Latest / Midlife Glow Up: Simplifying Fitness, Nutrition and Healthy Habits for Women over 40 / 2: The 3 Keys to Health & Fitness for Women in Midlife

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2: The 3 Keys to Health & Fitness for Women in Midlife · Midlife Glow Up: Simplifying Fitness, Nutrition and Healthy Habits for Women over 40

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to the Midlife Glow Up Podcast, where we simplify fitness, nutrition, and healthy habits for women in midlife.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Joan Dandano, your midlife health and wellness coach.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: I help women simplify fitness, nutrition, and healthy habits to find clarity, build confidence, stay consistent in midlife and beyond.
• 0:21
  SPEAKER_00: Together, we'll build habits that serve you today and create the future version of you that you know you're meant to be.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: After three decades of lifting weights, prioritizing protein, and coaching hundreds of women just like you, I've learned that success isn't about the scale or the size of your genes.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: It's about how fully you live your life.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_00: Here you'll find strategies that actually work, systems that simplify, and a roadmap to help you turn intention into lasting change.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're ready to feel strong, capable, and confident in this season, then you're in the right place.
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_00: This is the Midlife Glow Up Podcast.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, my friend.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_00: I'm so glad you are here.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_00: Today we're gonna dive into three things that I get so excited to talk about.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_00: And these three things have the power to completely change how you feel in midlife.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: It's no surprise that these three things that we're gonna talk about today are fitness, nutrition, and healthy habits.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_00: These three areas work together, they become the foundation for your strength, your energy, your overall health.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_00: And they don't just matter today, they matter for tomorrow and all the other tomorrows that are coming down the line.
• 1:30
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have been feeling tired or stuck or unsure where to start, my hope is that this episode will help you refocus in on what really does matter.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_00: But before we dive in today, I want to do a little reflection exercise with you.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: So if you're driving, keep your eyes on the road.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: But if you are somewhere where you can close your eyes, I would love to invite you to close your eyes and just imagine yourself 10 years ago.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Where were you physically?
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: Like where did you live?
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_00: Where were you spending time?
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: What filled your days?
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_00: What did you worry about?
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: Who was with you?
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: What mattered to you 10 years ago?
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_00: And if you need more time, go ahead and just push pause and stay in that reflection for just a moment.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: But I'm gonna keep on moving.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: So what advice if you were to go back to that 10-year-ago self, what advice would you give her today?
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: I know for myself, I would go back and say, learn what boundaries are.
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: Stop trying to please everybody.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_00: Slow down and just enjoy these precious moments with your babies because they are going to soon be a memory.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: I'd love for you to spend some time there.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: So again, if you need to push pause, go for it.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_00: But we're gonna keep going.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: So now you can keep your eyes closed.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to imagine yourself, but now in the future 10 years.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_00: So 10 years from today.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: How old will you be?
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: How old are your children if you have them?
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_00: Where are you like physically?
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: Where are you located?
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: Where do you spend your time?
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: What fills your days?
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: And what do you worry about?
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: This 10 year from now self, if you were to like really imagine being in her shoes today, and she were living a strong, vibrant, energetic life, what kind of things would she be doing?
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: I know for me, I want to be playing pickleball, I want to be paddle boarding, I want to be hiking, I want to be traveling, I want to have energy and vitality.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: I want to be spending my days in ways that bring me so much joy and fill me up with their fulfilling experiences.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: So imagine, if you've still got your eyes closed, that future that future you, right?
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: What would she tell your current self right now?
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Would she tell you some of those things that you just imagined saying to your 10-year-ago self?
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, go ahead and open your eyes.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: I want you to think about right here.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: So we just spanned 20 years in your life.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so much changes across those years.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Your responsibilities, your relationships, your goals, your family, your friends, all of these things are always constantly changing.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: But there is one constant through all of those 20 years that we just imagined.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: And it's you.
• 4:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's your body, it's your mind.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: You are the common thread.
• 5:01
  SPEAKER_00: So this is why when I talk about self-care, I am not talking about bubble baths and pedicures.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: I am talking about the responsibility that we have as humans to care for this one precious body that we get to have so that we can experience this incredible life.
• 5:25
  SPEAKER_00: It is our job, but also our honor to care and protect and nourish and strengthen this body that we get.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: And when you learn that, when you shift from feeling like self-care is a guilty pleasure to feeling like it is a responsibility, then we shift from survival mode into thriving.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_00: And this is why our daily choices really do shape our futures.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: So we have to get super intentional with our habits.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_00: Those are the keys to creating the life that we dream of.
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: So there's a Harvard study that has been going on for over 80 years.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and it has concluded, I mean it's still going, but it what it has shown is that the real power to change our lives really does lie within our habits.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: So there's five basic behaviors that if you can get on top of these five basic things, it will add an extra decade of disease-free, healthy living to your life.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_00: And these five basic habits are number one, move your body.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_00: Number two, nourish your body.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Number three, maintain a healthy weight.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Number four, ditch the cigarettes.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: Number five, sip alcohol sparingly.
• 6:48
  SPEAKER_00: Dr.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: Peter Atia says, habits are the architect of our health span.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I love this because our health span matters so much more than our actual life span.
