Back when kids still played in the street, my sisters, cousins and I spent hours racing down to the end of that dead-end. In my memory, I was fast. Really fast. I would also say I won all the races. And while my memory of my win/loss record is sure to be called into question, (see I’d forgotten about that for more on my awful memory), one thing I do know for sure is that I loved the way I felt when I was running.  Unfortunately, I wasn’t confident enough at the time to transform that love into joining the track team or even taking running up as a hobby.

Fast forward 25 plus years and I still love the feeling of running.

When I imagine doing it.

In my mind.

Because when I’ve actually tried to do it, the feeling I get is not the same as the one I got years ago.

Running down that dead end street as a kid I felt fast, carefree and like I could run like that forever.

Now when I run I feel…my right hip, my left knee and the chafing of my construction grade sports bra against my back. *Sighs*

A younger cousin ran for a while and wrote about the hip pain she felt that led her to give up running. I now understand. And the truth is, no matter how much I want to run, me, on all fours (crying) on the corner of “bless her heart” and “she just wouldn’t listen” is not a good look. And not good to look at.  And hollering at the local hotties while sweating in the fetal position on the sidewalk is no way to meet a man.  Not one with teeth anyway. Trust me.

This is not to say that women runners in their 40s and beyond aren’t tearing it up on the side streets of America. I know they are – the bright light of their fitness glory blinds me each and every time they whiz by me on my WALKS. Kudos to them and those aerodynamic baby pusher things that have them navigating through the streets of Oakhurst like they’re training for decathlons.

As for me, I’ll keep watching the runners enviably from the sidelines. In the meantime I’ve got my walking and I’ve found a new workout muse – Michael Jackson The Experience. Michael Jackson and I have been tearing it up on my Wii.  If enough of you ask I’ll even video a session so you can get a good ab workout from laughing with me while you watch. No, not really.  Image: Not me running – Source:Flickr: Emanuel Leanza “Eleanza”

What’s your fit-at-forty story? Share in the comment section or on our Facebook page.

I officially fell off the wagon, or as I like to call it, “the back of the food truck” somewhere in Birmingham, Alabama after a barbeque feast fit for a queen. Due to a meat induced high, the details are somewhat sketchy, but there was roasted corn, potato salad, grits, biscuits, sausage and cinnamon buns, and that doesn’t even include dinner. *Sighs*

Today, back to reality. And as 40 year old bodies often do, mine is reacting negatively to the meat parade that just worked its way through my system. I have no one to blame but myself though, so you’ll hear no moaning from me. Instead I’m stocking up on the veggies my body is now most certainly craving and drinking water like I just got out of the desert.

The 28 degree mornings in Georgia have thrown another wrench in my “the morning walks will save me” plan – Side note, yesterday I saw a guy jogging in short-shorts in blustery cold weather and thought “How dedicated. How inspiring. How stupid.” So I’ve got to come up with a plan-B workout that won’t have me in sub-freezing temperatures and won’t bore me to tears. Any suggestions? I can’t go into the Christmas holidays with a bigger surplus than I already have – that would be depressing.

So, how are you handling the holiday feeding frenzy? Share your thoughts in the comment section, or on our Facebook fan page.

Editor’s Note: On Monday I shared with you the fork in the road of my ongoing health/exercise/weight loss/fitness battles. Sadly, I’m no stranger to fad and starvation diets. But today I’m sharing a great post from Esther Kane on a better path to weight loss. As a social worker, counselor and “ardent anti-dieter” Esther’s take on dealing with unwanted weight gain in our 40s is enlightening, and she offers a softer, gentler way to achieving weight loss.

Balanced Weight Loss by Esther Kane

Normally, I try to avoid talking about weight loss, being an eating disorders therapist- it can be a touchy subject indeed. But lately, I’ve come to realize that there is what I believe to be, a balanced approach to losing a bit of extra weight if you really need to for health reasons. How did I come to this realization, you ask? Personal experience of course!

