Self Care Tips for Midlife Women | TBB Linkup
Self care for women of any age can be tricky as many of us have it ingrained in our head to associate self care with guilt. For me, taking care of my body and mind as I navigate through midlife has never been more important. God willing, I still have half my life to live and taking care to insure I’m taking care of myself both physically and mentally to make these years the very best possible is critical. Here are a few
Let Go of Guilt
Many of us are still raising children well into midlife and, well, as much as we love them they can sometimes suck the life right out of you. Add to parenting the daunting task of keeping the home fires burning with your spouse and you may find yourself with little or no time for you. We tend to skimp on the time we need for ourselves because we feel too guilty to be absent from the daily routine. What I’ve found, however, is it really makes me feel even more guilty when I completely lose my stuff with my family because I have not taken care of myself. So the first step to self care really is letting go of the guilt all the way around. Taking care of you has to be number one or you cannot be physically and mentally available for your family.
Get Physical
I read somewhere recently muscle mass peaks at age 40, after which point we begin to lose 10 pounds a decade of muscle mass. While we may associate being physical with our outer appearance, continuing to support muscle mass also helps to enhance memory and slow osteoporosis. Believe it or not you don’t have to get in the gym and totally lose your mind with weights to make a difference. Just 2-3 times each week of a workout with movements such as squats, deadlifts, overhead press and yes walking will help to build those muscles needed most to continue to support your frame. Like it or not, without continuing to build muscles your frame will become frail and eventually lead to problems with balance and such.
Feel the Feelings
We all know a good laugh is healing for the soul but have you ever stopped to think how often in a day you really let loose and laugh? Take the time to watch a movie, TV show or read a book which instills the warm feelings laughter can bring. Meet up with your girlfriends and share your life and laugh at the craziness of it all. The same can be said for the benefits a great cry can bring. Sometimes having a great cry will release so much tension you didn’t even realize you were carrying!
Feed Your Body Well
Midlife is not the time for some crazy crash diet. Now more than ever our bodies need good, whole, healthy foods and plenty of it. Trying to restrict your calories to lose weight will still work, but at the same time your energy level will suffer. I hear people say all the time they cannot give up “x” but honestly, if you gave yourself 30 days to give up something like sugar and replace it with only good clean food, the difference in the way it makes you feel would be enough to change your mind. I’m not saying you can never eat that perfectly warm chocolate cake with the extra scoop of vanilla, I’m just saying it should be reserved for special occasions and not an every day meal replacement.
Be Your Own Advocate
Fact is we will start feeling differently both mentally and physically in midlife as our bodies go through hormone changes and, well, just aging in general. What I have found is I must be my own advocate when it comes to seeking help to feel better. I have been seeing the same two doctors since I was 23 years old which is a blessing and a curse at the same time. While I know them well enough to bring up any symptom I’m feeling, I sometimes feel the fact I’ve never had many issues has caused them both to sweep my little complaints right under the carpet. Being an advocate for myself and continuing to push back has not been easy because I really do trust these doctors but at the same time I know if I do not push for myself who is going to? While I can accept there are some parts of getting older I will have to live with, I want to do the most I can to live as fully as I can.
Sleep it Off
My entire life I have been a night owl. So many times I have stayed up until 3am to knock out a project, to finish catching up on TV or completing a good read and I was still able to pull it together when the alarm buzzed. Those days, for me, are long gone. Without enough sleep I am toast. Not only physically but also mentally. My body tells me more than ever now when I need more sleep and I’ve finally learned to listen.
Drink More Water
Ugh, some things really never change right?! I may go to my grave with this being my biggest struggle in life (teasing, sort of). It is true, though, making sure we drink enough water will make a huge difference in the way our skin looks and the way our digestive system works and if you don’t think these two things are a big deal yet just wait.
Love Yourself
Meet yourself right where you are on any given day and just love yourself for who you are. Nothing has ever given me more freedom than letting go of all the preconceived ideas of who I thought I needed to be and just accepting who I really am. Finding the strength and courage to be yourself is a daily battle at times but you deserve to give yourself the same amount of grace you so willingly offer to others. Now, if you suck at giving grace to others too that’s an entirely different blog post. Ha!
What are you favorite self care tips? Share so we can all be better at taking care of ourselves.
