Why I’m Starting Over at 40 (and Why That’s Okay)
This past weekend gave me the perfect pause I didn’t know I needed. With the long 4th of July weekend, I finally felt able to do something I’ve wanted to do for years and that is start my YouTube channel to share my fitness journey.
To be honest, I hesitated for a long time. I let fear of judgement and imposter syndrome keep me from putting myself out there. Even though I have a degree in it and even though friends, family and coworkers have asked me for health and fitness advice for years, I still managed to convince myself I didn’t have anything valuable to say to those who don’t know me personally.
At 40, I’ve decided to stop caring, and just go for it.
Intro to Me and EUMIE
Wellness has been a passion of mine for as long as I can remember, long before it became an aesthetic on Instagram. I’ve always leaned toward holistic habits and a healthy lifestyle. While I’ve spent decades learning about health, fitness, and self-care, I also realize there’s always more to discover.
That’s why I started EUMIE, to build a community of women who are passionate, curious, or maybe just getting started on their wellness journey. It stands for Enlighten, Uplift, Motivate, Inspire, Empower because that’s what I hope this space represents for all of us.
How We Got Here
I have a strong background in fitness that was sparked by my military career. I have been lifting weights and running for years, and even achieved my Bachelor’s in Sports and Health Science with the intention of one day becoming a Strength and Conditioning Coach. But despite all of my experience and knowledge in the health and fitness space, I found myself facing a new challenge.
I forgot that age was creeping up on me. So combine my increasing age with my complacency around my diet and exercise routine for a few years, and I reached a point where I could no longer get the results by doing what I had always done.
I was gaining weight, reaching numbers on the scale I had never seen before, and it felt like no matter what I did, I couldn’t lose weight. I reached a point where I hated how I looked in my clothes and slowly lost the motivation to do anything which only increased my stress around getting back in shape. So here I am, at my heaviest weight but determined not to let that stop me from reaching the goals I’ve set for myself!
Owning My Starting Point
Starting over isn’t a failure. It’s a choice to begin again. I realized that in order to reach the goal of achieving my dream body (which I may never reach but I have to at least try), I have to reshape my approach and strategy. I have to first accept where I am and how I got here, and tackle the habits that landed me in this position to begin with.
I do want to lose body fat, I do want to shred down and see the muscles that I work so hard to build, but more than that I want to increase my strength and muscle mass so that I can remain healthy as I continue to age. The confidence, energy, and strength that you obtain from a good strength training program matters more than the aesthetic end goal.
I know to do this, I must be disciplined. I must show up for myself every day, even on days when I don’t feel motivated. I must make good choices day after day, this applies to food and activity. I must be kind to myself and allow myself grace. I must realize that this journey takes time. It took me three years to let my body go so it will not bounce back in three months.
It takes grit, determination, willpower, discipline and maybe even some tears but if you stick to the plan and not the mood and show up day after day, you will get to your goal.
My Current Fitness Routine
I do work full time. I do all the cooking for our household, I take care of our high maintenance dog, I run a magnet making business on the side, I keep us organized when planning and packing for trips, I do a lot. I’m a busy girl, as most of us are. Fitness is not my full time job unfortunately, so I have to find a way to make it fit into my life.
When I sat down to figure out how I could best show up every day, what would set me up for success, I realized that setting the time of day for my workout was going to be a key factor. I have NEVER liked morning workouts. Even during my military career I successfully managed to avoid morning Physical Training (PT) for all but maybe two months of my six years. Working out at night or in the evening was my way of winding down and getting ready for bed. However, that wasn’t working anymore.
Now that I am in a relationship and working a more demanding career (and have a demanding pup), I realized that my workouts were often getting skipped for “more important things”. So shifting my workouts to the morning time was a non-negotiable. Thankfully I made the switch in the spring so it was warm again, but so far it has been the best decision I’ve ever made. I have a new morning routine around it that I carry even into the weekend and I actually look forward to it!
So if you take nothing else away from this, please place your workouts at a time of day where you can easily make them a priority. It’s a true game change.
Here is a sample weekly workout schedule for getting fit at 40:
- Monday: Glute-focused leg day
- Tuesday: Push day (chest, shoulders, triceps)
- Wednesday: Cardio or active rest
- Thursday: Quad-focused leg day
- Friday: Pull day (back and biceps)
- Saturday or Sunday: Active rest days
This split gives me flexibility, but still keeps me consistent. I always get at least 4 solid lifting sessions and one cardio day each week, even if I am unable to do anything that weekend due to travel or something else we have going on. Your workout schedule is the first step to setting yourself up for success!
Let’s Talk Food: How I’m Eating for Fitness at 40
Your nutrition plan is important for accomplishing your goals (which we’ll discuss in the next section). The first step is figuring out your maintenance calories which can be a little bit of a science experiment since calorie trackers telling you how much you burn are often not very accurate. However, you can start by using a calorie calculator like this one, tracking how much you’re eating, then weigh yourself and notice whether or not the trend line goes up, down or stays the same. If you get to a point where it stays the same (allow about a pound of flexibility) then you are probably at maintenance.
I’m currently eating around 1700-1800 calories a day which seems to be my maintenance, but more importantly I’m eating 130–140g of protein. I am prioritizing protein right now and I’m trying to build some strength and muscle without gaining a lot of weight. I’m also just trying to figure out what is truly maintenance for me, but now that I feel pretty confident about that I can start to adjust my plan.
I will go over this in more detail in another blog but the gist of it is, if you want to lose weight then eat a little below your maintenance and if you want to gain muscle/weight eat slightly above your maintenance. My goal is not to lose weight but to lose body fat, and in order to do that I need to also focus on building more muscle. So that is why I’m not trying to drastically cut my calories right now.
There are other tools you can use to track progress, especially if the scale is a sensitive subject (I too get discouraged seeing the numbers go up or stay stagnant even though I know that isn’t my goal). Using a tape measure or progress pictures are easy ways to track the physical changes to your body without constantly battling the scale.
Setting Fitness Goals
Your training and nutrition plan should align with your overall fitness goals. By goals we mean:
- Do you want to lose weight?
- Do you want to gain muscle?
- Do you want to lose body fat but maintain your muscle?
- Do you want to lift a certain amount of weight?
- Do you want to train for a marathon?
- Do you want to compete in a bodybuilding competition?
Every single goal mentioned above would have a different variation of a nutrition and training plan to follow, and trying to implement the plan for marathon training when you are really trying to compete in a bodybuilding competition would be frustrating and a waste of time.
So really think through your goal and identify what it is that you want before you decide on a training and nutrition plan. At the end of the day, simple eating and training to maintain a healthy body is perfectly fine as well, but you don’t want to follow someone else’s extreme weight loss plan if that is not your goal.
Know the goal of the plan before you decide on a plan to follow.
Why I’m Sharing This
I wanted to share this because I know I’m not the only one who’s starting over with fitness at 40. Because I want other busy women like me to know that age is not a limitation to being fit. I want every woman to know there’s space for you here, in this community, whether you’re lifting for the first time, or getting back into it after a long break.
And because fitness isn’t just about reps and macros, it’s about reclaiming your energy, your body, and your confidence.
Join the EUMIE Community
If this resonated with you, I’d love for you to follow my journey and share yours as well. Subscribe to my YouTube Channel, explore more blog posts, or just leave a comment and share your story!
Let’s grow stronger together. 💛