If you’re a woman over fifty, you’ve probably realized that staying in shape is more difficult than it used to be compared to when you were younger.
Do any of these sound familiar?
- You’re not as active
- You’ve let your diet and nutrition slip
- You have certain illnesses or injuries that affect how you stay motivated to be fit and healthy
- You have no energy
- You can’t imagine what it would be like to be fit
A few years ago, I was an avid runner. I ran races nearly every weekend when I could and was in tremendous shape.
Fast forward…
Life happened and I let my health and fitness not quite deteriorate, but more like sit on the back burner while I fit in short bursts of exercise and tried to eat nutritiously as much as possible. I gained weight. I had illnesses and injuries preventing me from running. My joints ached, my stomach rebelled with SIBO, digestion and gallbladder issues. I just didn’t feel like committing to my health and staying in shape because it felt too hard!
So many women over fifty are not fit and not that healthy. Most people our age are on at least 5 different medications (I’m on none).
One of the contributing factors to losing some of my “mojo” was dealing with an empty nest. I was a stay-at-home mom who felt incredibly lost (and incredible loss as well) after my kids left. I needed something to fill that hole.
A few months ago, knowing I wasn’t going to be taking up a running regimen, I started looking for workouts on YouTube for women over fifty.
Every morning, for 30 minutes, I would find a workout – or two! – and do it. There were a lot to choose from – and some of the instructors and workouts I really enjoyed – but I found some issues:
- I had to modify the workouts because of bursitis in my hip – and being over fifty I was not into burpees.
- I liked the instructor, but many aren’t trained in fitness so I questioned the effectiveness of the workout and exercises.
- I got bored easily with many of the workouts.
I lost some weight, but plateaued after about 5 pounds of my goal weight. Frustrating!
Then, I got Covid a month into the new workout regimen. I was really sick, lost my appetite for almost a week, then lost my taste and smell. That was when I lost the rest of the weight.
Question then was: How do I maintain this weight loss and create a healthier lifestyle?
I then started immersing myself in the fitness and health. As an Executive Director of a natural health non-profit for almost a decade, it made a lot of sense that I would naturally be drawn to this topic.
I read a book, Younger Next Year for Women (Click the link to purchase the book. Please note that I am an Amazon affiliate and earn a small commission on certain products. This does not affect your purchase price). The authors state that if you’re over fifty, you should be doing at least 60 minutes of low-impact, fat-burning-zone cardio six days a week. Gulp! 60 minutes! What?!
So, I doubled my workout time (which was 30 minutes), still choosing videos on YouTube each morning, and watched my heart rate closely to remain in the “fat-burning” zone during the workout. I did strength and resistance training 2-3 days a week as well.
Doing all of these different video workouts, I started thinking about doing workouts on my own. And…what if I recorded them for other women in our age group so they could benefit from getting in better shape, too?
I signed up for a Personal Trainer training certification program in addition to nutrition and group exercise instructor programs. Next, I wrote out workouts, focused on women over fifty – that are more modified but still effective exercises to keep women in our age group healthy and fit well into our elder years. I mean, we’re not really “burpee girls” at this point in our lives, are we? But, we can still be athletes. We can still be in tip-top shape regardless of our age.
This video is my first exercise video. I’m excited to share it with you!
If you’re looking for a low-impact 8-minute workout for your abs – that’s apartment friendly, no equipment needed, and no difficult choreography moves to memorize – this workout is for you! Do this 2-3 times a week and you’ll start to notice your belly fat melting away (it really helps if you pay attention to your diet and nutrition as well) and lose inches from around your waist.
Let me know in the comments what you think and what you’d like to see in future videos! Let’s get fit together, have fun, and you’re going to feel amazing – and fantastic!