Love Your Body Into Your 30s
Updated: Mar 21, 2019
So now that your 20s are behind you, you might be starting to think about dietary and lifestyle strategies that will help keep gravity from doing its work as long as humanly possible.
I mean, does it have to be inevitable that going into your 30s equals:
Weight gain
Skin problems
Less energy
Sh*tty sleep, and
God-awful PMS?!
Things begin to unfold in our 30s. Subtle signs of hormone imbalances influenced by our busy schedules and obligations begin to turn up. Not only do we not see these as red flags or know how to address them, we often chalk them up to “getting old”.
The way I see it, we can chalk these little signs up to getting older, or we can address the problem head on and stop it dead in its tracks before it snowballs into something bigger in the not so far future.
Our 30’s are a great opportunity to put on our big girl pants and really begin implementing some diet and lifestyle strategies that help us to age well and continue feeling youthful and vibrant.
With the right steps we can provide our bodies with the support it needs as it becomes a little less forgiving.
Here are some ways to love your body into your 30’s:
Change Up Your Method of Exercise
If cardio has been your go-to method of exercise all along, but you’re are beginning to feel like the weight isn’t coming off quite like it used too, it might be time to give weight training a try. As we get older our muscles begin to lose tone more quickly which is why weight training can be a fantastic form of exercise especially for women. Weight training has many benefits. Among them are fat burning, bone health, and overall body composition changes. If you are feeling a little soft these days, weight training it a great method of changing your overall tone and silhouette.
Get good quality sleep
Remember when you could stay up super late and get up early with no real problems that nothing more than a simple cup of coffee couldn’t solve? Now that you’re in your 30s, it’s time to start making extra time for sleep. This can’t be stressed enough. Sleep helps to keep our hormones in balance which means it supports the look of our skin, keeps our metabolism running high, controls cravings, maintains libido, and overall keeps us feeling youthful. So as much as you want to stay up late to watch Netflix, get to bed early to get adequate good quality sleep. Your body will be so much more forgiving I promise.
Get real about alcohol consumption
If you’re no stranger to a cocktail or two after work and on the weekends, it might be time to reevaluate your habits. Now before you get up in arms about having to quit drinking, just know I’m not saying you need to give it up entirely, but it’s a good idea to modify the frequency and choice of alcohol you choose. If you like coolers, liqueurs, cocktails or beer, switch to a dry red or white wine to cut down on the sugar and enjoy a smaller serving. Alcohol has a negative impact on hormones, so it's wise to limit it.
Eat smarter
Get more consistent with your meals and snacks. If you skipped breakfast all through your 20s, ate fast-food, and passed on vegetables then it’s time to say farewell to those old habits and start instituting some big girl choices. Inflammation can make us look haggard, which makes now a good time to develop some good anti-inflammatory food and lifestyle habits. This means including lots of leafy green vegetables, vitamin C rich fruits, essential fatty acids, lean protein, soluble and insoluble fiber, and avoiding processed fats and sugar. These practices also support detoxification and encourage a healthy gut which is linked to healthy aging.
Manage stress
There's no doubt that stress can make us age faster. It influences everything including digestion, reproductive health, and thyroid function. It steals our beauty and adds to our waistlines. Developing some key strategies to coping with stress can really boost your health. Things like deep breathing, meditation, massage, taking a bath, and focusing on the positives in your life can help reduce stress. Find what works best for you and make time for it every day.