Strong at Sixty ….

I turned 60 last week. Milestone birthdays are a big deal, right? The pressure to look back, evaluate and perhaps change things up. That is where I was headed.

Let’s back it up a few months more than that.. Early 2025.. after a few years of being at my ideal weight the scale started creeping up. So like most people I thought.. I’m turning 60 in July, I’m going to set a goal to get back to my target number by my 60th birthday. No problem. I had been a bit lax in paying attention to what I was eating so I figured I could just be more diligent, do the things I’ve always done and the weight will come off right – wrong.

After getting “focused” I actually gained a few more pounds which will not come off.. It’s not about calories in/calories out. I definitely burn more calories than I consume consistently. I work out 5 or 6 times a week, sometimes double sessions, I eat healthy 80/20.. maybe 75/25. My diet is not made up of junk food, I love vegetables and fruit. I eat mainly healthy carbs and good proteins. I get good rest, I drink a decent amount of water, but I probably should drink more. I am not starving my body either, so it is not “holding onto calories” for lack of nutrition. It seems that hormones changes  and the impact on our metabolism as we age has caught up with me and no matter how many ab workouts I do, over my very strong core muscles, there is this bloating and belly fluff.

It actually pisses me off quite frankly. I’m putting in all the work and the weight is not coming off, but more importantly, the belly bulge is winning the battle. The weight is not impacting me physically, only sadly in my mind.

It is not hindering me from participating regularly in physical activities I love, kickboxing – over 1000 classes in the books, hiking, paddle boarding and recently canoeing in a downpour furiously trying to stay in front of the black clouds that were forming all around us producing claps of thunder somewhere in the distance… but I digress.

So I decided a few weeks ago to remove the goal of weight loss by my 60 birthday. I didn’t want it to be a “thing”.. Crazy isn’t it that the potential exists for us to ruin a perfectly wonderful occasion because of a perceived imperfection. It really is a vanity thing at this point.

The featured picture I chose for this blog was taken last week on our 60th birthday trip (hubby will be 60 in 3 months too). I didn’t share it with the rest of my photos as I thought it made me look thick. Right now if I refer to the BMI chart, I am overweight! So that can’t help but mess with your head. Even when I know I’m not fat, I do not dislike myself or feel badly about myself, there is this little nagging, but the numbers say…. AND my eyes went right to my midsection and I went “ugh”. Truthfully, I am really annoyed that all the care that I put into my well-being is not producing the results I am seeking.

Feeling frustrated with traditional methods I actually tried that mushroom coffee stuff. A friend gave me a bag she didn’t use; I understand why now.. and while yes I definitely felt a little extra energy when I drank it, nothing else happened. And honestly I knew it wouldn’t but what can I say, I had to at least try it right? I am not ready to give in to the whole there’s nothing you can do woman of a certain age bull…

Tuesday morning I hopped on the scale recorded my numbers and took my measurements, and that is my starting point. I will take it week by week and make changes along the way. I am not aiming for thin, my goal is trim and strong. I am determined to reduce the spare tire my eyes find first out of habit. Also, I don’t want milestone birthdays or any birthdays for that matter to be about looking back, wanting to fix or change things. They should be about  reminiscing and embracing memories. 

I know I’m not alone. If you have thoughts, ideas, tried and true suggestions, words of encouragement, please share them with me!