I lost 55 pounds back in 2004, managed to keep it off for a couple of years, but then it slowly started creeping back on. I gained back 31 of the 55 pounds I lost and was feeling not so great about myself. And the fact that I’d be turning 40 this year certainly didn’t help things! I decided at the beginning of March to TAKE ACTION! My mission (yes – I chose to accept it!) was to be “Fit by 40!”

I rejoined the gym that was so great for me the last time (I NEVER should’ve quit!). I also decided to sign up for their 12 week weight loss program, which came with fitness and nutritional coaching. During the 12 weeks, I lost 21 pounds – which I was THRILLED about. Closing in on 40, I was just hoping to lose 12 pounds – the rest was a huge bonus! My original goal with my fitness/nutrition coach was to be at 25% body fat…which, for me – translated to 146.6 pounds. It also meant losing about 10% body fat. At the end of my 12 weeks, I still had 7 pounds and 3.3% body fat to go to reach my goal. I chose to go to a once per month check in with my coach when the original 12 week program ended. I was hoping to hit my goal by the second check in (2 months later)…knowing that the closer I got to goal, the harder and slower my progress would probably be.

I had my FIRST monthly check in with my trainer last night and, to MY SURPRISE AND EXTREME JOY, I had met and surpassed my initial goals! I beat my weight goal by 0.2 pounds and beat my body fat goal by 0.9% – almost a FULL percent! Of course I had to hug my trainer (even though I was all sweaty after running on the treadmill – HAHA!). So now I have a new goal – I really don’t care about the number on the scale, but I’d like to work towards 22% body fat.

By Alice Greene/Healthy Living

Turning 40 brought its fair share of emotions. First the sense of disbelief.. Gosh really 40 ..how did that happen so quickly.. I dont feel like 40! Do I look 40, do I behave like a 40 year old..and so on and so on..

The next step was reflection.. remembering the years gone by, the adventures, the challenges and the ups and downs on the roller coaster ride of life.  Taking a little mental check to see if I was satisfied with what my life amounted to til now…a great gift to myself.

It was a really enjoyable process, meandering through the endless field of memories cultivated from 40 years on our glorious planet.  Many many forgotten faces, experiences, and feelings came back into the here and now…Very pleaseant.

A great trip down memory lane… and a wonderful way to begin creating a little blueprint for the next 40 years of fun. Seeing what still inspires you, what you  would still like to do/achieve/try/create & experience

By Megan Hazel

Turning 40 can be a powerful and transient event even though many women believe that everything starts to change or even fall apart at 40. This doesn’t have to be so! Women can stay strong and competitive, healthy and fit well over the age of 40. There may be some changes you need to make, but it is an important time for you to make these changes so that you can continue to stay in shape.

Some basic dietary changes can help you to supplement your workouts and keep you strong. Calcium, for example, has always been important in a woman’s diet, but it is critical to start supplementing calcium now if you haven’t already. Bone density begins to decline and if this gets really bad, it can lead to osteoporosis later in life. Ginseng is an herb that can help to give you energy when you start to feel fatigue, and some people swear it is what helps keep them young. Consuming a lot of fruits and vegetables is crucial to keeping yourself young. Not only is it very healthy for your body, it is quite beneficial for your skin as well. Natural foods, especially fruits and vegetables, are full of antioxidants, and these help keep free radicals from destroying that youthful appearance of your skin. Also good are salmon and other foods such as almonds, flax and fatty fish which provide a strong source of Omega 3 fatty acids. Again, this is good for your heart health but also for your radiant skin.

Staying in shape also means getting – or staying – physical, of course. You may discover aches and pains that you haven’t noticed prior to turning 40. It’s not because 40 is some magical age, but rather a useful timeline to gauge when women tend to start feeling less energetic, more rigid, or have tighter muscles than they used to. A fun and relaxing antidote to this is yoga. Yoga has been said to be the true fountain of youth! A good, long yoga session a few times a week or a simple practice of ten to twenty minutes daily can relax, tone and lengthen your muscles as well as your spirit. It also helps to de-stress your mind, which has been shown to have an effect on cortisol levels in the body. By reducing cortisol, you can help reduce the belly fat that may be more stubborn to remove these days. Any time of stress-relieving mechanism you use will help keep you young, but yoga is an especially good one.

Source: Oprah Magazine

Oprah.com — If there’s a magic pill for staying youthful, it may be one that’s hard to swallow: exercise. Daily doses have been proven to thwart a number of aging factors — stress, obesity, heart disease, diabetes — and the longer you’re physically active, the less you’ll notice getting older.

Weight training is good at any age.

The catch is that a 50-year-old’s body is not the same as a 20-year-old’s; you can’t push it the same way you once did, nor should you if you want to keep it in working-out order.
So listen to these coaches — they’re talking not just professionally but also firsthand — on how to remain fit, and proud of it.

There’s a big difference between how we should work out in our 20s and how we should work out when … we’re no longer 20.

I am 40 next year, which is a source of endless amusement to my Wife and some of my friends! One of whom said that I should be slowing down as I approach forty!

Why should I slow down due to some arbitrary calendar event? If I am injured, sore or fatigued, then I rest or adapt my training around that. If I use age as an excuse, then that will be an emotional excuse not to train and I will impose a self-limiting belief on my performance. I do need a bit more recovery between certain sessions than 10 years ago, and I have a few more injuries to deal with, but the intensity with which I train is as high as ever.

