Fit for thirty

In our late twenties Mr D and I decided we needed to do something about the weight gain and lack of fitness that had resulted from,

1. Three pregnancies (me)
2. Too much pasta (I blame the arrival of pesto to our supermarket shelves)
3. A general satisfaction with family life

We embarked on our Fit for Thirty campaign.

The results were good. I found myself out-swimming the chaps at the local swimming pool. Mr D cycled miles. We both felt and looked better.

I even bought a little black dress.

Well it was a smaller black dress than I would have bought the year before.

Living the outdoor life in Devon

Then we moved to Devon. And took our lives outside. As the kids grew up, our thirties and forties went by in a blur of outdoor activity. Scouts, paddlesports, family adventure holidays, walking, expedition work, camping, bikepacking (not me). There wasn’t much we didn’t try.

There wasn’t time to think about weight and size. I just puffed along, usually behind everyone else but happy in the knowledge that I was spending far more time off the sofa than on it.

Want to age well? Start early!

Related content: Walking and yoga. There’s more connection than you might think!

And now my next decade looms on the horizon. It’s still a fairly distant prospect (I’m fifty four today) but I know sixty is out there waiting for me. I’m not trying to run away from my age, just do it as well as I can (an important recent change for me).

Positive body changes take longer to happen now than they did in my twenties, and the menopause isn’t helping, so I think it will be time soon to start another campaign.

The only problem is what to call it.

Sexy for sixty?

Patterns (especially in words) make me happy so this campaign title is going to require alliteration. The first idea that sprung to mind was ‘sexy for sixty’ but I really can’t see me plastering that all over social media. Even if I happened to feel that way on a particular day.

Lacking in inspiration, I turned to a list of ‘s’ adjectives. I rejected a few outright (saintly! senior! salacious!) but gave others more consideration. Here are some of the results.

Sassy for sixty? – Surely only Americans can be sassy?

Sedentary for sixty? – Tempting but not really the idea.

Skinny for sixty? – Not sure I’ve ever been this.

Satisfactory for sixty? – More of a judgement than a goal.

Sculpted for sixty? Nobody wants to do that much yoga.

Shapely for sixty? Open to misinterpretation, hexagonal might look weird.

Significant for sixty? Certainly the opposite of my menopause experience.

Sizeable for sixty? Kind of aiming to reduce size rather than gain it.

Sophisticated for sixty? I’ve got more chance of climbing Everest.

Stacked for sixty? Is that something to do with muscles? Or perhaps breasts?

Sturdy for sixty? Sounds dependable but a touch boring.

Successful for sixty? Oh goodness me no! Who needs it this far on in life?

Supple for sixty? Bending has never really been my thing.

Strong for sixty? Has merit. Especially with my current liking for yoga.

Sweaty for sixty? More likely but surely the flushes will have gone by then?

Sweaty for sixty

So there we have it. I probably have a year or two before I need to finalise a campaign name. Which do you prefer? I have to say I’m leaning towards the last one. Sweaty for Sixty has a kind of ‘This is me!’ ring to it. Something the fantastic This Girl Can team might have come up with.

We’ll have to see how I feel nearer the time. I guess if the mood takes me right, I could always opt for seductive for sixty!