The 20-Minute Way!

So, I've officially, and finally, started a blog.  Now what?  How do I drum up interesting, insightful, and anecdotal things to say while stretching my right leg, trying to ignore the pain?  What is the point of a blog anyway?  

My friend yesterday said, "it's like an on-line diary, and I don't feel like sharing my private thoughts with the world." 

I get that.  I've always felt that writing a blog would be a self-indulgent act.  I mean, who cares what I have to say???

Still,  I've fantasized about starting a blog since last June.  Ever since I had lunch with my old pal, Bess Motta of the 20-Minute Work-out, in Los Angeles last summer.  (The :20 Minute Workout was a t.v. show that I starred in back in 1983 when I was 26 years old.  According to information I’ve recently gleaned from the internet, the :20 Minute Workout was the longest running syndicated exercise show and aired in 57 countries.)  

I hadn’t seen Bess in a decade.  After I left Hollywood in 1998 to pursue a songwriting career in Nashville,  I only kept in touch with Bess for a couple of years.  In June 2010, while I waited for her to arrive at Hugo’s restaurant in Studio City, I secretly hoped she would be overweight, but noooo, she strutted up in 3 inch heels, as fit and trim as ever, looking all of 28.  She still has the same energy, the quick-witted sense of humor, and the mane of curly black hair.  She looked fabulous.

Over lunch, Bess and I got caught up on each other’s lives.  Then we reminisced about the :20 Minute Workout,  and how it seems to have  a following (on the internet) even after all these years.    It was then that I realized  just how much information is shared on the world-wide web.

So, back from my California trip, I combed  the internet, watching old episodes of the :20 Minute Workout on YouTube, starring ME!   I found one web site where I read the following about my co-stars and me:  “Holly, Annie and Leslie, what a bunch of GODDESSES!!!”  and another web site where I read:  “OMG, They were like Barbie dolls with coordinating body suits and leg warmers.”  And this post from just 6 months ago on You-Tube:   “Thank you so much for this!  I’ve never seen Holly before!  It’s like exercising with Lady Di!”   

I had given up the idea of stardom years ago.  Or had I?  The idea of being famous now, as a former :20 Minute Workout Girl, brought up a lot of deeply buried longings.  For months after meeting with Bess, and combing the internet, I found myself struggling with feelings of jealousy (about other friends who'd made it in the "business"), depression (about how my life has gone), regret (for not staying in L.A.), and self-loathing (because at 53, I'm out of shape and overweight).  I started a 20-Minute Work-Out Group page on Facebook.  I created a new website for myself, trying to give myself a web presence so "fans" could find me. All longing to be noticed.


Then, in November, I was noticed.   I got a call from a P.R. firm out of Toronto, who considered hiring me this year to promote bone health.  They said they found me on the Web.  The premise of their advertising was for me, as a former star of the 20-Minute Work-Out, now in her 50's, to talk about how exercising at 50+ years of age (along with a medication I'd be promoting) could help prevent osteoporosis.  

I started the new year determined to lose weight and get in shape so that I'd be ready to promote their osteoporosis product in the Summer!  But on February 13th, I lost out on the job, and it went to Bess (After all, she was the real star of the show).

I was still determined to get back into shape anyway.  I'd get my 20-Minute Work-Out body back, so I could be ready for whatever would show up!!  On March 1, 2011, I started a very disciplined work-out regimen and diet.  On March 6th, I fell and broke my femur.   

And now, I'm exercising on my stationery bicycle for 20 minutes a day, per doctor's orders, until I can walk again.  

It's the 20-Minute Way!