It is very important to continue strength training as you get older as found in this recent study on hip fractures in the elderly:
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2008-01/bmj-rof011608.php

I am hopefully not quite at that stage just yet. The benefit of training younger athletes is that I compare myself to them, not my lazy age group. I can’t quite stand in front of a group of people and say do as I say, not as I do, and feel comfortable about it.

by Marc B

I’ve heard that turning 40 was a big deal. I didn’t really believe it. Every other birthday that I had was relatively uneventful. There were no notable changes in how I felt. This birthday for me was notably different. Literally from the day that I turned 40, parts of my body that never ached before do now. It’s not life altering, but it’s one of those “why is this hurting, I didn’t do anything to strain that part of my body the day before.” This really sucks!

The other thing that I noticed is the passage of time. I spoke to a colleague of mine that just had this eventful birthday as well. We lamented about how when we were in high school in class, time seemed to stand still. The best way I can describe the passage of time today is akin to a 2x speed on a DVD player. Sunday night comes, and I wonder where Friday night went. Even during the work week, Monday comes and then it is Thursday night. There is one universal that has been the case, though, for me since work life began: late Sunday night to Monday after work are without a doubt the worst 18-24 hours of the week.

Here I am officially in my 40’s – albeit just a few hours into the new decade and I feel…. the same as I did yesterday.  You hear how horrible these milestone birthdays can be when in reality the number is only an indication of how many years you have had to experience

relationships, life and yourself.  It does not mean we are closer to the end nor does it say we are no longer able to enjoy our lives.  Age is a state of mind and as long as you have been taking care of yourself through the years it is nothing more than that.  We have no guarantee about how long we will be here but we do know how to live a healthier life in the event we make it to triple digits.

A life filled with good habits such as exercise and proper nutrition as well as abstaining from the harmful effects of smoking, excessive alcohol and stress gives us a better chance to slow down the clock and enjoy the years we are here.  This year I turn 40 but I can honestly say I feel great; I have everything I could ask for - my health, a beautiful family, a job I love and peace.  What else could I want for this milestone year – 40 years and going strong!  May God grant me another 40 (at least).

by Bev Sklar

Forty is the chronological marker of middle-age. Fifty may be considered the new 40 — and while it’s a terrific attitude in terms of staying fit — it is not the middle of an average lifespan. Only a rare few live to be 100.

Turning 40 is an important time to evaluate your fitness level. Perhaps you look and feel fantastic because you’ve stayed fit and eaten healthy through your 30s. But maybe you’re not looking and feeling so hot and it’s time to dig in and change those bad habits for good.

Don’t ignore 40 and wait until 50 when it comes to staying active. New research reveals maintaining good physical function past the age of 40 will help reduce the risk of stroke. People who scored in the top quartile on a physical function test (e.g., kneeling, bending, lifting, climbing stairs) after 40 garnered a 50 percent lower risk of stroke than participants with the lowest test scores. The results were independent of known risk factors for stroke.

Turning 40 may mean your youth is gone but it doesn’t mean that your youthful look has to go with it. Elle McPherson and Cindy Crawford are looking hotter than ever, and although you may not be a former model, there are some things you can do to help you stay looking vibrant as you age.

* Drink water: The more you keep your body hydrated the longer your skin will stay elastic and supple. Your inside will be happy as well and be less likely to hold on to water weight due to “water faminine” just like your body adjusts and slows down your metabolism for “calorie famine” when you severely cut back on eating.

* Create a support system of positive people: As you get older, life changes become far more stressful thus reeking havoc on your body and your appearance. Life is much easier and less lonely when you have a support system of really wonderful people who will back you up and remind you of your strength and lovability. Your support system will also help make you laugh which is something you need to do more of during those stressful life changes.

* Stay physically active: You don’t have to go to the gym more to stay fit after 40, you just need to keep moving and participate in activities that involve movement like dancing, kayaking, or dog walking. As we get older, we tend to sit more thus minimizing opportunities to burn calories and keep the muscles active. Joining activities that involve groups of people can also help you make new friends or make you feel like you belong to a group which leads to better overall happiness.

It’s hard to believe that you could be fitter in your 40s than in your 20s, but it’s true.
For some women, turning 40 is a milestone that causes them to take a long look in the mirror and realize they are at a fork in the road.

Choose the sedentary path and expect to lose more bone density, muscle, strength, balance and flexibility while gaining another 10 pounds in the next decade. Or step out of your comfort zone and onto the road to fitness.

Jill Gibson and Linda Simmons are two women who took the road less traveled.
While the women approached fitness in different ways, they reached their goals. And you can, too. But there’s a catch – you’ll have to work on it for the rest of your life.
It can be done “When I turned 40, I just realized that if I wanted to maintain a certain health condition, it was no longer going to be bestowed upon me; I’d have to work for it,” said Gibson, 47.

“I wasn’t happy with the way my stomach and arms looked. I didn’t like the sagging of the skin. You could grab it. My belly had expanded and contracted over the years, and I wasn’t sure how to get rid of it.”
On the plus side, Gibson’s three children were adults by then. “I was able to refocus a lot of energy on myself,” she said.She started with a stability ball and a few exercises demonstrated by her daughters, and worked on it every day for 45 minutes. Within a few months, she joined a health club and received weight-training instruction from her athletic daughters.
Turning 40 was also a landmark for Simmons.

This is it…the magical year – I’m turning 40 this fall. I’m starting to see it and maybe you are too. The Middle Age Spread!

Is this just a fact of life? I have many friends over 40 who tell me that it really is a turning point in your life emotionally AND physically. Is this something that I can fight? Are exercise and diet enough to ward off this impending doom? According to weight loss experts, it’s all in the metabolism. When you hit middle age (somewhere in the 40 range), your metabolism changes. Your body somehow puts on the brakes.

There is hope, though. Here are some tips that can help speed up your metabolism when you reach that magical age

Exercise