< PreviousSMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINE - PAGE 69- PAGE 70 - SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINELIFE AFTER 40 IS PRETTY PEACHY(AND IT CAN BE FOR YOU TOO!) by Susanne McAllisterRaise your hand if you have ever felt the dread of another birthday approaching, especially one of the big ones that end with a 0! Well that definitely was me 8 years ago when I hit the big 40! But of course I felt I had to do what one does on the day, blow up the balloons, have some friends over, smile and be happy! But deep inside I felt sad and could not shake the feeling of dread. Dread that my next big birthday would be 50! And that meant seriously old in my view. I smiled and blew out the candles on my birthday cake, opened presents and lovely birthday cards until I came across one of these…“From now on it’s only downhill” cards! That was the last straw, not that anybody would have known that at the time! I retreated with a big glass of red wine to the garden to have some alone time. Sitting under the stars I took a hard look at myself and my life and realised that I had always let fear stop me! A myriad of fears actually, here are my top 3:1. Fear of not being good enough2. Fear of what others think about me3. Fear of being rejected or laughed atYes, keep raising that hand if you know what I mean.With these fears came a big bag of negative thoughts about myself.HERE ARE MY TOP 3 CATEGORIES: 1. Appearance – too fat, not pretty enough, big nose, crazy curls etc. You get the drift!2. Other people already do what I want to do and they are much better then me anyway3. I am just not as clever as others- PAGE 72 - SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINESounds like a proper birthday pity party doesn’t it? And there was even good music drifting through the garden to my sad tunes! I do have a quirky sense of humour and as I looked up at the stars, I became very aware of the infinity of the Universe and how there are really endless possibitlies – even for me! So there and then I vowed to myself that: I will never let fear stop me ever again!This was 8 years ago, and my life has been a crazy ride since then! The Zen priest Joan Halifax when asked about ageing said: “certain aspects of my life are shrinking. But as they shrink, something else expands! My sense of humour has expanded. My robustness has expanded. My tolerance and patience has ex-panded and my love for people and the earth has expanded”I could not have said it better myself!SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINE - PAGE 73But first let me tell you about the wild ride and how life has changed for me:When I decided to not let fear stop me, I wrote down all the things I had said “no” to and decided to only say “yes”. But personal tragedy struck and my husband fell ill and eventually died. He had always been my rock but I was glad that I had had the realisation not to let fear stop me ever again! Because there was a lot to fear when going to through a cancer journey with your beloved. With no family other than our two beautiful daughters and with the help of friends, we got through this. I had to take over his job as well as mine,in the parenting and providing for the girls. It was not easy as you can imagine. But with my mantra and the determination in place to live my life to my fullest potential I persevered. “It’s never too late to be what you might have been” – George ElliotSince then I became a certified Health and Wellness Coach, helping other women that are stressed and want to get their life’s and health back on track and re-invent themselves and the next phase of their life with my 3 step process that I developed to, honestly, save myself. - PAGE 74 - SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINEI also trained as a Nia Dance and Movement Teacher and can say truthfully that I love my body now more then I ever! I am also now in the best shape of my life. I wrote and published two books and a variety of articles. Life is also about giving back to others, so my daughter and I went to Fiji and helped in an orphanage, made new friends, and still now we keep supporting them.My girls are all grown up now, and are amazing young women who teach me a lesson or two about life as they prepare to conquer the world. Already they are far wiser then I was at their age, which I am very proud of indeed. And believe it or not, I even dress up in a German Oktoberfest Outfit and sing silly songs at a Restaurant once a month! There is a bit of regret - I look at old photos and wish I had “not let fear stop me” then, and how different my life could have been!So take heart, you are reading this now and have the chance to “not let fear ever stop you from TODAY”. Be ready for new adventures!SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINE - PAGE 75 I would love to hear from you! Don’t think you need to do all on your own!- PAGE 76 - SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINE We all want to live life to the fullest and be the best version of ourselves. But getting there can be a challenge of the mind and body. Find your “Why”The first step is to find your motivation, your “why?”. This could be wanting to play with the grandkids, creating great habits and nutritious meals for your family, or fitting into your jeans more comfortably. When you have a strong purpose driving you, and you understand the emotional impact of achieving this goal, your chances of succeeding will skyrocket!HOW TO TRULYLIVE YOUR POTENTIAL by Gavin Aquilina Goals We’re all inclined to set overly ambitious goals. We want to be a 10/10 -- and we want it now! But when we’re anything less, negative talk has a tendency to creep in - in both how we talk to ourselves and in our approach to diet and exercise. For example, we start to consider exercise as punishment for eating the wrong foods, rather than as a celebration of what our bodies can achieve. I challenge everyone to flip this notion, and approach nutrition and exercise with a positive mind frame. Don’t punish yourself for not being where you desire; rather embrace where you are at now, and simply re-set new and attainable goals.EMBRACE WHERE YOU ARE AT NOW...- PAGE 78 - SMART HEALTHY WOMEN MAGAZINE So, rather than aiming to go from a 6/10 to a 10/10 in two weeks, focus on going from 6 to a 6.1. Make simple and sustainable changes such as eating your meals slowly, stopping when you’re 80 percent full and making more nutritious choices for every meal. With your incremental 0.1 goals which you set for a two week period, you’ll easily increase your score to 8.6/10 by the end of the year, setting yourself up for long term positive lifestyle changes. The principle behind these 0.1 goals is that you are overcoming your negative relationship with nutrition and exercise, continuously reaffirming to yourself ‘‘I can do this”Next >