Instagram – On the road @midlifechic
A few of you asked a fair question after last week: why take up something hard at this age? And a lot of you said you couldn’t, not with your knees, not with your back. Both fair, and I’ve read every one.
So here’s the honest answer. This was never really about running. It’s about wanting to feel strong in the body I’ve got, for the years I’ve got.
Running is just my version. Yours might be a walk, a swim, the stairs, the garden. The gently bit is the point, not the distance.
Body is the second of my five threads this year, and it’s the ‘listen-to-your-body’ thread, not the running one. Whatever yours is asking for, I’d love you to join me in getting moving.
Send this to the friend who tells you she’s “too old to start now”.
#midlife #ageisstyle #midlifechic #midlifewomen #menopausefitness over50
Five threads. Twelve months. One birthday at the end of it.
I’ve broken the year ahead into the five things I most want to get right by the time I turn sixty: face, body, wardrobe, travels, feelings. They’re parts of my life that have shifted since fifty, and they’re the parts I would love a true conversation about.
Each one gets its own run of posts. Honest reviews, fit notes, the walks, the weights, the lipsticks, the long marriage, the empty nest, the friend who couldn’t say the word.
Save this carousel and you’ll be able to hold me to it. The whole thing culminates on Wednesday 19 May 2027, my sixtieth birthday.
Which thread interests you most? Tell me below.
And send this to the friend who says she can’t face the word sixty.
#midlife · #ageisstyle · #midlifechic · #midlifewomen · #turningsixty · postmenopause agelessstyle
Here’s a true thing. I’ve spent most of my fifty-nine years actively avoiding running.
It sits near the bottom of my list of things I enjoy and near the top of the list of things I quietly dread. I am the woman who finds a reason not to go. And yet here I am, scruffy old kit on, working out how to start, because the year I’m running towards is the one that turns sixty, and I’m facing up to it honestly.
This is the part of the Body chapter I am most resisting. I’m telling you because it would be easier to leave the resistance out and post a snazzier version of myself. But the brief I gave myself for this year was to get ready for sixty openly.
So: hello, I am running. Slowly. Possibly crossly. When I’m back home with Ted alongside - hoping that helps. I will be honest about whether it gets any easier, and I would love it if you’d tell me what helped you with the thing you most resisted in your fifties.
Send this to the friend who would also rather do anything than run.
#midlife #ageisstyle #midlifewomen #postmenopause runningafter50 midlifefitness
Ageing… that old chestnut.
I’m 59 today and this is what’s on my mind
Somebody I know shocked me recently with the way she was looking at her forthcoming 60th birthday
It’s spurred me on to start a new project here - gearing up to my own 60th next year
I’m going to be thinking about my body, face, wardrobe, travels and feelings… in the hope that on 19th May 2027 I feel good in my 60 year old self
Join me - let’s age positively together (but let’s start tomorrow- today’s dedicated to wine and chocolate!)
#positiveageing #agelessstyle #gearingupto60 #proageing #ageingwell
Ad| My lips have been quietly disappearing throughout my 50s. I usually counter it by wearing bright lipsticks but sometimes I just want a natural look and that’s where things get tricky. If I wear an ordinary nude lipstick I feel as if I’ve just faded away.
Thanks to Trinny London’s new Lip Rese Kit I have a new hack for a natural lip that has standout. This is what you do:
1. Choose the Trinny pairing that’s closest to your natural lip colour (I’m using Faye and Lola)
2. Line just outside your natural lip line (where the vermillion used to be)
3. Apply the oil just to the juicy part of your lips
Et voilà – a natural look that isn’t overdone – I didn’t know my lips could look like this
Shop the Lip Reset Kit at trinnylondon.com (link in my Stories)
#LipResetKit #TrinnyLondon #Agelessstyle #FreshLips #BeautyOver50
Apparently by the time your children reach 18 you’ve spent 90% of the time you’ll ever have with them…
… so this was my Easter week off… eking out some of my remaining 10 with mine!