Turning 39 recently has brought with it much appreciated wisdom, calmness, material comfort, and settling comfortably into myself- all of which I prayed and longed for in my teens and twenties and for which I am forever grateful. However, the not-so-easy-to-deal-with aspects have included graying hair, wrinkling skin, downward pointing breasts, and alas, weight gain. All of these have come as a major shock as somehow, I guess I had thought I would be immune to all of the side effects of ageing. But no, Mother Nature would have me learn otherwise. And while I am working really hard at growing older without plastic surgery, botox, or other toxic attempts to extend my youthful appearance, the weight gain has been a real doozy.

As it turns out, our metabolism slows down increasingly as we age and thus, our ability to burn off excess fat. I have never been obese and even at my heaviest, would be considered ‘average’ for a woman of my age, shape, and height, but the extra padding was getting in the way of my twisty-turny poses in my three times a week hot yoga class and my clothes weren’t looking as flattering as they used to.

Being an ardent anti-dieter and having had a history of a severe eating disorder in the past, I decided there was no way in hell I was going to starve myself through a rigid food deprivation regimen. Instead, over the past few months, I’ve really worked on the emotional side of things- coming to terms with the fact that I am, indeed, ageing- and that my body will naturally change it’s shape and size over the rest of my life. This is a hard pill to swallow in our shallow thin-is-in society, but a reality to which we must all succumb to someday and which is totally natural and acceptable. Overall, I’ve made a lot more peace with this fact and have come to accept (for the most part) that I have traded a young, lean body for the wise, calm, and successful woman whom I have become which is something to be really proud of and grateful for.

Add to that, keeping up with daily moderate exercise- I love and do Bikram’s hot yoga three times a week religiously- more for the stress-busting and inner peace and calm it gives me than for the calories burned. And I’ve tweaked my already healthy diet a bit more in order to boost my metabolism and achieve overall good health. I am aware that the goal is not to be skinny (my body isn’t made to be skinny no matter how hard I may try), but instead, to try and stay at my set-point weight, where I look and feel my best. This set-point changes over the course of our lives as our bodies change so make sure it’s realistic for your current age and body type.

It’s taken me about four months to lose the excess weight I had put on, and I now fit into my clothes the way I did before I gained that extra weight and it feels really good. Slow and steady like the good ‘ol turtle does the trick. And there has been no obsessing, calorie-counting, or beating myself up along the way. I really feel now that the fact that I truly love myself and mostly accept who I am and the body I have now have made a huge difference. Perhaps there is an easier, softer, and gentler way after all…

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Esther Kane, MSW, RCC relocated to the Comox Valley over two years ago from Vancouver. She is in full-time private practise as a psychotherapist in Courtenay. Esther has over a decade of experience counselling women and their loved ones with a multitude of presenting problems. Her main focus is helping women to become free of barriers which keep them stuck so that they can become all that they dream of being. You can learn more about Esther on her website www.estherkane.com.

This piece was reposted with the author’s permission.

It’s ironic that just before the TMPRI, I’d decided that since so much of what happens to us in life seem out of our control – jobs, lay-offs, the economy – we should take ownership of the things we actually can control. Eating and exercising was at the top of my “Things I can control” list. Or so I thought. The next day I broke the record for the most embarrassing knee injury story ever. Coincidence? I’m not sure.

Should I be reading anything into the fact that the day after I declare absolute control over something, I lose control over that very thing? Could it be that we’re not in control of as much as we’d like to think we are? Or is the lesson one in learning to go with the flow and making things work no matter how many forks there are in the road? I’m leaning towards the latter. And so I’m starting a new week with the hope of  walking at least two pain-free days and eating healthy all seven.

I’ve been fighting this weight/health/overeating battle most of my life, and although there are times I get very discouraged – especially when I read about metabolism beating a hasty retreat at 40 – I realize that the only day I’m guaranteed to fail is the day I wake up and say I’m not going to try. So, fork in the road be damned. I’ll walk a little slower, do a bit of weight training as a commenter suggested, and see where this fork takes me.

