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| 40 year old woman image from Shutterstock |
{This is a collaborative post}
We’ve all heard that 40 is the new 30 and I think it is true that as a nation we are staying younger for longer. People are working for more years, having babies later in life and today's woman is expected to have it all but truly, we can only function well if we are looking after ourselves.
As a woman who really enjoyed her twenties and thirties but didn’t
make enough time to look after herself, now is the last-ditch attempt to ensure
that I go into middle-aged feeling well. I want to share with you five things
that every 40-year-old woman should be doing (me included!).
1. Get enough sleep
This one
seems so simple and of course, we all know that we function and look our best
when we have had enough sleep but did you know that getting enough sleep will also
boost your memory, reduce inflammation and avoid accidents?
Amazing isn’t
it? Sleep can make such a difference, it can even increase our performance, as
shown by a 2011 study from the Stanford University School of Medicine. The study discovered that elite athletes were able to improve their best times
when they had more sleep each night over a lengthened period.
Not only is
it important to get enough sleep though, more recent studies show that you should
adopt a regular pattern of sleep. Your bed and wake times need to be pretty consistent
to ensure that your circadian rhythm operates at its peak. The circadian clock ensures
that hormones like cortisol and adrenaline are released about an hour before
you need to wake up and your body will have moved into the less deep REM sleep
so that when you make you feel good and ready to go.
2. Ensure she’s eating a balanced diet
Fad diets
and restricting any of the major food groups is never a good idea but it is
important, even more so, as you get older to make sure that you are taking in a
well-balanced diet. If your diet includes a wide variety of foods you’ll be
able to avoid the costly supplements that some people turn to.
Start your
day with a healthy big breakfast to kick start your metabolism after the fast
of the night. Your metabolism is at its highest in the morning and this
injection of good calories will help you resist cravings later in the morning
and fill you with energy to tackle the day ahead.
As you get
older you’ll want to ensure you have enough Calcium and Vitamin D in your diet
as these aid the development of healthy bones and of course as we age our bone
density decreases. So make sure you have
plenty of dairy products, especially those fortified with vitamin D, oily fish
like salmon and tuna, and leafy greens.
Protein-rich
foods are also really beneficial as they are used by every part of the body to
develop, grow and function properly. Protein can also help boost levels of
mood-lifting neurotransmitters in the brain, which will help to alleviate the
risk of depression, relieve brain fog and fill you with energy.
3. Fit in time for exercise
You don’t
have to become a gym bunny if this isn’t your thing but it is important to make
time for both cardiovascular and strength training exercise. Go for a brisk
walk that makes you slightly breathless and use a DVD at home to coach you
through what strength exercises you can do to help build your muscle mass.
It doesn't have to be expensive and don’t worry, I’m not talking about you becoming a bodybuilder, we all naturally start to
lose muscle mass around the age of 40 (about 3-8% each decade after that) and
thus we need to work hard to resist that decline and stay fit and well. Weight
lifting or strength training has gained momentum in the last few years and this
article in the Telegraph
makes for very compelling reading.
4. Check her breasts regularly
As you get
older it is inevitable that your breasts will lose their firmness, shrink and
sag. Lumps can also become more common as you get older and many of these will
be harmless but it can be hard to tell. So regularly checking your breasts (at least once a month) should be a priority and not something to be embarrassed about.
If you would
like a greater level of reassurance then Breastlight
might be right for you. This is an easy to use at home device that helps you
check your breasts for abnormalities. Any woman of any shape, size or race can
use Breastlight to see the tissue inside their breast. It also works really
well for those ladies with implants who can struggle with a traditional breast
examination.
You use the
device in a dark room and a red light is shone into your breast, it passes
through the breast tissue and reveals dark areas where blood is present. It is
therefore fairly normal to see a pattern of veins but, if there is a dark
cluster, this is a potential abnormality that requires a proper visit and check-up by the doctor.
Breastlight
can be used by women of all ages but it is particularly useful for those going
through or past the menopause as the tissue of the breast will have changed with
the level of hormones in the body. You can check out Breastlight reviews
over here.
5. Make time for herself to unwind and de-stress
Once you hit
40, your life is pretty hectic I’m sure. If it’s not children causing your
anxieties, it might be your career or perhaps elderly parents. It’s really important to make time for
yourself and do whatever it is that helps to reduce your stress levels. Being in a constant state of stress is not
good for you and can lead to premature ageing and of course medical problems
such as high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.
Creating me-time doesn’t have to be cumbersome or expensive. Even ten minutes to yourself
before everyone else in the house wakes can be enough to help you have a good start to your day. Or maybe it is a bubble bath and some candles in the evening that make the
difference for you. Whatever it is make sure you have a little me-time every
single day and then a longer period at least once a week.
There are health checks that we all need to keep up with and many we take for granted, but it is super important to be on top of them, so make sure you diarise when your next one is due.. You should have your teeth checked once every six months. Make sure to have your eyes tested at least once every two years so you can get the right prescription lenses from Eyeglasses.com. Of course, don't forget your cervical smear test too, it might not be the most pleasant of things, but it could just save your life.
Of course
there are plenty more things that we should be doing as women in our forties
but if we take heed of these five that isn’t a bad start!
Why not pin this post for later?
Why not pin this post for later?
