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Adventures in Living a Healthy, Juicy Life

Guest Post by Marcelle

“Damn Girl!! How sexy can you get?” Just heard that line from the song “Sexy Chick” on the radio. Catchy tune – I love it!  Reminds me of a new friend of mine, Marcelle, who lives in Germany with her husband, Heinz.

She’s not getting older, she’s getting better!

As you will see in the following images, Marcelle provides ample evidence of her ability to  “Stay Young from the Inside Out”.  She engages in at least three Stay Young habits from my list of “51 Must-Know Habits for Staying Young – from the Inside Out” (the complete list is available as a free e-book. See the large pink box on the right-hand side of this post for downloading instructions).

Stay Young Habit #16

Give up being shy! Life is too short to be so self-conscious.

Stay Young Habit #17

Give up talking about your age and everyone else’s. We know how old you are. We haven’t forgotten.

Stay Young Habit #18

Give up hard rules about how people “of a certain age” are supposed to be.  Let yourself out of the “age box”.

Marcelle joins ThatGirlisFunny to share her thoughts on aging and staying beautiful – inside and out.  – Cheryl Ragsdale

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Granny’s Revenge!

I was young when I had my 3 children. So, at 42 when my son, aged 24, announced I was going to be a grandmother, I was ecstatic. My son was shocked at my response. He thought I was going to give him a lecture about being too young to be a grandmother.

To me, being a young grandmother meant I would have lots of energy and be able to run around and be a fun grandmother instead of an old one with lots of aches and pains.

I love seeing people’s reactions when I tell them I’m a grandmother. Then, when I tell them I’m a grandmother of 4, they are even more shocked…and I feel fantastic!

Granny’s Got a Gun…nobody’s running away

Am I meant to feel old because of a title?

I don’t think so!! I don’t personally experience being a grandmother makes me old. I hate being told “You’re a grandmother now. You shouldn’t do this or that – or wear this or that”. What utter rubbish…I still love all the things I loved while in my 20’s.

I’m enjoying my life at the age of 47 as much as I did in the past when I was younger.

Firstly, I know who I am, what I’m all about. I understand how my body works, what’s good and bad for it, what to do to keep it working at its best.

Years of trial and error have gotten me to this place, a place I am loving. I’m more fit as a granny than I was while I was working as an aerobic and dance teacher.

Feeling confident, not shy anymore

I’m loving my life right now! I feel more confident and I don’t suffer from shyness like I did when I was younger.

The negative I experience is from other women, both younger and my age group – it’s the feeling of competition – I don’t know if competition is the correct word to use to be honest.

Whenever I meet an overweight or out of shape younger woman, she’ll always ends up talking about why she’s so out of shape and needs to get herself back on track, etc. Old women tell me they’re “happy” with their bodies and not prepared to workout as hard as I do to stay in shape.

How they can say this I have no idea as I don’t discuss my diet or workout schedule with them unless they ask me. I often am left to feel like I’m the bad person – that I’m wrong.  By making themselves feel better,  they turn the tables onto me – I, of course, see through this and brush it off knowing that they are the ones who are not truly happy with themselves.

Impact of Gaining Weight, Then Losing It

I gained weight when I moved from one country to another.  Gaining weight made me feel old. I dressed like an older women. I thought like an older women. I aged. Carrying that extra weight aged me so much, I even started shopping at “older” women’s clothing shops.

When I lost the weight my life changed. I felt fantastic! I felt younger. I dressed younger than I had been dressing in 5 years.  When I say younger, I don’t try to compete with my daughters with what they wear. I don’t want to look like mutton dressed as lamb…. I used to wear large baggy tops. I now wear more body hugging clothing BECAUSE I CAN!

As I lost weight, I saw a huge change in the way other women saw me.

I will never forget going to my husband’s work function. As I climbed out of the car, everyone noticed I was a lot thinner compared to the last time they’d seen me.

I got looked at and then they turned to the person next to them and passed a comment, but not one of them said a word to me…NOT ONE.

I would walk up to them and make small chatter only to see they would not give me eye contact and then walk off as quick as they could. I felt very alone that evening, yet I was feeling great. I was feeling so much healthier and excited that I’d managed to lose the weight – being ignored showed me that women are not happy for other women when they lose weight and they are still struggling with their own.

Looking Young, Feeling Great!

Living in this day and age, being in your 40’s is the new 30’s. Being in your 40’s and 50’s are no longer an age to be frightened of. We need to celebrate this wonderful stage of life. We have such wonderful inspirational women on this planet to look up to today showing us that it can be done.

I think it’s a gift we can each give ourselves to take care of our bodies to the best we know how. Why should the youth of today have all the joys?  My generation deserves it as well. We can have it too! It’s up to each of us to make the most of what we were given -  me to take care of ME and you to take care of YOU.

I  do enjoy the looks I get from men when I train at the gym. It makes me feel I’m still “OK”.  Those looks give me that little extra bit of confidence at this stage of my life when society tells us its time to slow down.

I’m sure not one of those men at the gym giving me the once over would ever guess they’re peering at a grandmother of 4 as most of them are much younger than me.

Such a boost to one’s self esteem in a way, but thankfully at this time of my life, I don’t need outsiders to make me feel like a whole woman, I have a wonderful husband who does all of that for me. My husband loves it as well knowing that men are looking as HIS wife and I’m his!

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Bravo Marcelle!  Thank you for sharing your thoughts so candidly. We want to hear from everyone else! What are your thoughts on aging and letting yourself out of the “age box”?

Please leave your thoughts in the extra large comment box below or use the smaller one on the right-hand side of this post mid-way down the page.

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Genuine Health is a proud sponsor of Sustainable Oceans. For every Happy Place posted , they donate 50 cents to the David Suzuki Foundation in support of healthy fisheries and oceans. Click to post your happy place!

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The “51 Must-Know Habits for Staying Young – from the Inside Out” Gift Basket Give-Away is sponsored by Genuine Health featuring healthy products for your inside and your outside.  FINAL WEEK! ENTER NOW!

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