Your Best Body Yet: You’re In It

If you haven’t seen the get-your-best-body-ever themed articles yet, you’re lucky. It’s January, so of course we’re going to be regaled with articles including tips on how to:

 
a) Lose the holiday pounds 

b) Get in the best shape of our lives by changing (or starting) so-and-so’s workout routine

c) Look more youthful

Don’t get me wrong- I am all for being as healthy as you can. But I also believe that if we start from a place of plenty instead of want, we’re in a stronger position. And to really look after our sexual health, ask for what we want with our partners, and take responsibility for ourselves, we need to respect ourselves. Measuring your worth by whether you’re 280 pounds or 150 pounds is not the way to do it. The body you’re in is the one you have to work with, and honouring it’s going to help you experience things more fully than punishing it will.

Enjoy your body. Midlife is a time of body changes that are different from the youth focused culture of media. But we don’t have to apologize for them. It’s a natural process, not an illness. If you’re post-menopausal, enjoy sex without worrying about unplanned pregnancy (but be aware of STIs). Learn about healthy sexuality for women in their middle years, talk about safe sex practices with partners.

The body you’re in is the one you built with every day you’ve lived. Midlife means we’ve had lots of days filled with emotion and experience. Certainly we’ve learned that time passes so fast. Don’t spend more days thinking you aren’t measuring up because you don’t fit some magazine ideal. You are enough. We all are. Start your year there.

- Janet

Check This Out:  40 Things I Know at 50… Because 50 is the New 40

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Youshouldknow.ca: sexual health news, views and science for women in perimenopause and beyond. Find info on preventing sexually transmitted infections, aging considerations, and relationship dynamics. Supportive information for all of us as we move into our middle years with partners new and old.