Embrace yourself

Comments and questions

Embrace your age. Quit worrying about everything that bothers you. No one else sees you that way. Why can’t you just let your physical appearance go? Stop worrying about every little thing you eat. If you think you’re fat, I must be enormous. Do you really need to go exercise? All these things have been said to me year after year, many times over. The fact of the matter is that many people look at themselves as they get older and think that it is ok to let themselves go. In fact, with age, many people stop worrying about being healthy about how much weight they gain or what they put inside of their body that is going to make them feel horrible tomorrow. So no, I am just not like that. I could not let myself go at  35, 40, or 48 years old. I feel like life is better when I think the best about myself.

Age is just a number 

So my question to the people who usually ask me these questions is. At what age should you decide to let yourself go? Is it 35,40, or 45,50 etc.? I only ask this question because so many people have asked me this, especially one person year after year many days; I don’t believe a weekend went by where I have not been asked questions about the way that I eat, the exercise that I do or just the way that I look at myself. I do not believe there is an age where you just let yourself go unless you cannot help it. I tried to eat healthily, but trust me, I could be better and eat healthy daily. I try to eat better than most people my age. I exercise at least three to four times a week minimum. This is a good thing because when I feel good on the inside, I mentally feel better on the outside.

What’s okay for the famous but not for others?

Jennifer Lopez is 55, Sandra Bullock is 60, Halle Berry is 58, and Jane Seymour is 73. All of these women are in great shape, and most men or women have no problem looking at them and complementing their figures. Or how beautiful their skin still is, or how they care for themselves to ensure they look good at their age. Yet the typical person wants to question those around them who care for themselves. It makes no sense to me if someone is eating healthy, taking care of their skin, and worrying about the way their appearance is because they want to look halfway decent at their age. There should not be a question as to why, and it definitely should not be a question of just let yourself go and not worry about it. Truthfully, it burns me up whenever people want to throw their opinion on how you look and how you take care of yourself, especially if it’s negative towards you when it’s not their body or their health. So why is it so easy for people to admire someone they see who is famous but have a problem with someone they see every day at the same age trying to do good for themselves?

Call me vain if you must  

I have been called many things: overly confident, healthy conscience, and someone who worries about their physical appearance, or, as my husband would like to tell me, I’m just vain about my appearance. The truth is I am a vain person. A vain person is someone who has an excessive amount of pride in their appearance, achievements, or abilities. So yes, if you want to call me vain, I am. I do not like to stand in front of the mirror for hours and look at myself like most vain people do. I hate looking at myself in the mirror too much because I am the one person who can pick out every flaw on my body. However, I am a person who believes in putting the right things in my body working out so that whenever I put on my lingerie, bikini, or just my everyday clothes, I feel a sense of pride that I am comfortable in my clothes and my skin. So call me vain if you must, but I look at it as if I want to be as healthy as I can be for as long as I can at any age.

It’s important to remember that we’re all unique. Our approach to physical and mental health will differ from person to person. I’m not perfect, and I don’t claim to have all the answers. But I know what works for me, and I’m committed to it.

Mental and Physical

One of the hardest things I ever went through was being thrown off of a horse head first. I was 42 at the time. It was not a pretty sight for six months. I had to have stitches, and my wrist was broken. It was the first bone I’d ever broken in my body. And I had a concussion. The doctors told me that I did not need to be running and that it would take a long while for physical therapy to get me back where I wanted to be. Long story short, it felt like that was the longest six months of my life. I felt like my mental health was breaking down; I felt like my physical health was going to hell. I felt like I was another person and not myself at all. All I could think about was returning to the person I knew I was! I wanted to be able to run and lift weights. I wanted to feel good about the person I was and the skin I was in again, and at this moment, I did not feel that way. What I learned from this incident was my physical health is closely connected to my mental health. So, to answer, why can’t you just let yourself go at your age and quit worrying about exercising, eating healthy, worrying about your skin, And all the things that go along with aging? I am not there yet, nor do I know if I will ever be.

Embrace happiness your way

To the women who hear so many negative comments about what they should or should not be doing for themselves. You need to be happy in your skin and only your skin. No one should tell you what you should look like or what you should be like. I am not perfect by any means. My genetics tell me I’m always going to have a pretty good-sized butt and hips; yes, no matter how much I exercise, my curbs will always be there. But I have to be happy with all the curves on my body, all the scars on my skin from having babies, and most of all, like myself, Only you know what your mental and physical appearance should be to you; not everyone around you. I am not 120 lbs like I used to be in my 20s. I am a voluptuous middle-aged woman who loves to feel good about myself and is happy. If other people around you cannot be ok with you, they shouldn’t be in your life. That may be your sign that they are not a real friend or person that needs to be on your team. The bottom line is to be happy with the person you are yourself. Happiness looks different to everyone. So be you and embrace every part of you in every way, and if you’re not happy with the person you are, only you can change that, as only I can change myself. I’m perfectly fine with the person I am, so don’t try to change me to your version of happy because I am great with the person I am.