Have you experienced any unexpected forks in the road? How are you dealing with them, and what’s the lesson you’re learning? Share your thoughts in the comment section, or on our Facebook fan page.

1. Remember those plank exercises for your core? Try watching a night of TV balancing on The Gaiam Balance Ball Chair. The chair provides toning and shaping for your core while helping to alleviate the aching back and legs that comes from sitting at a desk all day. It’s designed for people between 5-feet and 5-feet 11-inches tall, weighs 13 pounds and has a 300lb weight capacity. The Balance Ball Chair retails for around $80. Happy balancing!

2. Oolong Tea – This traditional Chinese tea has been shown to aid the body in burning fat. Oolong should be prepared with 180 to 190 °F (82 to 88 °C) water (not boiling) and steeped 3–4 minutes. Premium quality Oolong can be brewed repeatedly and, unlike other teas, improves with reuse.

3. Hot Stuff – Studies have shown that eating a single spicy meal can raise your metabolism by up to 25%, with the spike in calorie burning lasting for hours. Peppers like jalapeno, habenoro, cayenne and even just plain black, boost your metabolism by increasing your heart rate. One note, add the heat to healthy foods, I don’t think it helps much if you’re eating a heaping plate(s) of spicy pork.

4. Pasta – Well, some pasta. If you’re going to eat pasta anyway, why not eat the kind that’s high in fiber. I’ve been cooking with Ronzoni Smart Taste Pasta for a couple of years now and trust me, you can’t taste the difference. Each serving has 7grams of fiber and is enriched with Vitamin D. Click here to get a $1 off printable coupon.

5. A serving is in the eye of the beholder – A can of soda should be one serving, shouldn’t it? But it isn’t. Neither is a “bowl” of cereal. If you, like I do, consider a serving size to be whatever fits on your plate, that could be part of the problem. The Perfect Portions Digital Scale is a food scale and calculator in one. It lets you track the calories, carbs, sugar, fiber and sodium in what you eat, and just as importantly helps make sure you’re eating the proper serving size.  The scale retails at around $50.00.

Got a suggestion for a future Five for Friday? Send it to contribute@womenatforty.com.

Needless to say the whole incident put a monkey wrench in my plan to be fit at forty. I had finally found a morning rhythm, getting up early and walking anywhere from 2-4 miles daily. I was even at the point where I was, wait for it… enjoying my walks. And then this.

I wish I could say I busted my knee hiking, preparing for a marathon or secretly rendezvousing with my mystery man one night. I wish I could say that’s how it happened. You know what really happened? I got up to take a sheet of paper off the printer *hangs head in shame* That’s it. There was no earthquake while I was reaching for the paper, and my printer didn’t start doing something out of a Transformers movie. I just stood up.

In all fairness to me, I got up really, really quickly and did an intricate kind of Matrix move to reach the printer. Because you know, you can never pull a sheet of paper off the printer fast enough.

I don’t feel too bad though, a friend recently posted a picture of himself on Facebook wearing a neck brace. And while he did sustain his injury engaging in strenuous physical activity, his Facebook status sums it up, “I got all Evel Knievel on my mountain bike, but instead of the Grand Canyon, I attempted a speed-bump sized root in the Forest Preserve. The root won.” He’s also 40. Is this some kind of trend?

I hope to get back to walking next week. But why is it so much harder to get back into a thing than it is to get out of it? Nevertheless, I have every intention of doing it. I’ve only got 9 months left on my quest to be fit at 40, and I’m determined not to let the root win.

Read more about our plans to be Fit at Forty, in the Women at Forty’s Health & Beauty section. And if you’re on your own quest to be Fit at Forty, we’d like to hear from you. Email your story to contribute@womenatforty.com.

Five months after officially ending the challenge, I have (for the most part) stuck to healthier, more conscious eating habits. The $25-a-week budget looks more like $35 now, but still, the end result is that I’m much more mindful of what’s in the food I’m eating and where it’s coming from.

