GB05: Let’s Talk About a Better Way to Move Through Midlife

Embrace the Benefits of Walking and Positive Mindset in Midlife Workouts

In this week's episode of 'Midlife and Glowing,' Alicia and Nicole dive into the often-overlooked benefits of walking as a powerful, therapeutic, and essential form of exercise in midlife. They explore the physical and mental health benefits, including blood glucose regulation, mental health improvement, and cardiovascular support. Additionally, they discuss the importance of shifting the mindset around exercise from a form of punishment to a tool for health and wellbeing. Tune in for practical tips on incorporating walking and other exercises into your routine, fostering a positive outlook, and making fitness enjoyable through community and accountability.

00:00 Introduction to Weekly Glow Bite
00:20 The Importance of Walking
00:48 Benefits of Walking
01:08 Challenges of Walking in Winter
01:38 Walking Alternatives
02:09 Mindset Around Exercise
02:46 Exercise with Friends
04:37 Accountability and Community
05:01 Shifting Your Mindset
07:03 Practical Exercise Tips
07:33 Glow Reflection and Conclusion

Right now we're doing Sydney Cummings Hustle Series. If you're looking for workout buddies, we'd love it if you would joint us!

Check out our favorite Amazon workout and wellness products and tools here 👉 https://www.amazon.com/shop/thedailyglowlife/list/1GUO5DHJHXI75?ref_=aipsflist

Transcript

Alicia: 0:00

hey

Nicole: 0:00

there. It's Alicia and Nicole here with your weekly glow bite, where we share quick insights to help you stay grounded, energized, and connected to your glow.

Alicia: 0:10

This week on midlife and glowing, we talked all about how our workouts need to evolve in midlife. And today we're zooming in on one powerful but often underestimated form of movement. Walking.

Nicole: 0:21

During our main episode this week, we talked about exercise and how important resistance training, HIIT training, and jump training can be at this stage of life, but we didn't talk about walking, so we wanted to make sure to talk about that in this episode because it's an important form of movement and we don't wanna ignore the massive benefits that come from it. We both view our regular walks as extremely beneficial and almost therapeutic, so we wanted to make sure to touch on this topic. Walking has so many benefits, some of which include that it supports blood glucose regulation, especially if you do it after meals it improves mental health and boosts mood. I know we both view our daily walks as almost therapeutic. If I don't get out for my daily walk, I really feel like bummed out about it. I really feel like It makes a big difference when winter comes around, I'm always like, oh, dang it. I'm not gonna get in my daily walks now. For a couple of months and

Alicia: 1:17

the, uh, downfall of living in the Midwest yeah. If you, if you don't like the cold, uh, it's, it's definitely harder to get your walks in. Mm-hmm. Especially with the ice and snow. But yeah, I know some people do and good for them, but I am allergic to snow, so

Nicole: 1:31

Yeah. I ain't doing that. But I, you know, kudos to people that have that kind of dedication. Mm-hmm. I, yeah,

Alicia: 1:38

I I would just do my walking pad instead.

Nicole: 1:40

Yeah. Yeah. It also stimulates lymphatic flow, which supports detoxification and immune health. It's great for cardiovascular health. It reduces stress and helps balance cortisol, especially when done in nature with deep breathing, and it also supports better sleep. there are so many reasons a daily walk is so good for you. Mm-hmm. we can almost think of it as nervous system nourishment, Gentle enough to avoid draining your adrenals and causing a stress response, but effective enough to shift your physiology in a positive way. I think another really important topic when it relates to exercise is how we view it, sort of our mindset around exercise, because I think a lot of women view exercise almost as a form of punishment. Mm-hmm. You know, that we have to exercise to work off what we've eaten, or as a way to earn rest or fix our flaws. Right. We view it as punishment instead of viewing it as a way to powerfully support our body and our wellness. Mm-hmm. It kind of has this negative connotation, and we view it as something like we have to do instead of it being fun and

Alicia: 2:46

I will say that I've had some of the most fun exercising with friends. Mm-hmm. Yeah. I, I did a Zumba class with my sister-in-law and I have never laughed more. I mean, neither of us can dance, but she really took the cake and Oh, that's good. That was really, fun. And I know a lot of women have the workout buddies and mm-hmm. We don't live near each other, but we still have that accountability and work out. We still work out together, not really together, but we do the same workout every day. Mm-hmm. We say, okay, we're gonna do Sydney's summertime Fine series, or, you know, whatever it is. Yeah. We're doing our series together. Right. So we're doing the same workout. And that's, it's fun.'cause then we can be like, Hey, uh, what'd you think of today? That was a real doozy. Or, you know, like, oh, today's was great. Whatever it is. having

Nicole: 3:37

accountability.

