I turned 42. It’s weird to me how people make jokes about never aging past 35 or 40. I turned 42 years old and I am so grateful that I made it another year. I will loudly and proudly state my age to anyone that asks. Why? Because I am still here! I am still here to love on my children and watch them grow. I am still here to adventure with my husband. I am still here to chase my dreams. I am still here, and I am still healthy.
The greatest gift in life to me is aging with health. Any year I am here with my health intact is a year I will celebrate. It is such a PRIVILEGE to be able to move my body. Not everyone gets that chance. People get the privilege stolen from them every single day. Every day, week, month, and year that I have my health, I will be thankful.
Here’s some things about health, wellness, and nutrition that I’ve learned over the last year:
- Insulin resistance and metabolic health are a real thing. I learned how to adjust my diet and lifestyle to support my metabolic health.
- What I eat impact my mental health more than I realized. When your metabolic health is struggling so can your mental health.
- Walking after every meal helps with insulin resistance.
- Sitting/being sedentary does not support long term health and well-being.
- Anyone can develop the discipline to avoid sugar and ultra-processed foods. If I can work stressful nursing shifts without indulging in the breakroom donut/cookie/cupcake scene, I promise, YOU can too!
- I had to swallow my pride and admit that I was wrong about nutrition for the last twenty years…that was a tough one.
- I was not locked into a body aesthetic that I struggled to accept. I was able to change it by fixing my metabolic health.
- Fasting, whether intermittent or longer, can change the game of health.
- Making healthy lifestyle changes can be really lonely. My family was not the most accepting/supportive in the beginning. I stayed the course. I didn’t waiver from my goals. I led by example, and now my teenage children have stopped eating sugar! Their ultra-processed/packaged food consumption has dramatically decreased as well. It makes more work for me, because they struggle with what to eat sometimes. They are breaking those habits of reaching for a packaged snack and are eating with more intention. It takes a lot of help and guidance from me, but I couldn’t be more proud of the efforts they are putting into their overall health and well-being. I hope they just continue on this health and wellness journey as they get older.
- The greatest lesson I was reminded of this last year was how fragile health and wellness can be. It can be taken from you in a second. Your whole life can change for the worse in the blink of an eye. People have said I am being obsessive with my diet lifestyle change. I DON’T care. I will do whatever I can to support my body and health for as long as I can. You will not ever see me in the doctor’s office thinking, “I should have done better”. I am doing the absolute best and most that I can to ensure that I live well for as long as I can. There are so many variables that I can control. I don’t regret cutting sugar and ultra-processed foods out of my diet. I don’t regret cutting alcohol out of my life three years ago. I don’t regret making time to strength train. I don’t regret avoiding the breakroom treats. The only thing I regret about my nutritional journey, is blindly following what I was taught as a child and adult by misinformed people. I regret that I wasn’t able to find the root cause of my health issues sooner. But, now that I know, I’m never going back.
I hope you are able to celebrate your next birthday with the knowledge that you are taking the steps to better your health and wellness. There is no greater feeling than knowing you made it another year with your health and wellness intact.
Every healthy year is the greatest gift you can receive. Embrace it! Say your age proudly. Not everyone gets to…
XO, Blaire
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