After years of yo-yo dieting, my metabolism is shot, and so the weight I expected to lose during the process has been slow in coming off. I’d imagined being “fit at forty” and celebrating my 40th several sizes smaller than I am today. But a friend reminded me that I’ll be 40 for an entire year, and so I actually have 365 days to become fit at 40. Despite the slow weight loss, I have for the most part maintained my commitment to eating only grass fed and cage free meat, poultry and eggs. There have been a few occasions when I’ve been out and frankly, the lure of jerked chicken (read “why did the chicken cross the road” to understand) overrode any question I had about the origins of my food. But those moments have been few and far between. I’ve also kept to my commitment to purchasing products that contain no artificial ingredients, colors or preservatives. That’s meant smarter snacking, a lot less eating out and an overall healthier lifestyle.

Finally, I’m moving more. For a while I was playing tennis on a weekly basis and taking belly dancing classes (more on that in a later post.) These days I’m walking several times a week, and a new round of belly dancing madness is scheduled to start in July.

My goal for 40 is to be fit, mentally, spiritually and physically, and despite a few bumps in the road, I feel like I’m headed in the right direction. I’ve been down this road before, but this time my 40′s are waiting ahead of me with the hopes and dreams I’ve held dear for the past several years. This road – the one of health and wellbeing – is the only road that will take me to the places I want to go. And for that reason alone, I’m determined to stay the course.

How’s your quest to be fit at 40 coming along? Share your story in the comment section, or on our Facebook fan page.

At the beginning of this year I set out with a lofty goal of being fit at forty. I was determined to reclaim myself – my health, my time, my goals, in pursuit of a more authentic me. It started with my $25 good food challenge and a change in the way I shop for and relate to the foods I eat. It also meant a return to a time in my life when I was healthier and much more active. Three months into 2010 and I’m finding out that the authentic me is lazy, whiny and a tad arthritic. Nice to meet you – me – whatever.

Instead of being encouraged by the fact that I got out there and played tennis for the first time in years, I was majorly disappointed that I’d allowed myself get that out of shape.  Instead of taking it one day at a time like I promised myself I would do, I immediately started doing the math in my head, figuring if a couple hours of tennis could tear me up like this, it would be years, not months before I get back into anything resembling “shape.” Meanwhile back at the ranch, my chicken withdrawals are getting more severe and business is slower than expected even though I feel like I’m working harder than ever.  My “reclamation proclamation” as I like to call it, is not going quite the way I’d planned. In fact, it’s been much easier said than done.

And then I remember I don’t have to do it all today – don’t have to make it through an hour of tennis like Serena, cook like The Barefoot Contessa, build an empire like Oprah or even be as sweet and understanding as Mother Theresa, in a day. At least not this day. Today I just have to figure out how to make these beans taste like chicken, don my ankle and knee braces for another hour of tennis, and get up the courage to make those phone calls that could help me and the business reach the next level.  And I don’t even have to do them all at the same time.

How’s your road to 40 shaping up, health, relationships and otherwise? Share your thoughts in the comment section, or on our Facebook Fan Page.

Editors Note:

Roadblock #1: Distracted Eating

I’m guessing you know what I’m talking about here. Who among us doesn’t “multitask” on a daily basis; especially while we are eating? I have noticed that in our North American culture, the preparation and consuming of food seems to be little more than an inconvenience in our stressed-out, busy lives. I, myself, have become particularly adept at eating while driving, which not only takes the joy out of a meal, but also is very dangerous. I liken it to talking on a cell phone while driving- a very bad habit.

How many of you eat while also doing the following:

• Watching television?
• Driving?
• Working at your job?
• Having an argument?
• Sitting at the computer?
• Walking?
• Talking on the phone?

You’re not alone! Here are some statistics:

• North American adults spend an average of 1 hour and 12 minutes per day eating, yet they spend between 2 ½-3 hours per day watching television.
• 66% of Americans report regularly eating dinner in front of the television.

