The midlife healthcare revolution
Midlife wellbeing - so much more than menopause!
I keep hearing the phrase ‘sniper’s alley’ referring to the decade after we turn 50. A decade in which our health and wellbeing can come under stress. When major illnesses are likely to rear their head. Cancer, heart disease, diabetes…
If we can get to our 60s untouched by these, we’re in good shape.
The thing is, it’s not just a roulette wheel of genetics and upbringing. We can take some responsibility too.
Whatever midlife and the menopause experience is throwing at you.
Midlife is the optimum opportunity to care for ourselves well.
Read on for some of my top tips below….
Yes, we need to focus on the 4 pillars of sleep, nourishment, movement, and stress management.
AND working who we are and how we want to live our lives in the next stage of life.
Whether or not we take HRT we need to look after our hearts, bones, brains, and nervous system.
Exercise can hugely reduce our risk of all-cause mortality. I often go back to the Exercise the Miracle Cure report, written by the Association of Royal Medical colleges in 2015 as a motivation to keep moving!
Sleep, and stress management come close behind. Nutrition too. Restoring and healing us, rather than putting endless stress on our organs and nervous system.
But how do we fit it into busy lives, with fuzzy brains and aching joints. When we aren’t used to making ourselves a priority, and when, often, our attention to exercise and nutrition has purely been through a weight loss lens (not all, but many of my clients have to break up with their beliefs around this!)
In my role as carer for my Mum with Alzheimers, and with 3 other elderly parents in the mix (my Dad, step-Mum, and mum-in-law), and as a mum to teens, I need boundaries around my self care, clarity on what’s important, and resilience and bandwidth to cope with emergencies.
It’s not a magic pill, but a Mary-Poppins bag of resources to draw on.
But here’s a quick list of some super effective health-boosters in midlife.
Quit smoking. I think it’s probably the no. 1 thing you can do for your health, if you smoke. That probably includes vaping (less evidence on this at the moment).
Cut down on alcohol consumption. It interferes with sleep, stress, hormones and all sorts. We want our liver and kidneys working well (and you may notice that you have a more adverse reaction to it than you used to!).
Move regularly - it doesn’t have to be a hardcore workout or hours at the gym, go for a regular walk, find a movement class that you love, or where your friends will bring you along. Do something almost every day.
Support your sleep.
Hydrate and eat your veggies. Plenty of water, and veggies in all their forms - tinned, frozen, pickled, fresh from the garden!
Buffer your nervous system and stress response - do things that calm you. It could be meditation and breath work, restorative or yin yoga, tai chi, or taking time to yourself.
Spend time with people you love and cultivate the friendships that uplift and support you. Loneliness is very bad for our health
Have fun doing any of the above, or perhaps learning something new, getting creative in a way that suits you.
Create a vision for a future you, so that you can put in place some effective steps to get there. Getting older can be a positive experience!
If you’d like some help with any of these, I’d invite you to explore the following:
Come along to my next midlife energy workshop
Book into my seasonal energy programme
Book a quick call for a chat about what’s right for you.