The other day my hubby and I were talking about how it’s a little strange to be in our 40s since it feels like just yesterday our parents where in their 40s. When my parents were my age it felt like they were old. Now that I’m in my mid 40s, the reality is I’m not actually old (even though at times I feel like it).
This season in life can be a bit tricky to navigate with hormonal and life changes that can be frustrating and confusing. The great news is we have a choice to fall into the midlife victim mentality or recognize the opportunities to make changes and embrace this season of life.
Today I’ll dive into how you can take these opportunities and run with them to improve your health and maybe even become the healthiest you’ve ever been in your life.
When I ask women in their 40s and 50s what their health and wellness goals are it’s usually centered around overall health. Most women in midlife no longer have the unrealistic goal to be super skinny. Some women do want to lose weight but they want to lean up for health reasons and not aesthetic reasons. This type of weight loss goal is realistic and totally doable. We all have an ideal body weight where our body is happy, healthy, and thriving.
One huge benefit of aging is most people (not all) become wiser as they age. I know I’m definitely wiser than I was in my 20s and 30s. I’m more self-aware of areas in my life that can be improved and more open to honest feedback. In my younger years, I took a lot of feedback personally even though it didn’t reflect on who I was as a person. Now a days, I’m always asking for feedback from my clients and community. I will occasionally take it personally depending on what kind of mood I’m in but, for the most part, I enjoy getting feedback because it gives me ideas on how to improve my programs to help my clients on a deeper level.
The same can be said for health and wellness habits. Midlife is an ideal time to reflect on what you’ve learned over the past several decades in regards to nutrition, fitness, and rest so you can become self-aware of your choices. With your hormones fluctuating more frequently than before it can be a bit more challenging to dial in a nutrition and fitness strategy that works for you.
We all make choices based on logic or emotion and sometimes a little bit of both. When you reach for the cookies, this choice is probably based on your emotions and not logic. You’re most likely fully aware there’s little to no nutritional value in a cookie. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes we need to give into our cravings and eat that comfort food. It’s not about eating nutrient dense food all the time.
The key to success with sustainable habits is to be able to recognize the difference between emotional and logical choices. If you’ve spent your entire life differentiating between “good” and “bad” foods and still struggle with it, this will be game changer for you. When you stop labeling food as if there were super strict rules with what you can and can’t eat, you feel a sense of freedom you’ve never felt before. You just eat food based on what your body needs including the occasional indulgence. There is a skill to this based on self-awareness that you can master.
If this is a new concept to you, you’re on your way to creating a new nutrition strategy. This is an exciting change that just might be exactly what you need if what worked for you in the past to build muscle or lose weight isn’t working any longer.
Let’s dive into how to become self-aware with your nutrition strategy. If you’re already self-aware, diving deeper into your awareness can help you take your nutrition habits to the next level. I’ll share four simple questions you can ask yourself to raise awareness when you want to eat a specific food. I’ll use the example of eating microwave popcorn since this has been an indulgence for me lately.
What am I thinking right now?
When I eat popcorn I’m usually thinking about how movies and popcorn go together. But not just any movie. It’s usually when we’re watching a movie in a theater. When I’m at home, curled up in bed watching a movie popcorn doesn’t even cross my mind. In my mind, it’s the experience of watching a movie on a big screen with surround sound.
How am I feeling right now?
There was a day in the last few months when I was craving carbs because I was PMSing (which is normal, by the way) and I wanted comfort food. Since I connect movie theaters to popcorn, that’s what I gravitated towards based on how I was feeling. I was satisfying my body’s need for carbs and my emotions.
How am I behaving right now?
When I was eating popcorn, I was enjoying a relaxing afternoon with my hubby disconnecting from reality for a few hours. When I’m in relaxation mode, I don’t worry about what I’m eating or drinking or how it’s going to affect me. I just do what feels right in the moment to help me relax.
What’s logical about eating this food?
I know popcorn has very little (if any) nutrients that’s going to help me build lean muscle mass, sleep better, or improve my overall health. There are no logical health benefits to eating popcorn with butter and salt on it other than the fact that it made me happy in the moment. I love the crunch along with the salty, buttery flavor.
After I indulged, I didn’t feel any guilt for eating popcorn. In fact, I felt like I had satisfied both an emotional and physical craving. I was very self-aware of the food that I was putting in my body and why I was eating it. I didn’t label it as good or bad food. It was just food that I gave myself permission to eat sans the guilt. I did go on to eat a nutritious, home cooked meal for dinner at the end my popcorn and movie days.
Years ago I would have been really hard on myself for eating a “bad” food that has very little nutritional value. I even may have said that I was behaving “badly” for eating it. You know what I’m talking about because you’ve probably said it yourself. “I’m just going to be bad today and eat whatever I want.” When we label our eating behavior as good or bad it sends a message to ourselves that we’re a good or bad as a person. This sends us down the rabbit hole of “I’m not good enough to be healthy.” When we fall into this mindset, we tend to lean towards behaviors that don’t support our healthy habit intentions.
You’re eating behaviors are not a reflection of who you are as a woman or your ability to create sustainable nutrition and fitness habits. When you remain neutral with your food, exercise, and rest choices and are fully aware of why you’re making those choices you find a groove with your lifestyle habits. You’ll instinctively know when to indulge in treats and when to focus on nutrient-dense foods. Mastering this skill takes time, focus, and patience and you have the willpower to make this happen.
Next time you eat a meal, ask yourself these four questions so you can get a sense of how self-aware you are of the rational behind your food choices.