Category: Daily

The secret to feeling re-energised, resilient and strong is to ignore all the marketing that promises to unlock that secret for you.

Instead, focus on doing the boring work that doesn’t lend itself to great marketing.

-J

I got this message from a client this morning:

In the 12+ years that I’ve been coaching, I don’t think one woman has ever stated that Saturday dancing with heels is one of their goals.

Yet, you’d be surprised how frequently dancing comes up during Monday check-ins. And I always think it’s such an awesome unintended consequence of getting strong. Which brings me to this:

I am taking on 5 new online coaching clients this week. Are you a tired mumpreneur over 40 who:

• Wants to reclaim your energy and strength slowly and sustainably
• Juggles business, parenthood and about a gazillion other roles and responsibilities
• Gives zero f*cks about having abs and doesn’t want to focus on weight loss
• Wants to feel strong and full of energy in the outdoor activities you love doing
• Is willing to carve out 60-90 minutes a week for the next 16 weeks to reach your goals

I can’t promise you will reach all your health and fitness goals in four months, but I can guaranteed you’ll:

1. Wake up feeling rested on most days, with your energy levels being 8/10.
2. Finish most days with your energy levels being 8/10.
3. Reach your personal fitness goal. This could be a specific “event” you’re looking to do in 16 weeks, such as a hike, cycle, run, or an active holiday with the family (not the in-laws – there are limits to what I can promise). It might also be an improvement in how long/fast you can walk without feeling like dying, playing tennis pain-free, or keeping up with your kids without feeling like you can’t.
4. Be able to dance on Saturdays without feeling sore for two days.

I will guarantee those results in 16 weeks. Or, I will work with you as long as it takes for you to reach those goals for no additional cost to the initial payment.

If reading that makes at least two of your neck vertebrae sore from vigorous nodding, hit reply.

And we’ll schedule a call to see if my coaching program would be a good fit.

-J

ps. Need more convincing? Here are a bunch of past and current clients who’ve achieved all kinds of awesome things.

Society, media, cultural norms, and historical perspectives set unrealistic expectations and stereotypes for women in their 40s and 50s.

Ageless beauty. Slim physique. Flawless skin. Toned body. Luscious hair. Perfect balance between motherhood and career. Wear clothes that don’t make you look too old or too young. Hide any signs of menopause. And do not let the gravity affect your butt or bust.

And I probably missed another ten or so that I don’t know about.

These expectations are often further perpetuated by industries that benefit from women feeling insecure about their natural aging process.

While there’s nothing wrong with wanting to look or feel a certain way, it should be for personal reasons rather than societal pressures.

-J

When I dig myself into an Instagram rabbit hole of muscular men, I still sometimes feel that I am not good enough. Not having arms that break my sleeves, abs to grate cheddar on, or the chest to break coconuts with.

All of this despite:

Putting years of work into realigning my values away from how I look and towards how healthy, energetic and strong I feel.

Blocking my social media feeds and unfollowing people and accounts whose content makes me feel inadequate.

Eventhough achieving the perfect body doesn’t fit into my values. I am simply not interested in putting in the work or the discipline to get or stay there. I rather prioritise other parts of my life.

And still, I sometimes find myself in these holes, yearning for the perfect body.

When I feel inadequate about how I look, I have a short dialogue with myself to climb out of the hole:

My emotional brain: “I wish I’d have arms like that.”

My logical brain: “Does the way my arms look impact my goal of being healthy and the best possible dad, husband and creative person I can be?”

My emotional brain: “Fuck. off. Why can’t you just let me dwell on this?”

My logical brain: “Because it’s pointless and doesn’t align with what matters to me.”

My emotional brain: “Ah, you’re right. Having big arms makes zero difference in me being the person I want to be.”

My logical brain: “There you go. Let’s go watch Rick Beato on YouTube.”

My emotional brain: “I love Rick! What’s for lunch anyways?”

As much as we try to curate our environment to support our values, we can’t control everything. Having a dialogue ready when emotions take over helps us overcome these feelings of inadequacy.

-J

You’ve tried it all. Meditation, breathing practice, therapy, cuddling a dog or other animal before bedtime, and you still struggle to fall or stay asleep.

But have you tried increasing your daily physical activity?

I don’t mean just doing more workouts (although that can help too). But by going for walks, bike rides, lunchtime strolls around the block, gardening or chasing the kids (ideally yours).