Why should you eat mindfully?

You will eat less and get out of the habit of overeating

Americans have been gaining weight for quite some time. The most recent National Center for Health Statistics report found that 32% of all U.S. adults are obese according to the government’s Body Mass Index (BMI) classification system. By contrast, just 23% of adults were classified as obese in government surveys taken from 1988 through 1994. Government surveys also find that the increase in weight is in part related to an increase in calorie and dietary intake. In short, people are eating more.

• If the mind is focused on more than one task while eating, critical signs that regulate food intake may not be received by the brain. If the brain fails to receive important messages such as the sensation of taste and satisfaction, it may not register the event as “eating”. When this happens, your brain continues to send out hunger signals, increasing your risk of overeating.

• You will drastically improve your digestive health: Recent research has found that when our mind is distracted during a meal, the digestive process may be 30-40% less effective.

For homework, I want you to practice eating without distractions. To help you achieve this, here are my “top 10” strategies for mindful eating:

1. Only eat while sitting.
2. Set a place for yourself at the table with a placemat, cutlery, napkin, and a glass for a beverage.
3. Eat away from your work area- in a lunchroom, restaurant, or outside.
4. Eat with chopsticks- it will automatically slow you down.
5. Take a few deep breaths before you eat to calm and center yourself.
6. Chew each bite at least 30 times before swallowing
7. Give thanks for your meal and appreciate that you have food to eat.
8. If you are eating with others, avoid upsetting conversation over meals and instead, practise eating quietly and mindfully with the other person.
9. Turn off the phone at all mealtimes so you won’t be interrupted.
10. Eat at the same time every day for each of your three meals and make sure it takes you a minimum of 20 minutes to eat a meal.

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Esther Kane, MSW, RCC relocated to the Comox Valley over two years ago from Vancouver. She is in full-time private practise as a psychotherapist in Courtenay. Esther has over a decade of experience counselling women and their loved ones with a multitude of presenting problems. Her main focus is helping women to become free of barriers which keep them stuck so that they can become all that they dream of being. You can learn more about Esther on her website www.estherkane.com.

This article was originally posted on www.estherkane.com. It is reposted with the author’s permission.

For the past 3 weeks I’ve been able to buy healthy, whole, unprocessed foods, on a budget of approximately $25 a week. I promised to make my eating more about health and wholeness and less about carbs and calorie counting and I did. And, miracle of miracles, I have not stepped on the scale once in the past month. Was it a piece of cake? No. But it wasn’t that hard either. As is the case with most life challenges we undertake, I’ve discovered a few things along the way.

• For one, I’m very fortunate to live within a few miles of a farmers market, Trader Joe’s and a vegetarian food co-op. I’m very aware that being in close proximity to these places makes healthier, conscious eating, much easier. That realization is helping me not to take that fact for granted.
• Putting limitations on how much and what I could eat, made me much less wasteful and much more thankful.  I realized that, when it comes to food anyway, I’ve been confusing my needs with my wants for years. My “little” $25 budget is how millions of people live out of necessity every day. In fact, in most of the world, $25 a week for food is a luxury. Putting myself on a budget reminded me of just how blessed I am in that I have access to three squares and clean drinking water every single day.
• From as far back as I can remember I’ve allowed an over-emphasis on what and how much I’m eating to control my life. Calorie counts and fat content have become more important to me than where my food is coming from and what impact it will have on my health and the environment. At 39 1/2, if I don’t get a grip on that now, who knows when I ever will. Last week when I demolished those chicken thighs with 5 days left in the week, I was forced to sit with the fact that I do not manage food the way most people do. Getting a grip on what I should and shouldn’t do when it comes to food is key in my quest to be fit at 40.

The experiment might be winding down, but my revised way of thinking about eating healthier and more consciously is just beginning. At the end of the week I’ll update you on how my last week went and I’ll share my plans for moving forward.

If you’re involved in your own Fit at Forty challenge and would like to share it with our readers, send your story to contribute@womenatforty.com.