1,2&3. At home with our eldest, getting to know his new girlfriend
4. Our animal family loves her and so do we
5. Arriving in Logroño in Spain’s Rioja region to track down our middle son who’s working there…
6. … as well as our youngest who’d spent a week walking some of the Camino de Santiago
7. Found them both!
8. An afternoon in the sunshine just playing cards
9. A Pincho crawl is the way to spend an evening in Logroño - each bar specialises in a particular type of tapa so you go from door to door
10. Our boy had a whole new bunch of friends out there for us to meet
I worried that there might not be enough for us to do in such a small town.
But don’t you find that sometimes just hanging out with your adult kids is the happiest thing you can do?
#midlifeadventures #logroño #adultkids #agelessstyle #midlifetravel
Have you thought about a break in Mexico City? Vibrant streets, fabulous food, and layer upon layer of history? Let me show you just how much you can pack into 5 days. (All details on my blog but here’s a taster)
The weird thing is that not many people I’ve spoken to in the UK have thought of travelling through Mexico.
And yet it has it all - all the culture and all the fun too. Because there’s tequila… and then there’s dancing…
And at this stage of life there should always be dancing
#méxicocity #mexico #midlifeadventures #midlifetravelblogger
25 years ago today!
Happy silver wedding anniversary my precious husband. Thank you for 25 years of everything.
I thank you for all of the sunny days we’ve had, bursting with joy and laughter and dancing.
And I thank you for the tough times too - when life’s been full of struggle and loss and disappointment.
You are the person I turn to when I’m bursting with joy… when I’m wracked with sorrow… when something needs fixing… when I need you to make me laugh… when I’m tired… when I’m lost… and every other time in between.
And now I look forward to spending the rest of my life by your side.
Because I love you Mal Garnett.
Always.
#midlifelove #silverweddinganniversary
It’s one of those midlife moments that can easily slip by but my eldest son hitting his 29th birthday today means I’ve been a mum for exactly half of my life and it feels important… probably only to me but there you go.
So happy birthday my precious boy, I’m so glad we’re spending it with you. Thank you for making the second half of my life such a big adventure ❤️
#midlife #family #midlifemusings
#AD The results are in from my Full Body Plus Health Assessment with @vistahealthuk.
You might remember that my big worry was my family history of early onset cardiac problems - have the preventative measures that I’ve taken over the last 20 years in terms of diet and exercise (and dancing!) helped me to have a better outcome than my parents and siblings?
And were there any surprises?
Watch and see!
I’ve come away with a clear picture of what I need to do right now to try to keep on ageing positively, to make sure that I have lots of life in my years.
I now feel much more confident about what I can do… and where I need to exercise a bit of caution. With a whole new year ahead it’s great information to have.
#VistaHealth #MidlifeClarity
Ad| I’ve been test driving knits from cosy @seasaltcornwall in the wintry far north where festive spirit is already flowing over.
And it’s cold - you need good knitwear up here - even though you don’t see a lot of jumpers ‘oot on the toon’ on a Saturday night!
1,2 & 3 A Christmassy knit for markets and mulled cider - bring your own pasty… (undoubtedly not as good as the Cornish ones)
4,5 &6 A Fair Isle cardigan for lunch out and I found an old copy of Heidi that on the bookshelves… (who remembers rushing home to watch it on TV after school in the 70s? Isn’t hard to compute a life without catch-up?)
7,8 &9 Wrapped up for a winter walk with a view… (not of Cornish cliffs… but urban landscapes have their own beauty don’t you think?)
#agelessstyle #winteroutfitideas #knitwear #styleover50
A fantastic chat as always with my friend @claudiabradby who is always on my desert island disc list of people I love to talk to.
We talked about the issue of midlife confidence, how hard it is to hold it and yet how important it is to make the most of this stage of life because ‘if not now… then when?’
And we told the story of the jewellery collection we’ve worked on together which is designed to be a mantra that reminds you just to be happy with who you are.
You can find our ‘bien dans ma peau’ collaboration on Claudia’s site now
