Did you know you can change your body shape & strength of your body . . . at any age?
At 54 years old, I feel healthier + stronger than I ever have!
At 35 yrs. old I felt skinny with no muscle tone at all.
Then at 43 yrs. old I felt bloated and weak.
Let me share with you how and why I feel better in my 50’s than I did in my 30’s and 40’s. . . and get ready for some giggles with my old photos below! It doesn’t matter your age or your body shape right now, you just need a plan to commit to creating an environment to help you be successful in achieving your fitness/health goals! It is never too early to begin or too late to start, as our bodies are perfectly designed to be fueled with healthy food & exercise to build strength.
I am turning 54 years old this week and I have learned with over 40 + years of exercising . . . then not exercising . . . to eating right . . . then not eating right; that I can change my body shape with the lifestyle that I live. Our bodies are designed to exercise, to strengthen our minds & muscles and to eat foods that replenish and nourish us. There is NO right or wrong body shape; but I know personally, I feel better when I am physically fit and strong and eating healthy. And I bet you do too!
Age is just a number!
I have heard over the years, ” I can’t change my body shape, or I am just too old, it is just the way it is.” Well, yes that is true to a degree. Your height you can not change. The structure of our bones & length of body parts, we can not change. But the amount of excess or insufficient fat and/or muscles our bodies carry, is completely up to YOU! I say this as encouragement, not discouragement.
You have a choice everyday if you will fuel your body with foods that give it the nutrients it needs for proper care. Do I eat healthy all the time or recommend you do the same? NO! I truly believe in living a balanced lifestyle! What is a balanced lifestyle? To me, it is taking more steps forward towards your goal and less steps backwards away from your goal. That’s it!
Can you change the shape of your body?
YES! But, you will not only change your body shape by the foods you eat, but also by the exercise you do. Are you ever too old to change it? NO! When I was younger, I would exercise, but I would only do cardio. I shy-ed away from weight training, because I was afraid I would look too big & manly. Cardio is a great form of exercise, not matter what type of cardio you do. But, the weight training is what truly changed the shape of my body. And the older I have gotten, the more weights I have done.
Link here for access to Fit Shop (Amazon) for easy purchasing or information on many FitFab recommended items!
I truly feel younger and stronger than I did when I was in my 20’s, 30’s and 40’s. As, I really did not start doing a consistent form of strength training until about 8-10 years ago. A big thank you to my wonderful husband who encouraged me and showed me along the way. Now I would love to encourage you too. That is why I made my blog with over 50+ workouts to help you build the body shape of your dreams!
A picture is worth a thousand words!
Let me show you a few of my old pictures. Wow, did I giggle quite a bit looking through some of my old pictures. Why did I walk out of my house in some of those outfits? And my hair has changed more styles and color than I care to admit! But, for sake of sharing with you my point about how you can change your body type at any age; we both know that a picture is worth a thousand words (or maybe a thousand giggles!).
Skinny & No Muscle Tone:
Get a hold of those shorts and not so sure about my hair either!!!!! I personally think I look too skinny here and I have no shape and/or strength to my body shape. Ok, I did have strength to carry my 2 babies around back then. But I mean the kind of strength where there are muscles and bones that are strong to support our bodies.
Did you know that our bones need weight-bearing exercises just as much as our muscles do? If not, both our muscles and bones become weak and fragile. Also, back then, I would eat a lot of salads and not much protein. Now, I try to eat lean protein (mostly through protein powder, eggs, chicken, fish & beans) at every meal. You need to eat protein in order to build, strengthen and replenish your muscles.
Fuller & Weaker Shape:
At least this outfit is better than before and my hairstyle is looking a little bit more fashionable. Maybe it’s because the kids grew up and I actually had time to get myself together before heading out . . . or not! I found that during this period of time, I was very busy taking care of my family and sometimes I would eat much of the same food my kids would eat. (Kraft Mac & Cheese anyone………???) I would still exercise, but again cardio only; and I was not burning enough calories for the food I was eating. I felt bloated and puffy a lot and not very strong.
Healthy & Strong
At 54 years old, I feel the best I have ever felt. Age is truly just a number, don’t let age become an excuse for bad habits when you are young or an excuse to let yourself go when you’re older. The effort you put into or not put into your body, is exactly what you will get out of it. I eat healthier than I ever have. And I really watch, most of the time, what I put into my mouth. Yes, I still enjoy pizza and wine with my hubby and other not so healthy choices at times; but, it is usually saved for weekends or special occasions.
As for exercising, I still do some form of cardio on a regular basis. But, now I have focused on consistent weight training in my weekly workouts. The extra calorie burning + muscle strength/development from weight training gives my body a healthier + stronger feeling.
Don’t Wait!
Every day, week, month or year that goes by that you do not commit to living a healthy lifestyle, plus obtaining the body type you feel most confident in; the longer away you are from reaching your goals. As you can see from above, there is no magic formula or magic pill to take. It really is quite simple, we just tend to make things more complicated in order to reach our goals.
🔆Let’s live the FitLife together, so make sure you are subscribing to FitFabForever to get all the updates, motivation and inspiration to help you succeed!
Here is my personal & simple formula for success:
- Eat healthy for 5-6 days out of the week. I eat healthy most days during the week, but then I like to enjoy my weekends when Tom is home and not worry about what we are eating and/or drinking, but just enjoy! That is what I mean about living a healthy + balanced lifestyle.
- Exercise. Do cardio 2 times/week & strength training 3 to 4 times/week. Here is 50+ workouts you can do at home or at the gym.
- Regular sleep schedule. For some people this is harder with work or travel schedules, but do your best to get a minimum of 7 -8 hours sleep a night. Also, what helps me, is I go to bed almost the same time every night (but not on weekends) which makes it easier to wake up in the mornings. As I enjoy getting my workouts done first thing in the morning.
- Positive attitude. Everything begins in our minds and how we react to situations. Plus the mind set we have can totally dictate how we live our lives. This holds true for living a healthy lifestyle too. If you think you can do something; I promise you will be much more successful in reaching your goals and much happier in doing so. If you begin with a negative attitude and how hard something will be or how unattainable it is; then you will struggle to achieve your goals. So start off the day by looking in the mirror and loving the person standing in front of you and tell yourself that you will give everything you got to be the healthiest and strongest woman you can be!
” Loving yourself starts with liking yourself, which starts with respecting yourself, which starts with thinking of yourself in positive ways. ” – Jerry Corsten.
Christie, “your personal trainer to help you Get Fit & Stay Fit”
Loe the pictures……especially the older ones…….you look fantastic….but as mommy you always have.
Ah thank you . . .just following the best role model ever, my mom! 😘
Looking great girl. I will be 40 in a couple of years and I want to look the best I ever have.
Thank you so much! You already have the right mind set, so I know you will look awesome! 😘
This is encouraging and you look fantastic.:)
Thank you so much my sweet friend!