A Sturdy House or a Pretty House?
Would you rather build a sturdy, strong framed, house to live in or an outwardly pretty house? The pretty house may look good from the outside, but maybe not solid building materials are actually holding it together. It may be a matter of time before it begins to crumble: from the inside. Where would you invest your precious time and energy?
I can’t know your response but, I would like to believe you would want a sturdy house. At our age we have less years in front of us, more behind. We want to make them quality years, preserving our independence, feeling strong, powerful, secure and capable in our bodies-our house. We can have these things by taking steps to keep our bones and skeletal muscles -our frame-strong to withstand any “bad weather” that comes our way. We also want our house solid enough to enjoy fun times, doing the things that give us pleasure…hiking, cycling, playing with grand kids, walking on the beach and more.
Women have been programed to focus on our exterior from a young age, it was about being thin, small. We should live in a tiny house, that was the goal. With that goal in mind we did/do crazy, unsustainable practices, investing ridiculous amounts of time and energy that leave us unhealthy, tired, and often right back where we started, if not even further from our desired experience.
We were, or still are so focused on being thin, little did we know how our practices were interfering with our metabolism as it became wonky, as our bones and muscles, taking the hit, were growing weaker, brittle and shrinking. We were, and still are, lead to believe there is something wrong with us if we are not thin. Leading to more aggressive, unhealthy dieting, not eating, and aggressive workouts to become thin. Little did we know what was happening to our insides since it was primarily about the outside. Trapped in a forever loop. We forget to tap in to how we feel from the inside out, as the emphasis to only focus on outside appearances is prevalent. How pretty is our house? Not how strong it is.
Not until we are older do we learn about the inside of our house-our structure, our bones - which becomes even more important as we age. If we are lucky we become aware with a dexa bone scan, as opposed to a bone break after a fall, or hitting a pickle ball, that we become aware of how solid our interior really is. Yet there is more, our muscle is also important to how strong our frame is. As older women we are all very familiar with osteopenia and osteoarthritis, but how familiar are you with sarcopenia? Which is the loss of skeletal muscle mass. It starts in women in our 30’s. If you have not been addressing this muscle loss by countering it starting in your 30’s, can you understand how much skeletal muscle you likely have lost by the time you are 50, 60, 70? This skeletal muscle is so important to holding our insides, our frame together! Skeletal Muscle helps to protect us in a fall. Bottom line, both strong bones and muscle are needed.
Begin today, begin to make a mind shift to focusing on the inside-building muscle and bone by eating, eating balanced macro nutrients (protein, carbohydrates, and fats), making strength training the priority in your fitness plan. And please toss the scale.
Do a bit of self reflection in answering this question:
Where are you investing your precious time and energy in your final years on this planet?
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