Alicia: 3:38

Right. And, and it, having someone to do it with mm-hmm. Makes it that much more fun.

Nicole: 3:43

Totally. Oh yes, absolutely. I was even thinking about, you know, certain vacations that we've been on in different places where we go for hikes. Mm-hmm. And you just get to see beautiful scenery together and yeah we can make it way more enjoyable when we do it with others and when we're doing activities that we enjoy too. Mm-hmm. Right. I personally, I, I know we talked about this during our main episode this week, but I personally hate running. Mm-hmm. But I do love lifting weights, so I feel like that is extremely joyful to me, and, and feels good, you know, it makes it, a fun, you know, part of my day instead of it feeling like something I dread. Mm-hmm.

Alicia: 4:23

And if you wanna join us and do the same workouts we're doing, we'd be happy to have you workout along with us. We'll let you know in the show notes what series we're currently doing.

Nicole: 4:33

that would be fun. Let's all support our health together.

Alicia: 4:36

Yeah.

Nicole: 4:37

It is much easier getting to a workout knowing that someone else is doing it too. Mm-hmm. On those days when you're feeling maybe not as motivated or, or like it's feeling more challenging to get there, to show up to the workout, having that accountability and that support and that community is huge.

Alicia: 4:54

Oh yeah.

Nicole: 4:55

So really I think a helpful shift for people here when it comes to mindset around exercise. If you are someone that views it as a way of you know, making up for something or as a form of punishment, or you have this negative mindset around exercise and you feel like it's something that you have to do, not something that you want to do. Consider how it would feel if you shifted your mindset and flipped the script and started to view it as a tool that supports your strength, your health, your longevity, your capability in your later years of life, and showing up with that mindset, noticing how that feels.

Alicia: 5:34

And once you get into the routine mm-hmm of moving your body. that becomes a habit. Mm-hmm. And part of your lifestyle. Right.

Nicole: 5:42

And it becomes easier, easy, right.

Alicia: 5:44

To incorporate into your day.

Nicole: 5:45

Right. Lifestyle changes can feel hard at first, but once they become part of your routine, it feels so much easier. It's so much easier to. To show up when you get into the habit of it. Mm-hmm. Right.

Alicia: 5:59

I think it's fantastic to have fitness goals just as long as you're not using them as a form of punishment. Right. I mean. How, how many times have you heard someone say this or maybe you, yourself has said, oh, if I eat that cupcake, I'm gonna have to run an extra mile tonight, or, mm-hmm. Right. An extra mile tomorrow. Right. And you're using that as a form of punishment where it's like, you can have that cupcake, right. Without needing to punish yourself over it the next day. Mm-hmm. As long as it's not. Something that you're doing all the time.

Nicole: 6:30

Yeah. I think the 80 20 rule allows you to live your life in a way that most of the time, you're supporting your overall health and wellbeing, right? But you give yourself 20% of flexibility so you don't set yourself up with that restrictive mindset and feeling like a failure if you don't do everything perfectly and getting into that perfectionist mode, right? Mm-hmm. So I think the 80 20 rule is a really great tool when we think about our exercise and our nutrition. Mm-hmm. And how we use them in our lifestyle. If you're feeling overwhelmed by all the exercise advice out there, here's our gentle reminder. Start with walking. Add in strength and HIIT training, high intensity interval training as your body feels ready. Here's a simple weekly rhythm to consider. Walk daily for 10 to 30 minutes, ideally after meals. Strength train three times a week. One or two short bursts of higher intensity movement and always listen to your body. We'll wrap up with our glow reflection for the week. Our glow reflection this week is a quote, which we really love and is very relevant to this conversation. Exercise should be a celebration of what your body can do, not a punishment for what you ate. Exercise shouldn't be about punishing your body. It should be about supporting your health, and you definitely don't need to do it all perfectly to see progress. You just need to get started.

Alicia: 7:58

If you're looking for our favorite midlife movement tools like walking pads, weighted vests, or cute workout outfits that make exercise feel like a treat, we've rounded them up in our Amazon storefront. The link is in the show notes.

Nicole: 8:11

And if you know someone who's ready to ditch the old punishment mindset around workouts, send this glow, bite her way. We'll see you next time.