It took me 50 years to get the body I always wanted – it's never too late to get in shape

Yahoo

18-07-2025

Businesswoman Denise, 54, is married to Glenn, 55, an engineer. They live in Los Angeles and have no children.
Like many other couples in the pandemic, my husband and I found comfort in food and wine. Glenn perfected his pizza dough, while I perfected pouring us two glasses of wine most nights. The result? I gained over a stone (15lb) in a few months and hit my highest weight of 13st 7lb. At 5ft 11in, I'm tall, but this still meant that I was bursting out of my size 18 clothes – not exactly slim.
It wasn't just about feeling bad about the way I looked, though that was certainly real, but by my late 40s unwelcome health issues had begun creeping in, too. I'd already been told by doctors to lose weight because I was prediabetic, and I'd newly been diagnosed with arthritis in both knees. That shocked me. I thought conversations about knee replacements were for people in their 70s, I wasn't there yet.
Yet strangely, the real kicker for me wasn't even these health red flags, which felt too abstract. It was when I noticed that my wedding ring was too small for my fat fingers that it suddenly felt real. I thought: what am I doing to myself?
I took a good look at my pescatarian diet and realised how many carbs I consumed (all Glenn's delicious home made pizzas!) but how little protein was in my diet. The nightly wine was full of empty calories too, of course.
My 30s and 40s were spent building up my executive recruiting company, working long hours and always trying (and failing) every diet under the sun. WeightWatchers (multiple times), the Atkins diet, and the Six Week Body Makeover (several times). I tried Jane Fonda videos, and while they all worked for a bit, I'd drop 10lb, or even 20lb, but it wasn't sustainable, and I'd pile it back on. My weight yo-yoed for three decades.
But in August 2020, I made a decision to do it differently. I'd been lurking on Instagram and Facebook, watching women older than me lifting weights. These women looked strong. They reminded me of Linda Hamilton in Terminator, whose arms I've long envied. I thought: if they can do it, why not me?
They also seemed to be talking a lot about 'macros'. I didn't even know what a macro was at first, but I genned up and began tracking them – essentially it's focusing on the right balance of protein, fats and carbs in foods.
Unlike calorie counting alone, tracking macros taught me to prioritise muscle, which was new to me. Every meal, I aimed for 25-30g of protein. So for breakfast, I'd make oats with egg whites stirred in, topped with yogurt. Lunch might be ground turkey tacos with low-fat cheese, and dinner something like spaghetti squash with a rich tomato sauce and lean meat. I actually eat more like four meals a day now, and I reintroduced meat (after being vegetarian for years), because I just really craved it, and I think during menopause my iron levels got low.
While I was soon feeling better, I can't pretend my new eating habits were great for our marriage. Glenn was always supportive – he'd tell me I looked beautiful, even when I didn't believe it! – but because he liked a lot of carbs, and likes to eat more like 9pm, three hours later than I preferred in my new regime, it meant we ate separately at different times.
That adjustment was tough because dinner used to be how we connected. But we adapted, and instead replaced our mealtime chats with evening walks instead.
The gyms were all shut during the pandemic, so I bought cheap weights online and started lifting them five days a week in my guest bedroom. I picked workouts online that were meant to be 45 minutes long, but they took two hours because I was so out of shape and out of breath. But I persevered.
Within weeks, things began to shift. I got quicker at completing the workouts, and I also added in half an hour of cardio a day, five days a week. As I got stronger, I felt better and my body started to change – and my mindset.
The goal I had in mind was to get to a size 12 for my 50th birthday in October 2020. And I did it! I felt incredible, and celebrated with a small party. My arthritis improved, my energy returned, and for the first time in years, I liked how I looked – and felt – in clothes.
Glenn said the best thing about me changing isn't how I look, but how he could see that I had found a real new meaning in my life at a time when others were slowing down.
By then, three years after I'd first re-hauled by lifestyle, Glenn decided he wanted to feel as good as me, so hired his own coach and began tracking macros, too. Now we go to the gym together, and it's a lovely thing to share.
The transformation went so much deeper than just being physical. It shifted how I saw my entire life. I started an Instagram account in 2021 to connect with other women, and the response was overwhelming. Women in midlife messaged me saying they saw themselves in me – that they too felt stuck, tired, and like their best days were behind them. I knew that feeling so well: we all tend to think our midlife is a slow decline until death. I tell them all it's not. It's a new beginning.
In 2023, I handed my company over to my business partner as I realised I felt so passionate about inspiring other women over 40. I launched a coaching platform, calling it Rebellion Body, because it's a rebellion against the outdated narrative that midlife means fading into the background. It's not our mothers' midlife any more. We've since helped thousands of people around the world.
I want women to understand: muscle is your fountain of youth. It improves your metabolism, protects your joints, boosts your confidence, and helps you sleep. It's not about looking a certain way – it's about feeling strong and capable.
At 55, I've competed in a bodybuilding competition. I lift heavy weights. And yes, even my sex life has improved, because when you feel good in your body, everything gets better.
Midlife is a gift. We have experience, perspective, often more time and resources than we did in our 30s. We care less about what people think. We're more discerning about who we let into our lives. The only thing that limits us is our belief that it's too late. It's not!
I want women to carry on dreaming big, however old they are. I still want to get more muscular – next up is getting bigger glutes. I'll get there one day. And I'm delighted to say that my wedding ring now fits perfectly.
We really do get to choose how we age. It's all about your mindset – not your menopause.
What I ate before
Breakfast: Bagel and egg; veggie sausage patties; eggs and toast with jam.
Lunch: Frozen burritos or enchiladas; tuna sandwiches with mayo
Dinner: Homemade pizza nights; veggie burgers and sausages with buns & potato salad. Always pudding – usually chocolate.
Snacks: Crisps and guacamole; microwave popcorn. Doritos were my weakness – if they were in the house, they were gone.
Alcohol: Two to three glasses of wine a night at the weekend, but during the pandemic, it became nightly.
What I ate after
Breakfast: Coffee and collagen every morning. Then either overnight oats with low-fat yogurt, or one egg plus egg whites, sourdough, turkey bacon and berries; high-protein waffles with added egg whites & blueberries. I often have two breakfasts now, one before a morning workout, and one after.
Lunch: Chicken or grass-fed beef bowls with veggies, avocado and a bit of rice; big salads with chicken, beets, chickpeas, greens and homemade vinaigrette; courgette noodles with shredded chicken, tomatoes, soft low-fat cheese.
Dinner: Homemade turkey chilli over spaghetti squash with soft cheese; air-fried sockeye salmon, roasted baby potatoes and veg; turkey meatballs with flaxseed, rice and veg.
Snacks: Homemade protein 'ice cream' (almond milk, cacao, cottage cheese, protein powder and frozen cherries/raspberries; yogurt bowls with protein powder, fruit, hemp hearts; protein bars or beef jerky.
Alcohol: Rarely now! Maybe four glasses of wine a year for special occasions. I love the taste, but it no longer supports how I want to feel.
As told to Susanna Galton
Follow Denise's tips @fiftyfitnessjourney on Instagram, and on her website, rebellionbody.com
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