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| Monday, August 09, 2010 |
| Part 2 - Jody is Fit at 52! |
Last week, Jody from Truth2BeingFit shared the first part of her health and fitness journey. As promised, today Jody will tell you all about what she’s learned. Enjoy!
So…my “learning experiences” were:
First, the easy one…working out too many days. In my younger years, I just wanted to be thin, never fat again and feel better about myself (we know how being thin does not correlate directly with feeling better about ourselves! Lesson learned and still learning!). So, I would work out 7 days a week most of the time and most of those days, pretty hard core workouts, although I do work out more intensely now. It took me years to learn to take days off. Now I usually take 2 days off per week.
NOW, THE FOOD! I know I talked about this before but I feel we can never say it too much, especially for women to realize that eating is not bad for you!!! I am sure many of you have read that the food you put in your mouth is at least 75% of the equation for weight loss and that is very true! I still believe exercise is very important as well, but you have to eat to lose and perform. When I lost weight in my teens and in my 20’s to early 30’s, again, I did not eat right with that crazy notion that many of us had/have that eating less was best! NOT! If nothing else, please understand that eating too little and not enough of protein, healthy forms of fat & carbs/fiber will not get you to the place you want to be…You can’t live that lifestyle long term.
As I mentioned previously, in my mid 30’s, a guy in the gym asked me if I was interested in bodybuilding. I already was in love with weights BUT this was the beginning of true love! But with that, I had to relearn how to eat and it was a mental battle but I did it. I learned that eating more, eating the right foods and eating healthy fat was a good thing! I performed better and looked better! Mentally, it was a struggle, but I got past it and it was the best thing that could have happened in terms of food for me. I learned how to eat, how to listen to my body and make changes based on what my body was telling me; and I do that to this day. I am constantly re-evaluating if my body tells me there is the need for that. Yes, your body will let you know. Don’t be passive about this. Pay attention to what your body does and how it reacts not only to the food you put in it but your exercise as well. I am still making changes! I eat way more than that “1200 calorie a day (or less)” thing I was on way back when and I treat myself when I want to and don’t worry about it. Planning, consistency and making it my own are part of life for me. THIS IS A LIFESTYLE! I made a lifestyle change. I did not go “on a diet”!
The older I got, the more I learned and the better I was able to mold my body! I wish I knew then what I know now!!! Listen, as women, we know our bodies change through the years due to age, hormones and more. Men, you have your changes as well but not as drastic as women. A lot of people in their youth were able to stay thin eating what they wanted and then comes the 20’s to 40’s, depending on your body type & all of a sudden all hell breaks loose! You can’t eat what you want anymore, you gain weight and you never learned how to eat healthy and now you have to work at keeping the weight off…OH NO!
This is what I can tell you. As I aged, the more I learned and the better my body looked. If you eat right and work out, you can shape your body at any age. I did my first bodybuilding contest in my late 30’s and beat 20 year olds! YES, age will fight you in some ways and at some point in our 60’s to 70’s, we may not look like we really want to BUT we can look way better than if we did nothing at all and look great for our age!
I will be 53 in November and I am close to being in better shape than any time in my life. All this while working through, what is for me, the hardest challenges, body wise, in my life. Perimenopause has gone on for way too many years for me and I have had every symptom in the book MULTIPLE times. They come and go and come back! Trying to keep my body the way I want it to be has been VERY VERY HARD! Even with all I do, my body still wants to hold on to weight and extra fat during this time of life change. I fight it coming and going!!! I have had to lower my calories somewhat but I was eating more than most women my age already. I have had to change up my protein/carb/fat percentage make-up AND I have had to increase the intensity of my workouts.
YES, I work very hard at it. I have made the choice to do what I do to look this way BUT we all can look great in terms of what we want for ourselves! You don’t have to do what I do if you are fine with less muscle and a bit more body fat. It is all in what you want for yourself.
You are what you eat and do! Just remember that. If things aren’t working, take a hard look in the mirror and ask yourself if you are being truthful to yourself about what you are actually eating and doing.
Right now, I weigh close to if not a tiny bit more than when I was younger AND I wear a smaller size!!! YES, smaller than when I was in my 20’s & 30’s… and even 40’s! I do weigh myself BUT I use how my clothes fit much more as a barometer for how I am doing in terms of my body goals. I had to realize that the scale may say something heavier than my mind wants BUT I am getting smaller and the clothes say all is fine! :-)
Lifting weights and challenging myself gives me such a feeling of empowerment and strength! It is such a high to finish and say… my God, I actually did that!!! No matter how big or small a step, the challenge of it and doing it is a huge high!
My Thoughts on Losing & Maintaining:
I have been working out and trying to eat healthy for over 25 years plus. The one thing I have done is STAY CONSISTENT AND MAKE IT A LIFESTYLE CHANGE. THIS IS YOUR LIFE!!! I did not exercise and eat healthy for 2 weeks, give up for 2 weeks, come back for a month, leave it for a month come back and do this on and on…You have to make this a lifestyle change. I can honestly say that there was not 1 week in there that I went totally crazy. Yes, I may have planned for days off and fun times and vacations and treats, BUT I still stayed consistent with my fit lifestyle.
BE PATIENT! It takes time and hard work! It took how long to put that weight on…well, it takes even longer for it to come off. That is the truth of it. There will be obstacles and plateaus along the way. You have to work thru them and don’t give up!
Find a food and exercise program that works for you and fits your lifestyle! This is not a one size fits all thing. “Experts” like to tell you it has to be this way or that way. NO! In fact, my plan has changed many times through the years, BUT what it is all about is listening to my body and paying attention enough to know when it was time to make minor or major changes…OR life just takes a different direction OR you want to try something totally new…which happens to all of us. YES. I have lifted weights through all the years but I have done different things as well and it all is a way to make it my own. Not what the neighbor or friend or any other person is doing. Make it work for you!
THANK YOU SENSEI TEAM!! I hope to be able to say Jody Fit at 75 & older when I get there! :-)
Labels: Diet, Guest Blogger, Health, healthy living
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posted by My Sensei @ Monday, August 09, 2010   |
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| 3 Comments: |
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Thx so much again ladies!!!!!!!!!!!
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You are a true inspiration and I have no doubt you will be rocking it for decades to come:)
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you are a wonderful inspiration. i am 52 and never worked out because of health issues. now 21 years later, and i am doing better and would like to start a work out program...i was wondering if you had any suggestions on what to do and when...how long in a day do you work out and how often in a week?
what foods would you recommend?
i hope i am not asking too much from you...please forgive me if i am.
i appreciate how very busy you are.
i dont have the finances to join a gym or the support of my family. i am doing this all on my own...
would you be so kind to help me?
sincerely,
lorie
my email address is rockiescowgirl_77@hotmail.com
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Thx so much again ladies!!!!!!!!!!!