How to optimise your health as a 40+ female
I truly believe the 40’s are a pivotal time in a woman’s life, especially when it comes to health. Here are 5 things to work on as you approach or go through your 40’s.
Understanding your body (and hormones!)
Hormone fluctuations can start as early as 35 with hormones; progesterone and estrogen fluctuating in relation to one another. These have a role to play in menstruation, fertility and almost every system in the female body. The average age of menopause is 51 and menopause is defined as ’12 months since your final period’. But with perimenopause being as long as 10 years, your 40’s are a critical time to uplevel your knowledge about your body. Tracking your cycle and any related symptoms (physical and emotional) is a great way to notice any patterns (or lack of patterns!).
Stop dieting, start fuelling
Which means, bye bye to diet foods, living by calorie trackers and neatly dividing foods into “good” or “bad”. A fuelled body can train smarter, recover better, get better quality sleep, and free up mental space for life.
Build meals around:
Protein – building blocks for your body (and muscles) found in meat, fish, eggs, yogurt, cheese, nuts, lentils etc
Essential fats which support your hormones and brain function – nuts, seeds, olive oil, oily fish etc
Fruit and veg for vitamins and minerals and for fibre which keeps waste moving through your body. Fibre is also useful in avoiding constipation as hormone changes can make digestion more sluggish.
Carbs – strategic use of carbs depending on your training, hunger and energy You should not need to cut out an entire food group from your diet (unless done under medical supervision).
Train smarter and more consistently
A combination of strength and impact training can cover off maintaining or building muscle (which declines after the age of 30) and bone health. You do not need to spend hours at the gym.
Weights sessions at home using dumbells and kettlebells
Interval walking, incline and impact training to build cardiovascular fitness plus impact training helps improve bone health
Weights classes where there is an emphasis on progressive overload and building capacity versus only ever going 100%
Yoga and Pilates which develop strength and great movement patterns – especially useful if you don’t yet feel you want to lift weights.
If you tend to “fall off the wagon” take smaller steps to develop your exercise habit. Aim for 1-2 sessions per week to begin with and look at how you can make these happen. E.g. agree on childcare with a partner, block time in your diary, have exercise equipment under your desk etc.
Finally, know that there are weeks when life happens and you don’t exercise. That’s ok, you haven’t f*cked up! You take those small steps to return the next week, knowing that life happened the week before.
SLEEP!
Hormone fluctations, life stress, being switched on all the time, can all influence your ability to sleep well. But sleep is critical for supporting your hormones, managing hunger, having energy to do life and to recover from training.
To get better sleep, you may need to:
- reduce alcohol and/or caffeine or look at when you are consuming them
- turn your phone off earlier and leave it DOWNSTAIRS
- consider what you watch before bed
- look at when you eat – has your body been able to digest your food or are you going to sleep with a full belly
- have some strategies for switching off which may mean a few minutes journaling or downloading your day or reading a few pages of a good book
- have a consistent bedtime and wake up so your body knows its own body clock
Understanding yourself
This has been key as I navigate my way through my 40’s! As a former perfectionist, I can still be so hard on myself. But this is a decade that calls for a combination of self-compassion and personal leadership. This may be realising that you can’t do it all, or setting yourself realistic (versus impossible) expectations, learning to ask for help, saying no more, and putting your own needs higher up your to-do list.
How THRIVE 4.0 can help
THRIVE 4.0 is a coaching programme for women in their 40’s. It combines strength and power training, simple nutrition principles and gentle coaching so you can make long lasting change and optimise your health.
Want to be the first to try THRIVE 4.0?
I am running a pilot! This will be a 5 week course combining a weekly strength and power workout plus educational videos on nutrition, sleep and lifestyle. I have 5 spots available – click below to buy
Starts Wednesday 29th January at 1pm at Unit 58, Space Business Park, Plato Close, Warwick
THE PILOT IS NOW FULL – CLICK BELOW FOR 1:1 THRIVE 4.0 COACHING