckily, they did. And so I say this to you my friend... Never let rejection, ridicule or doubt from others slow you down. Wake up each day and follow your heart and dream. When you're starting out - they'll reject you. When you're successful, they'll reject you. So what's going to keep you going? When you find the answer to that question – don’t let go of your dream.  BELIEVE in YOURSELF. I believe in you!

Suzanne Andrews founded Functional Fitness in 2008, the most popular fitness series for boomers and seniors broadcasting on over 159 Public Television stations throughout the US and Canada. Read Suzanne’s inspiring comeback story of how she survived a near fatal accident, From Deaths Door to Producing a National Fitness Series. Feel free to send Suzanne a message here.