Time is a luxury and it’s something women over 40 don’t have in buckets.
By the age of 40, you might be raising a family or building a successful career or both. You might even be preparing for a transition into a new job, a new place, a new life.
By 40, women would have accumulated responsibilities and there are high chances that their mental load is high. When running a household, studies find that women carry most of the mental load,[3][6] which includes planning and scheduling care and household chores.
Adding a necessary focus on health might seem daunting and taxing at first, as you might already have plenty on your plate, being exhausted or ‘tired of being tired.’
Here is one solution that will help you in the long run: make your health automatic and habitual by building healthy habits.
Merriam Webster defines a habit as ‘an acquired mode of behaviour that has become nearly or completely involuntary.’
Of course, here we are talking about habits that are supporting and elevating our health. Rather than dwelling into our bad habits, the approach is to include so many good habits in our life that we leave no or little room for bad habits.
Once the behaviour is installed, it becomes automatic and effortless. There is no resistance, and we only notice when we fail to do it. The habit has become a sustainable routine. Healthy routines offer multiple advantages:
- They free mental space. There is less mental effort involved, and they help reduce the ‘decision fatigue.’
- By allowing us to save time in the decision-making, they can also increase our efficiency by helping us to get less distracted.
- They help balance the mind. As we know what to expect, the mind feels safer and becomes less likely to be swept away by unexpected events and less reactive to unwanted surprises.
- They also make it easier to manage our priorities and fill our days with what matters.
Reducing the randomness associated with life can contribute to reducing our stress level. With more predictability and less straining of our decision muscle, our mental charge decreases. When our mind is more centred and stable, so are our emotions.
It helps us become more emotionally resilient, and we are less likely to eat our emotions or to make rash unhealthy food choices.
Stress and negative emotions can push us to increase our food intake, we call it ‘stress eating’ and it is also known as ‘emotional eating.’[5] It is an important factor in gaining weight and can lead to overweight[2], obesity, depression, and anxiety. After 40, our body is already subjected to hormonal changes, disrupting our metabolism, digestion, ability to lose weight, sleep soundly and regulate our mood, and adding emotional eating is a recipe for disaster.
Because emotional eating is linked to our ability to self-regulate our emotions and cope with negative emotions, the safer we feel, the more centred and grounded we are and the lower the risk of resorting to this strategy is. Emotional eating is complex, reaching as far as genetic factors to personal history and current environment. But before all, it is a behaviour that has become a habit and habits can be changed
The question is: how to adopt a new habit?
According to research, it takes about 66 days[1] to integrate a new habit, so it is important to be patient with yourself.
The best way to set up behaviours so that they become habits is to:
Make them simple and easy.
Start with one habit at a time and start with the less complex ones.
Example – drink three glasses of water on waking up.
Once you have managed the easy one, you can move to the more complex ones, dedicating enough time to set your goal or intention and anticipate the challenges. For example, exercising three times a week could be approached by deciding the activity you like best, picking up the time and days that are more convenient to you and the structure to use (gym, personal trainer, group classes, etc.).
Put them into context,[4] link it to another habitual action or situation – so the context becomes the trigger.
In the case of exercising, going to work in the morning or finishing work, could be the trigger to stop at the gym on your way.
Use prompts – physical, visual, etc.
For example, put a bottle of water on your nightstand for the morning; or put your kettle in plain sight so it is the first thing you see when entering your kitchen in the morning.
Another example: get your gym clothes ready in the evening and leave your gym bag at the door for the next morning.
Make your habit non-negotiable.
Once you have decided the behaviour you want to adopt, make it non-negotiable to you (stop questioning and doubting yourself) and to others (inform your entourage and set boundaries). And keep repeating the behaviour until it becomes automatic.
For example: keep drinking your morning water. For your weekly exercise: let people know that you are now exercising on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning and do not take other commitments at that time.
Bonus: Track your habits to see your progress. There are many apps allowing you to track your daily habits (Habit Tracker, Productive, Habit, Habitify, Everyday, etc.), they can be a good way to keep you engaged and motivated.
Now comes the question: What should you automatise? What are some foundational habits to put into place?
Meal planning
Having a weekly meal plan over a week will ensure you get all the food groups and nutrients you need daily and over the week and it will help you save time. No more mind-boggling questions like ’What do we have for dinner tonight?’
Evening routine
Adopting an evening routine will ensure that you calm your nervous system and prepare for a restorative sleep, so your body is able to function optimally, and reduce the menopause and perimenopause symptoms you might be experiencing.
Download our bedtime routine ‘From Chaos to Bliss – 3 simple steps for deeper sleep tonight and beyond for busy women over 40,’ to start implementing this routine today.
Training schedule
Moving is essential for regulating bodily functions and increase the stamina. On top of daily movement, exercising three times a week will increase the general well-being of women over 40. Pick your favourite physical activity, pick your days, put them in your calendar and enjoy yourself!
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Books to learn more
- Sincero, J. (2020). Badass Habits. United States: Vicking, Penguin Random House.
- Eyal, N. (2020). Indistractable. London: Bloomsbury Publishing.
- Clear, J. (2018). Atomic Habits. London: Random House Business.
Disclaimer: The information provided on this blog is for general informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment for specific conditions. You should not use this information to diagnose a health problem or make significant changes to your diet without consulting a qualified healthcare professional.
If you think you may be suffering from any medical condition, you should seek immediate medical attention from your healthcare provider. The content on this blog is based on personal experiences, research, and general knowledge about nutrition. It may not be suitable for everyone, and individual dietary needs may vary. This blog does not guarantee specific results, and any reliance on information provided is at your own risk. The author and publisher are not responsible for any adverse effects resulting from the use or application of information on this blog.
References
[1] Arlinghaus, K.R. Johnston, C.A. (2018). ‘The importance of Creating Habits and Routine,’ American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine – Behavioral Medecine Review, 2019 (Mar-Apr), pp. 142-144. doi: 10.1177/1559827618818044.
[2] Dakanalis, A. Mentzelou, M. Papadopoulou, S.K. et al. (2023). ‘The Association of Emotional Eating with Overweight/Obesity, Depression, Anxiety/Stress, and Dietary Patterns: A Review of the Current Clinical Evidence’, Nutrients, 15(5), pp. 1173. doi: 10.3390/nu15051173.
[3] European Parliament. (2022). ‘An ambitious future for Europe’s women after COVID-19: mental load, gender equality in teleworking and unpaid care work after the pandemic’, Briefing Requested by the FEMM Committee. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/cmsdata/245252/IPOL_BRI(2022)719547_EN.pdf.
[4] Gardner, B. Lally, P. Wardle, J. (2012). ‘Making health habitual: the psychology of “habit-formation” and general practice’, British Journal of General Practice, 2012 (December), pp. 664-666. doi: 10.3399/bjgp12X659466.
[5] Konttinen, H. (2020). ‘Emotional eating and obesity in adults: the role of depression, sleep and genes,’ Proceedings of the Nurition Society, 79(3), pp. 283-289. doi: 10.1017/S0029665120000166.
[6] Reich-Stiebert, N. Froehlich, L. Voltmer, J. (2023). ‘Gendered Mental Labor: A Systematic Literature Review on the Cognitive Dimension of Unpaid Work Within the Household and Childcare,’ Springer Nature, 88(11-12), pp. 475-494. doi: 10.1007/s11199-023-01362-0.