Pretty much any activity that increases the energy you burn throughout the day. And especially the activities that get you out of the house and into the great outdoors.

A well-moved body often leads to a more peaceful sleep.

-J

Those two are sarcopenia (muscle loss) and osteopenia (bone loss). And both can be real bummers.

Sarcopenia begins subtly.
From 30 onwards, inactive women can lose about 3–8% of muscle mass yearly. With estrogen declining during menopause, the speed only accelerates. This means activities like walking and lifting heavy shit gradually become tougher.

Osteopenia is the precursor to osteoporosis.
It’s a condition that makes bones fragile. Women’s bone density grows until about the late 20s, plateaus, then around age 44, starts declining by roughly 0.4% annually. This rate jumps to 4.4% yearly during menopause.

Women naturally have lower peak bone density and a sharper decline rate, which makes you more at risk for breaks after menopause. Think of something really dicky like a hip fracture: it elevates mortality rates by 15–20% within a year post-injury.

But here’s the great news.
With a diligent strength training program and dialled-in protein intake, you can not only slow down the muscle loss but, in some instances, reverse it.

And, unlike we previously thought, recent studies indicate that strength training can actually increase bone density in postmenopausal women.

Say whaaaaaaat?! Get after it.

-J

If your goal is to:

• Improve your energy, both for your physical activities and life in general
• Keep or gain muscle to stay strong and keep your metabolism revving
• Sleep better
• Not feel like an angry parrot deprived of food

Here’s the “secret” to getting there: eat a satisfying diet (both in quantity and taste) that supports your goals.

Keto, fasting, small meals, Atkins, ultra-high carb, high-altitude-food-grown-on-sand diets might work.

But every body is different. And to say that one diet works for every woman is a hyperbole if there ever was one.

Still, the best diet for you will likely revolve around these three pillars:

1. Eat enough protein (around 1.2g per kg)
2. Eat a metric shit ton of vegetables and fruit (8 or more fist-sizes per day is ideal. But start with what feels doable)
3. Adjust alcohol and caffeine intake to whatever makes you feel the best.

Once you have those pillars in the ground, experiment with carb/fat ratios, meal times, and spacing to see what hits the mark.

-J

It takes a lot of willpower to resist the temptation in the moment.

Saying no to a third glass of Pinot. Saying yes to a workout after a long day at work.

It takes way less willpower to plan ahead.

Buying half a bottle instead of 750ml. Scheduling the workout as the first thing in the morning when you feel fresh.

Staying away from the challenging situation makes progress a whole lot easier.

-J

If you value the convenience of food but try to follow an elaborate cooking schedule to reach your goals, there’s a clash.

If you’re eating strict meals because they align with your goals, but you value the culture and connection around food, there’s a clash.

Let’s say you value feeling energetic in the morning, but the few glasses of wine each night make you feel lousy when the alarm goes off; there’s a clash.

Conversely, if you value socialising, wine tastings and organising get-togethers, maybe a moderate amount of alcohol could be a part of your plan.

What about exercise? Do you value performance so you can finish a marathon or complete a challenging hike? Or do you prefer efficiency so you can move on to other things with your day?

There are many ways to reach your goals. But things get a hell of a lot easier when your actions and habits match the values you hold high in your life.

-J

This week’s Fitt Insider newsletter had some encouraging facts on how little it actually takes to improve our health.

The TL;DR version? Anything away from zero, and we’re winning.

“It’s becoming more clear that even a few minutes of movement goes a long way. 

• Just 3.4 minutes per day of vigorous lifestyle physical activity (like climbing stairs or fast walking) led to a ~17% decrease in cancer incidence; 4.5 minutes translated to ~31%.
• 30–60 minutes of strength training per week reduces all-cause mortality by 10–17%, with additional inverse links to CVD [cardiovascular disease], diabetes, and some cancers.
• 20 minutes of physical activity yields a 43% drop in the risk of developing depression, while exercise was found to be 1.5x more effective than leading antidepressants.

Even the vaunted 10K steps per day rule is getting rolled back, with 2.3K steps improving heart health and 4K shown to reduce the risk of all-cause mortality.”

And for those of you in high places:

“…if employers encouraged their workforce to walk an extra 15 minutes per day (~2K steps), the global economy would gain $100B from improved productivity and life expectancy.”

-J