Healthy Habits For A Mid-Life Momma

I spent my 40th birthday on hospital bedrest pregnant with my soon to be born son. Fast forward to today and my bundle of joy is now a lively teenager. The years have gone by, and I will celebrate my 55th birthday in 2020. With age comes an expanding mid-section in my mid-life, I’d rather not mention.

This fact was unavoidable when I stepped on the scale on December 30, 2019. Thanksgiving and Christmas brought bountiful dinners and delectable desserts, which added many unwanted pounds. The number on the scale stared up at me. One that I’d never seen before. With my eyes wide open, I realized I had to take action.

Am I the only one in this dilemma? Somehow, I think not.

Within hours of this revelation, I went to the closest location, offering a weight-loss option I’d joined nine years ago and had lost 50 pounds. Now post-menopausal, am I able to shed the pounds and recreate the dramatic results I’d achieved before?

Time will tell.

Is your scale showing you never before seen numbers? Do you want to reverse the direction of the needle on the scale? What choices will you make in 2020 to change the tide and see a healthy new you?

Achievable Goals

Here are a few things I will focus on to achieve my goals.

1. Join a program to help track my food intake. I’ve been down this road before. The first time I joined a points-based weight-loss food system, I was extremely skeptical. The points were intimidating and overwhelming. However, the weekly weigh-ins surprised me when the weight started to drop off. The results on the scale sold me. Becoming aware of my food intake was key to this success.
2. Use exercise to gain results. Let me start by saying, I do not like to workout. Childhood asthma prevented me from running or joining any strenuous sports activity. I never got over this hurdle except for a brief time in my early 20’s. The question now is how to add in exercise to my life as an author, blogger and a special needs mom?
3. Answer: I joined a paid app called Do Fasting, which offers a workout option. Yes, I know, there’s that word again: workout. But the exercise sessions are fifteen minutes total and include warm-up and cool-down stretches. When the app suggests an activity I can’t do (planking), I move on to the next one. Once I lose weight, I hope to master the ones I skipped. The cost is a one-time fee of $29.99. A free app I downloaded today is called 7M workout. They offer a range of 7-minute exercises focusing on arms, legs, weight loss, no jumping, core, and beginner, to name a few. I’m excited to use this app for the variety it offers.

Healthy Tips For 2020

Along with being aware of eating habits and adding exercise, what other tips can offer great rewards to staying healthy overall.

Doctor Approved Weight Loss Tips

The folks from Eat This, Not That!, offers 25 Doctor-Approved Weight Loss tips in this article.

Here are the ones that resonated with me:

Get Adequate Sleep–Dr. Calder recommends 7 to 9 hours because a lack of sleep can increase cortisol levels and contribute to weight gain. Another article from Very Well Fit agrees.

They state: The strongest link between sleep and food intake came when researchers from St. Luke’s – Roosevelt Hospital Center and Columbia University in New York did MRI scans on people who had been deprived of sleep. They found that when people didn’t get enough sleep, they craved more junk food.

As a night owl myself, this is an excellent reminder not to sabotage my weight loss.

Eat More Eggs–I love eggs. Dr. Lustig says the protein from eggs is satiating and shares that your body spends more energy converting it to a metabolite that can be burned, which aids in weight management. Who is ready to eat more eggs? Me!

Feel Fuller With Avocados–Dr. Bhatia, the author of The 21-Day Belly Fix, says, “The heart-healthy unsaturated fat in a delicious serving of avocados helps me stay full, which keeps me from snacking too much. Avocados are packed with vitamins C, K, and B6, and have pre-and probiotics–keeping my gut-healthy!” That’s news to me. Pass the avocado, please.

Choose When to have your “cheat” meal – This is my favorite tip: Blasé Carabello, MD, Professor and Chief, Division of Cardiology at East Carolina University Brody School of Medicine jokes, “There isn’t a food I avoid entirely. One cheeseburger never killed anybody unless they choked on it. However, I do limit myself to one per month since the dish is high in heart disease-causing saturated fat and served in a processed bun made with refined carbohydrates.”

On occasion, fulfilling a craving rather than resisting it is a game plan I can get behind.

Last Healthy Habit

Another healthy habit started soon after my son was born and spent six months in the NICU. Hand washing. I became a believer in its effectiveness when my husband and I stayed cold and flu free for two years after our newborn came home from the hospital. I even shared my new found passion for keeping my hands germ-free on my blog.

What healthy habits are you planning to adopt in 2020? For me, I’m hoping many of these tips will help my mid-section disappear as I enjoy my mid-life momma years. Post your healthy habit tip below to help another mom out.