Around reaching the age of forty, we start experiencing small physical transformations. Our “shape” may be changing. When you are standing in front of the mirror, take a look at your arms, breasts, thighs, legs and feel yourself. How does it feel? Are you satisfied with what you see and feel? There are two possible ways to go:
1. You are satisfied and you accept the small transformations you are going through
2. You are not satisfied and you choose to push back the changes
Both approaches are totally fine.
1. Women over 40 totally excepting their changes
If you belong to the group of women who doesn’t start panicking about gaining a pound or losing muscle strength that means to me that you feel very confident about yourself and your body. It may even be that you look sexier with a couple of pounds more. Good for you!
2. Women over 40 trying to fight against their body changes
If you belong to the group of women who would like to minimize or even reverse the changes your body is making, you will try to fight against it, like me. I just turned 40 and I had 10 pounds more a few years ago. Through healthier eating and exercising I lost enough weight to feel good about my body and I’d like to keep it that way as long as possible. I realize it is a fight against time but I am convinced that this fight is worth the battle. Sorry ladies, I cannot show you a before and after picture of myself. I just tried to find pictures of the period that I was heavier but I couldn’t find one. I guess the reason is that I didn’t want people to take pictures of me in that period or I already threw them away.
Now what is my strategy? I’ll be honest with you, I am not a person that likes extremes. I will not be the person that will advise you to start exercising every day or to go on a diet. Hey, we all only live once. Honestly, who doesn’t like to enjoy a glass of wine with a nice piece of cheese or who can resist the smell of French fries and a burger or the taste of sweet Belgian chocolate. We all give in when we really feel like it, some don’t and I don’t know why. Who feels like going on a diet for the rest of her life?
What I do though is living a healthy lifestyle, which for me personally means: eating healthy food every day with lots of vegetables and fruit and when I have a craving for something unhealthy I go for it. When I gave in to this wine and cheese evening at a friend’s place, the next morning I will run a little faster or I will hit the gym harder than usual. To stay in shape and to keep of the weight I run, to strengthen my muscles I go to the gym. I exercise at least 3 times a week. Three times because with that frequency you start feeling the difference.
Which activity you’d like to do doesn’t matter (walking, running, swimming, fitness, dance, …). Do whatever you like most, keep it fun and interesting. For instance, the simple act of walking is a highly effective form of exercise. It’s one that can be completed without supervision, without props, and without any previous experience working out. Call your friends and schedule your weekly walking hours. Try to fit in 3 hours every week, it is easier when you have a buddy, believe me. If you decide to start running or walking, let me give you a tip: choose good running/walking shoes. These shoes are the only investment for your new healthy lifestyle, do not make concessions here. Joining a gym like me has a number of direct benefits as well. Not only will you have access to some excellent equipment, but you will also benefit greatly from the fitness knowledge that most personal trainers or your fitness colleagues possess. And believe me, people in the gym will start talking to you, they want to encourage you so that you keep coming as they do themselves.
For the ones among us who like to do more exercises but have no time to fit these workout hours in their schedule, they can start working out at home. As you can read in the article below, intensive house cleaning is another way to stay in shape, even men do it!
Without resorting to gym fees or spandex, the 57-year-old Mr. Markovich has kept himself fit for the past 16 years by using the “aerobic house cleaning” exercises he devised. He does squats while washing windows. He performs lunges and hip twists while using the vacuum cleaner, “the most versatile exercise machine” he knows. He burns so many calories that he can forgive himself for occasional indulgences, such as vanilla ice cream slathered with peanut butter. Turning housework into a heart-pumping, sweat-inducing frenzy could help cure America’s plague of obesity, Mr. Markovich believes.
*James R. Hagerty – The Wall Street Journal.
Whether you decided to accept the changes your body is making or to fight against the transformation, the most important message here is: find your way to continue feeling good about yourself and your body.