I had the idea for Midlife Fitness a couple of years ago, when I started noticing changes in my body that I wasn’t crazy about. Namely, a new little “pooch” that felt like a small throw pillow in my lap when I bent at the waist. Not. Cool.
My workout routine was about the same as it had been for years (a lot of strength training and a little cardio most days of the week), and my nutrition habits were better than ever. So what was with my new little friend?!? I chalk it up to chronic, debilitating stress (AKA the end of my marriage) and peri-menopause. THAT means my approach to fitness had to change a bit … but that’s another post for another day (next week, in fact!).
For now, I want to talk about MidLife Fitness. Or rather, MIdLiFe Fitness (it looks way better on the tank top at the top of this post). I want to work with women in menopause to help them maintain (or acquire) a healthy, fit bod. And I want to acknowledge that “mature” women can still be sexy and fun and a little bit crazy (in a good way). Soooo, I capitalized the letters MILF in “midlife” to set the tone. (Google MILF if you haven’t seen American Pie and don’t know what that means). A dear friend liked the idea and made me a couple of tank tops for my birthday. My fave is the black one pictured above.
WELL! This little tank top did NOT go unnoticed. Half of my older clients and friends understood what I was going for and wanted to place orders for their own shirts ASAP. The other half … well, not so much. They found it borderline offensive. Maybe even anti-women. A couple of friends asked if I actually see the term MILF as a compliment. And I have to say the answer to that is … Yes!
To be clear, the F in MILF is crass. But frankly, it’s a word that I’m more than a little familiar with, given its prevalence in music, movies, cable tv and everyday conversation. To me, the term MILF describes an older woman whose strong, sexy, sassy self flourishes in the face of what used to be OLD. A MILF is timeless. She’s active, she’s engaged in what she cares about, and she takes care of herself. She has a sense of fun and adventure, she’s open to learning new things, and (I’ll say it again) SHE TAKES CARE OF HERSELF.
Our bodies may start to show signs of the wear and tear of a full life, but we can still maintain (and build!) muscle tone with strength training. We can control fat gain with good nutrition and plenty of sleep. We can hold on to a sense of well being with effective stress management. On top of that, all of those techniques are great your overall health, and they produce energy, confidence and a good mood. They may even get you IN the mood!
Some of the strategies we used back in the day to keep body and soul together don’t work any more (thanks, HORMONES). That doesn’t mean our days of fabulousness are over though … it just means changing our approach to fitness and fat loss. Stay tuned for tips on that front. Fit body, fit mind, fit spirit … MIdLiFe Fitness indeed!
Carolyn ❤️