Weight loss over 40? I Thought I Had Tried it All!
When it comes to health and weight loss, I TRIED IT ALL! ….or so it seemed!
If you’re a woman over 40 or better yet over 50, my story isn’t likely much different from yours.
You celebrate your birthday with fun and laughter, and then suddenly, you’re saying to yourself, “What just happened?!”
– you have new aches & pains
– you wake up stiff
– you get an injury from just moving!
– you start gaining unwanted weight that seemed to come from nowhere
– you get hot flashes
– and lack of sleep!
– you get all kinds of symptoms that keep reminding you, “Yoohoo! You’re aging!”
I HAD A FEW PROBLEMS!
Well, I definitely found all of these symptoms and more, started to plague me on a regular basis. And my list kept growing! Does your list look like mine? Take a LOOK…
- Plantar fasciitis
- Tweaked knee
- Hip pain
- Lower back pain
- Severe tendonitis in my shoulders
- Tendonitis in my forearm/elbow
- Broken toe
- Ripped ligament in my thumb
- Ok I’ll stop!!! LOL
All of these threw multiple monkey-wrenches in my fitness plan!
NO MORE RUNNING, NO MORE WEIGHT LIFTING, NO MORE WALKING EVEN at times! Everything hurt!
Besides the physical pains, this caused so much mental frustration to the point of low-grade depression at times, since it seemed it was ALL out of my control! There’s not many things worse than feeling out of control. Feeling out of control gives you the feeling of hopelessness and discouragement.
RESEARCH, READ, RELEARN! I tried something new!
SO I did what any educator does, I started reading & researching!
The more I read, the more I found answers, and the more I had to keep searching and try new things. Like I’ve said before, change is a constant in this life.
While I won’t bore you with ALL of the details of how many programs I tried and how many professionals I saw to help me find solutions, I will say I did see a few!! And to be honest, that actually is a BIG part of finding answers for yourself. You can’t stop at the first person who gives you bad news or seems stumped at your symptoms. Unfortunately, one of my doctors just prescribed a strong pain medication for my shoulder pain without believing physiotherapy would help. However, I persevered, and low and behold, after trying 3 different physiotherapists (trust me, you just can’t stop at one!), I found an incredible one who literally healed my shoulder and anything else that popped up!! LOL And there were a few more “pop-ups” let me tell you!
Previously, I got to one point, and I said to myself, “What is your option, just give up? Just sit in a lazy-boy chair and do nothing?” Well, I gave that little annoying voice in my head a hearty “NO WAY HOSEE!” and I proceeded to keep reading and researching and trying the next thing I thought would help me get to a point where I didn’t feel so old (when I was only 50!).
I FOUND THE SOLUTION!
With gratefulness I can’t describe, I found a simple but overlooked answer that solved my problem. It started with a few individuals that were keys to getting my health on a great trajectory. What I discovered after all my trial and error were three KEY COMPONENTS to improving health in a sustainable way, and they were the following:
- A whole food, healthy & sustainable nutrition plan.
- A variety in fitness options that were convenient and efficient.
- A supportive community that helped keep me stay accountable.
At first glance these three things might seem pretty simple. Oh, I can do that! However, what I found in each of the the programs, or with the authors I read, was they each had one part of it or maybe two parts of the solution, but not the whole package. Additionally, I can tell you from my experience, that all three of those pieces must be packaged up neat and tidy in one place to really keep your health on a progressive and sustainable path.
Similarly, if you want to lose weight, improve mobility, and increase your strength, and just feel better, you need a plan. AND with that plan you need support or you, just like me will get into a perpetual “fall off get back on” treadmill which will inevitably lead to frustration and disappointment.
If you have been on a similar “treadmill” I know there is hope that it doesn’t have to be that way! You CAN conquer this beast that loves to mess with our happy aging! The key is to take this seemingly difficult topic of health and fitness, and simplify it to where we find ALL THREE of these components in one place and then can just simply pursue being fit for life, and enjoy life to the full!!
Be hopeful! It can be done!
