Confidence comes with age sometimes. It’s one of the great rewards of this time of life.
Maybe you’ve raised a beautiful family and enjoyed a successful career, and rightfully feel strong about your achievements and standing.
But for some, it’s easy to feel insecure about our bodies and physical activity – to feel “less than” others when it comes to exercise and health.
So, let’s turn that around and discuss how fitness builds confidence at any age, including yours.
Principles of Living Well
We believe in principles of healthy aging, inside and out. We know how hard it can be to feel truly confident in your own skin after 50 or so – and lost in a world that constantly overlooks you or says you’re past your prime. You start to tell yourself maybe you really are too old to exercise, or too overweight, or too… too… SOMEHOW not enough to maintain the strength, endurance and agility you need to live the life you want to live.
But here’s the thing. YOU ARE MORE THAN ENOUGH. And you have the power to break free from all that negativity, both from within and from the world around you.
Because this could be the best time of your life.
Fitness Builds Confidence
Fitness over 50 makes us feel better about ourselves, and it leads to further healthy habits and positive action. For instance:
- Improved body image: When we exercise regularly, we lose weight, build muscle, and decrease pain. This leads to a more positive body image and, yes, more confidence.
- Increased energy levels: Exercise releases endorphins, which have mood-boosting effects. We feel more energized and positive.
- Sense of accomplishment: When we set fitness goals and achieve them, even “small” ones, we feel capable, and we’re reminded that we truly can do what we set our minds to do.
- Improved mental health: Exercise improves mental health, reducing stress, anxiety, and depression. Your mood improves, and you feel better about everything, including yourself.
A Few Basic Tips
If you’re new to fitness, find an activity you enjoy at a location that’s convenient. Remember, we’re here to help you get going, even if the solution ends up being somewhere else – so come in and talk to us today.
Set realistic goals, reward your successes, and either bring a friend, join our group training, or use a personal trainer. Accountability helps!
Work out for strength, endurance, and agility – all three! Don’t shrug off strength training. It’s the miracle drug as we age.
Finally, remember to celebrate your uniqueness as you find how fitness builds confidence at any age. You got to this point in life because you are your own special, fabulous, WORTHY person. There’s no need to compare yourself to younger models, fitter folks, or even your own past.
- That means you banish negative self-talk and thoughtless ageism.
- That means your practice gratitude and support others.
- That means you throw out the scale – because confidence isn’t based on one measly number.
Neither is your health.
Let’s go! You got this.
Study Links Exercise to Immunity from Covid
People who exercise face a lower risk of Covid-19 and of severe infection than people who don’t, says an analysis of 16 studies published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine.
This could lead to enthusiasm for updating exercise guidelines and health policies concerning exercise as medicine.
You might remember during the darkest days of the pandemic there was a movement to include the health and fitness industry among “essential” services that could continue to be provided during a lockdown. The idea didn’t get far, but it sure makes sense.
The New York Times reports that scientists have noted for decades that physically fit people have fewer and less severe respiratory tract infections. One doctor said, “I call it the vaccine-like effect.”
Around the world, regular exercisers had a 36% lower risk of hospitalization and a 43% lower risk of death from Covid compared to inactive people. In addition, they had a better chance of avoiding it altogether.
Research suggests exercise might fight infectious bacteria and viruses by increasing the circulation of immune cells in the blood. Also, exercise lowers chronic inflammation, which can damage the body and turn immune cells against you. Inflammation is a risk factor for Covid-19, so lowering it should also improve your odds against the virus.
Exercise also keeps you in better health generally, lowering the risk of chronic ailments like heart disease and diabetes.
Don’t wait for another crisis. Get healthy now and start strengthening your immune system.
Healthy Recipe, Grilled Flatbread Pizzas
Prepared flatbreads from the supermarket — such as pocketless pitas or naan — are great to have on hand as the basis for an impromptu pizza. This healthy, summery combo is adapted from one in “The Big Book of Pizza” by the Food Network magazine. To keep the crust from going soggy, the tomatoes are squeezed of their juice before chopping and added to the crusts along with the olives and cheese. Serves 4. — Susan Puckett
Ingredients
- 2 large or 3 medium tomatoes
- 1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- Salt and pepper
- 3 cups baby arugula
- ½ cup pitted kalamata olives, chopped
- 1 tbsp rosemary
- 1 medium red onion, peeled and cut into ½-inch-thick rounds
- 4 pocketless pitas 6 to 8 inches
- ½ cup ricotta cheese
- 4 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
- Red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Core and halve tomatoes. Squeeze juice, seeds into large bowl. Whisk oil, season salt, pepper. Add arugula but don’t toss. Set aside.
- Dice juiced tomatoes. Toss in another bowl with olives, rosemary.
- Preheat grill, stovetop or skillet to medium-high, or oven to 400.
- Brush onion rounds with oil, season with salt. Grill 3-4 mins per side. Transfer to plate, separate rings. Reduce grill or stovetop heat to medium.
- Brush both sides of the flatbread and grill, 2 to 3 minutes each side.
- Remove from heat. Top with tomato-olive mixture, ricotta, mozzarella, onion. Return them to the grill and cover, or place in preheated oven, until cheese melts, 2 to 3 minutes.
- Toss arugula with tomato dressing and pile on pitas. Season with salt, red pepper flakes, drizzle with a little olive oil. Serve immediately.
Susan Puckett is a cookbook author and former food editor of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Follow her at susanpuckett.com.