Staying Fit Beyond 40

Something happens right around the time you turn forty. Your body suddenly seems to change and you don’t feel as in control with your weight, health or energy. It’s as if everything starts to catch up with you or what used to work no longer does. When I turned 42 that is just what happened to me. My diet no longer worked to keep the weight off, my lack of fitness meant I couldn’t get my baggage into the overhead bins and I was feeling more pain when I moved. Added to that, my stress was making me too sick to function. I felt like everything was out of control.

I was fortunate and discovered a way to take back control, which changed my lifestyle, body and career. The answer wasn’t to do as much cardio as I could, follow restrictive diets or focus most of my time on strength training. That didn’t work, which might seem confusing. It seems to work for those who are younger. Yet overdoing anything or doing them to extremes after a certain age tends to backfire and take a toll on your body.

What works is a balanced approach to fitness that you can do consistently. The two key words here are balance and consistency. Consistency is what matters if you are going to succeed at getting and then staying fit, healthy and in control of your weight. Even if you are consistently just doing a little bit, you will be more successful than if you start and stop healthier habits and exercising.

A balanced approach to fitness feels so good you want to do it regularly. The emphasis is on variety, choosing things you enjoy, doing what feels good physically, stopping when you don’t feel well, and stretching yourself a bit without overdoing it. The way to start is gradually, focusing on what you know you can do and building your confidence with each success, knowing you can do a little more. What I learned is the more did, the more I could do and the more I wanted to do to improve my fitness and health. I also learned that because it was balanced, I could easily integrate the changes into my lifestyle and stay consistent. That is how I have been able to stay fit beyond 40 these past seven years and it is proving to be the answer for many others. How can you begin to introduce a balanced approach into your lifestyle?

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