Fighting fit at 50 - Marion's story

I looked at myself in the mirror as I approached 50 and saw my body literally changing shape in front of my eyes.

I thought oh no, if I don’t make some changes now I will end up looking like my headmistress did – which was rather ghastly! I wasn’t going to let that happen to me.

So I decided to make some changes in my lifestyle to try and steer the changes that were happening in a direction I would prefer them to go, that I would benefit from, rather than say once again, “It must be my age.”

Women do this all their life, accepting the inevitable appearance of periods, breasts… We can’t do anything about those particular issues, but appearance and menopause we have some control over because they can be altered by things like our diet, which we’re in charge of!

When I looked at a photo of me and had the reaction, “That can’t be me!” I realised I have looked at others in that way and thought why do they let themselves go? They could do something to help themselves! Well, that won’t be me, I thought. I am not going to allow myself to turn into one of those middle-aged, frumpy types without at least putting up a fight…

This was the Battle Plan I drew up:

Exerise

Walk at least 3 miles per day, either:

• Walking to work
• Walking home from work, or both
• Walking at lunchtime with colleagues – never mind the weather, get out, get fresh air, feel better the rest of the day

I invested in a good waterproof jacket and some wellies – just in case!! I couldn’t believe how easily this small change made me feel fitter, brighter, and lighter. And my skin became softer and had a healthier glow. We inspired other colleagues who also began to walk at lunchtime and feel the benefits.

A skipping rope and a hula-hoop are a great idea too, as they can be used in the garden or indoors, depending on the space you have. My neighbour is now used to seeing me jumping up and down skipping, or cycling on my exercise bike in the garden. (In the winter put it in the garage or outhouse, then you can still go outside, get some fresh air, play your music and sing without disturbing those indoors!)

I started running, which wasn’t difficult at all, to my surprise. I ran as far as I felt comfy with, stopped and walked for 5 minutes, ran again and so on. I stuck to same route and eventually I noticed how I was running further before that first stop, and one day suddenly I was running it all.

I use stairs all the time: ban lifts from your mind.

Diet

I decided to join a weight loss programme that would suit my lifestyle and which was easy enough to follow:

I found these tips really helpful:

• Stop the snacking and the late night dinners – regular meals and healthy snacks were key

• I swapped my 12 inch dinner plate to an 8 inch plate

• I ate my meals slower (putting my knife and fork down between mouthfuls), so I took the same length of time to eat as everyone else around the table, which meant I chewed my food longer and digested it quicker and better. I noticed my son slowed down his eating too, as he realised he would be sitting there until I had finished, so he might as well!

• I kept a food diary of everything I ate and looked back at the end of the week and felt good about how it looked. This is easily done, and, if you can, take a photo on your phone of your dinners so you can flick through when making up your shopping list and the healthy ingredients are there in front of you to add to your list. Have a comments section in your diary and write in how you felt after a particular meal – full, bloated, satisfied, still hungry – and change the meals accordingly. Swap the fish and chips to fish and salad; have baked potato instead of chips with chicken; make healthy soups – cream of cauliflower is just as nice with low fat soft cheese blended into it instead of the cream. Add a spoon full of curry power, to spice it up a bit.  Images of unhealthy food may look appealing but the entry you have written in your food diary will remind you how you felt later in the evening or during the night when you can’t sleep on a full stomach. Try new recipes and take photos – show them to friends and encourage them to try too, and then you can compare notes.

• Put your unhealthy foodstuffs on the top shelves of your cupboards – you will think twice about going to get a chair to stand on for that quick fix (so will everyone else in the house, which is no bad thing). I have a spare fridge in my hut and all treats were stored out there. I thought twice about going out in the rain to the bottom of the garden, or venturing out in my pyjamas when the neighbours were out and about. Create your own snack drawer or shelf with healthy treats and tell everyone not to touch!

• Put a fun-size chocolate bar in the freezer, and if the urge for chocolate comes on it will be twice as nice cold and last twice as long if it’s frozen!

• You are more likely to overeat while watching a long movie or reading, as you’re not focussed on what you eat, so try frozen grapes or other frozen fruit, which do limited damage. An ice lolly is more refreshing than a bar of chocolate too

• Tangerines are my great standby – you will always find one in my handbag or drawer, ideal for when you get a hunger pang.

• Try one new healthy piece of fruit or veg a week, those ones we walk by in the supermarket and think – what on earth is that, how does that taste, how do you cook that – find out!!

• Put leftovers straight into the food recycle bin or a container to freeze – encourage the family to clear their plates into the recycle bin too. I am sure I am not the only one who picked at the leftover chips!!

• Try making your own curries and, instead of rice, grate a raw cauliflower and steam it for 5 minutes – reduce the calories but not the nutrition or the taste

• Weigh yourself at the end of the week – write it in the diary, give yourself a star if you lose something, and a wee treat

Clothes

Clear out the wardrobe as you loose the pounds – don’t keep putting the same old “big” clothes on. It took one of my colleagues at work to tell me one day, “Get rid of that outfit it’s far too big for you”, to make me realise that it had been one of the outfits I wanted to slim into!  

Buying new clothes becomes a treat as you achieve your goals. You can buy yourself another reward from the money you are saving on all the takeaways and expensive ready meals.

All these strategies have helped me loose 15lbs so far, making me feel really good about myself, when I might have been miserably accepting negative changes as ‘inevitable’.

While I was going about my ‘Over 50 plan’ another inevitable happened and the menopause struck. Gosh, another challenge.

Now, instead of being awake with a bloated tummy and indigestion it was the night sweats and mood swings… but if you can tackle one thing then you can tackle another – there are plenty of ways to solve these problems, and I know a woman who can help me!