• 7:00
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you, but I want to live a long life, but not just for the sake of living a long time.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_00: I want to live well.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: I want to love my life.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: And in order to do that, I got to get really, really clear on which habits are important and then get to work on creating those habits so that I can create this life that I dream of.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Our habits actually determine how many good years filled with energy and mobility and mental sharpness that we will have.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: So I want to highlight today two game-changing habits, especially for us, women in midlife, after the age of 40.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's so important that we get on top of these two game-changing habits.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_00: So number one is lifting weights, and number two is prioritizing protein.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: These are not just going to make a difference physically, but they are also going to help us out mentally and emotionally as well.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_00: We need to fuel our bodies.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_00: We need to train our bodies.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_00: So these are the most powerful things, the biggest levers that we can pull in midlife to change how we age, how we feel, and how strong we become in every sense of that word.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: So number one is lifting weights.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: This is a non-negotiable in midlife.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: We must be prioritizing strength training in our schedules.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: And the science backs this up in so many different ways, but it's definitely going to help us prevent muscle loss.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's going to help us increase our metabolism.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: It's going to help with our mobility, obviously, our strength.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: Women see greater grains, greater gains in reducing mortality and fall risk just from lifting weights.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: One minute of exercise can actually equal an extra minute of life if we are focused on this particular habit.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: So when I say it's a non-negotiable, I don't mean that we have to spend hours and hours in the gym.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, two strength training sessions per week minimum can change the trajectory of your life.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: Our strength equals our confidence that spills over into every single area of life.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: I want to share just a little celebration of a client of mine.
• 9:17
  SPEAKER_00: Her name is Jan, and she lives in Arizona.
• 9:20
  SPEAKER_00: She is in her 70s and she works out with me in FitZone regularly.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: I would say three to four, sometimes even five days a week, because she's also doing recordings as well.
• 9:33
  SPEAKER_00: Just in the first few months of consistently lifting weights with me, she was able to increase her bone density.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: That is a really hard measure to increase.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_00: And she was able to do it in her mid-70s.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: That is so incredible, you guys.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: Let that inspire you.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, number two is prioritizing protein.
• 9:53
  SPEAKER_00: This one shift can completely change your energy, your cravings, and your ability to build your muscle and protect your bone.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_00: When we eat higher protein, we actually have reduced cognitive decline, better memory, our bone mass and our muscle mass is preserved.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: It is the most satiating macronutrient that there is, meaning the more protein we eat, the less snacky and the more satiated we feel throughout the day.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: After the age of 30, we actually lose from 3 to 8% of our muscle mass per decade.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: This means that in order to combat that, we need to lift weights and we need to prioritize protein.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: However, when I say prioritizing protein is a non-negotiable in midlife, I'm also not saying that you have to spend hours and hours in the kitchen in order to make that possible.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: We need to aim for about 20 to 30 grams per meal.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_00: I definitely recommend starting with breakfast.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: And think about building your meals around the protein first, then bring in the rest.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_00: When we focus on protein, the rest of the macronutrients, the carbohydrates, the healthy fats, the veggies, the fruits, they all fall into place.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_00: The difference here is when we think about prioritizing protein, we're not talking about eliminating or restricting or depriving ourselves of anything else.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_00: We're just saying we're going to focus on that particular macronutrient and let everything else fall into place.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, so I've laid it out.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_00: We need to lift weights, we need to prioritize protein.
• 11:30
  SPEAKER_00: Most of us know that, right?
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: Most of us are not struggling knowing the information.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: But where we struggle is the follow-through, actually doing it and doing it consistently.
• 11:41
  SPEAKER_00: And this is where habits come into place.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: Consistency beats intensity every single time.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: And midlife is actually such a cool place for us to be right now because it's our midway point between the younger self, the 10-year-ago self, who was frazzled and trying to keep up with the Joneses and doing so many things, but maybe not the right things, right?
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_00: And then we look forward to our future self 10 years from now.
• 12:09
  SPEAKER_00: And she is on the ground playing with her grandbabies and she is playing golf and traveling and doing all these amazing things.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_00: And she's saying to you right now, you are in the spot where you can actually make a difference.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_00: Like right now in midlife, we get to create the foundation from which the rest of our life is built upon.
• 12:31
  SPEAKER_00: So I'm here to tell you midlife is not the end.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: It's actually a turning point.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_00: And our habits really, really matter.
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_00: So how do we create habits?
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: That is the question.
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: And here's the thing: first, we got to identify where we have room for improvement.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: Okay.
• 12:47
  SPEAKER_00: So if you are not currently lifting weights or prioritizing protein, or you're doing them haphazardly but not consistently, then pick one of those, start now, start small, start simple, and then just repeat.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: The only way we can fail at this is if we quit.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_00: So my I will encourage you, you're not too old.
• 13:07
  SPEAKER_00: It is not too late.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: Your future self is waiting for you to show up today.
• 13:13
  SPEAKER_00: Imagine your 10 years from now self will either be super proud that you started or wished that you had.
• 13:23
  SPEAKER_00: So let's make her proud.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_00: Your glow up starts right now.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: In the next several episodes, I'm going to be going over my exact frameworks that I use with my clients to help them do just this prioritize protein and lift weights in a way that is simple and it fits into your actual busy chaotic life as a woman in midlife.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, you guys keep showing up, keep growing, keep glowing because your future self is depending on you.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks for listening, my friend.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Remember, progress over perfection and consistency over intensity.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_00: Follow or subscribe so that you don't miss next week's episode.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: And share this one with a friend who's glowing up right alongside you.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: Until next time, keep growing, keep glowing, and bye for now.