I’m 61. I am still the same weight and dress size as I was when I was 25. This isn’t genetic – mum, dad and my grandparents all gained weight as they got older.
My Tanita Body Composition scales tell me all sorts, including my “metabolic age” or fitness age. And this is my secret.
Today, my scales tell me I have a fitness age or “metabolic age” of 23.
So how have I done this?
I don’t diet.
I don’t snack.
I eat healthily, 3 meals and day, and plenty of it.
Some of what I eat, you might call “bad food”. (I don’t call it that).
I allow myself what I want, but I listen carefully when my body says Ive had enough.
I keep myself active, without over-pushing myself so I don’t get too tired.
And my weight rarely alters.
Do I live on diet food?
100% no I do not. Dieting does not work long-term for weight control.
People think I live on salad and Crispbread. I don’t. I love cake, beer and chocolate and have all 3 regularly every week. I eat 3 meals a day. It’s all plant based, from scratch, and I vary all veg and carbs often.
My meals look like this.
“Rice & Cheese Bake”. 
Its a lovely aromatic mix of cooked rice, mediterranean veggies, flavoured with garlic, ginger and turmeric. Add an egg to it, throw in some seasoning, and add cheese to the top, and bake it. Always a family favourite here.
It’s carb heavy which some people don’t like. But its a meal in itself, full of protein, and keeps you fuller for longer.
Despite a lack of extra pounds, my shape has changed. Post menopause my waist is bigger than it used to be by a good 3 inches, and my boobs and bum have dropped a bit. But I’m living proof that weight gain and ageing are not necessarily linked.
I think very often about how my body is doing, how its ageing, and how I look and feel. Weight is just one small part of my picture. This is why I only weigh myself infrequently.
Ageing can be rubbish. You look in the mirror, and suddenly start to see a different person looking back. Skin, hair, waistline, colouring … its changing. A bit of you might still feel like you’re 11 years old. Other bits of you don’t work anything like as well as they used to and you’re feeling it. I feel those things too.
Without maintenance, your body will weaken. If we don’t stay active and eat well, we lose muscle faster and faster each year after the age of about 30. This process of Sarcopenia affects every single person. But not everyone gives in to it.
So how are YOU? How is your body and brain coping with it all? Here’s how I try to approach my own ageing process.
MY SECRETS TO AGEING WELL
There’s so much you can do to help yourself age well. Here’s my my own Golden Rules of Getting Older.
(No, I do not practice all of them all the time. I really am no saint).
- Stay positive. Try to find those positives … sometimes that can be a hard thing to do. But you really can control how you react to most things going on around you. I work on this a LOT myself. I choose my battles, and sometimes just say nothing at all.
Smiling is good. Laughter is even better. - Be thankful. If you have silver in your hair, you have been blessed with a long life. Those wrinkles all tell of your days in the sun. The laughter lines tell of many good times and smiles. You are lucky. 🌞
- Lose weight if you know you need to. Look at yourself regularly long and hard, and decide if you really are a healthy weight. Get real with this. Look at your actual BMI and Body Fat percentages. Ask yourself if your clothes from 3 years ago still fit. If not, why not. (You’ll know the answers deep down).
- Stay active, fit and strong. Walk often, ideally daily. Do some strength work. I get strength benefits from Yoga, which I love. But I don’t do it often enough!
- Cook for yourself healthily most of the time. Batch cook, or just make enough for leftovers. And eat more plants … a LOT MORE PLANTS.
- Don’t smoke.
- Drink healthily and have plenty of alcohol-free days. Enjoy a drink when you have one. But remember, each drink is a doughnut. 🍩🍩
- Do not have foods which are “Bad” everyday. No food is banned (apart from some fizzy & energy drinks which IMHO should be criminalised).
- Finally, get a good Style & Colour Makeover. Know which colours and shapes look good on you, and you will increase your self confidence ten-fold. This saves costly wardrobe purchase mistakes … and enables you to quickly scan a charity shop and pick out what’s going to look amazing for less money!
I’ve had it done and its saved me literally hundreds of pounds over the years. I know 2 people who are EXCELLENT at this and will help you wherever you live. Just ask me.
Life is fast. Sometimes it seems like a year is gone in a blink. A decade has passed and things from 10 years ago are “still new”.
Menopause comes … and (hopefully) passes.
Years pass by quicker and quicker.
Sometimes its easy to put off self-care.
“I’ll lose weight next week, next month, next year”. Or “Ill go for a walk tomorrow”.
But
🙏Please look after yourself properly. 🙏
YOU are the ONLY PERSON who can do this for yourself.