I am a nightmare for fitness motivation!!  I go at my fitness with great enthusiasm, manage a few weeks, even months ... then life gets busy and the overwhelm kicks in and my motivation to workout is the first thing to go!  Please tell me I am not alone!?  I do not love exercise and add in midlife, menopause brain fog and lethargy and my fitness motivation hits zero!  So, in today's post, I am sharing my struggles with workouts and why we should not beat ourselves up but find something we love and keep it simple!  Activate You is a simple online programme from 261 Fearless, spread over 12 weeks, to help you create a habit to get you moving, fit and full of energy!  And I am going to try it out and share my thoughts.

Activate You has been designed to show you how to stay active regularly, anytime and anywhere and for a very reasonable cost.

So is it possible to go from zero to loving exercise?

This is a sponsored blog post.

Night sweats and menopause related sleep problems are really common and although I am much better than I was in the early stages of peri menopause, I am still keen to understand 'how can I sleep better during menopause' both in terms of quality and quantity of sleep.  And do we really understand the huge benefits of sleep?  Other than sleep simply makes us feel better?!  So what to do when you can't sleep, when you suffer with the can't sleep anxiety?

Dr. Marilyn Glenville PhD is the UK's leading nutritionist and a best-selling author specialising in women's health.  She is also the former President of the Food and Health Forum at the Royal Society of Medicine, psychologist and popular broadcaster who obtained her doctorate from Cambridge University.

On Tuesday 22nd June from 7 pm to 9 pm Marilyn is hosting a webinar entitled 'Sleep - why is it so important and how to improve sleep quality and quantity' to show us how to get a good nights sleep including recommendations on what to eat, what to avoid, lifestyle changes and specific nutrients and botanicals to support your best sleep!  And readers of Fifty & Fab can get a huge 50% off the ticket price - making this webinar really affordable at just £13.50.

This is a sponsored blog post.

I am having a deep thinking moment (or two) but what does wellness actually mean?  It's been the strangest of years, who would have predicted a worldwide pandemic, with such far reaching repercussions.  It still feels unreal and impossible to relate to.  But it has meant we have focused more on our health - or have we - we are all complaining we have gained weight!  We had more time at home to exercise and yet many of us became more sedentary.  There are so many contradictions, from the Government's confusing rules and response, to our own personal reactions.  So today I am taking a look at the importance of wellness, happiness and mindfulness in our busy lives.

As an over-50 lifestyle blogger, I often get sent products to review and many of them are around health and wellness.  Personal wellness for me means feeling happy, healthy and living a balanced life.  I love to create life goals that help me to find that balance.  It is an ever changing, ever developing project!

I am neither an obsessive exerciser or a couch potato.  I keep busy, I move and I maintain a (fairly) slim figure.  I enjoy good food, I love fine dining, but I don't over eat sugar or junk food.  I love a glass of wine, but can't drink more than three or I feel absolutely rubbish - thank you menopause!!

I like to journal, I like to talk and share my feelings and I am always looking for ways to help keep my life in balance to stay happy and relaxed.  I've missed my friends so much, talking on the phone just isn't the same.  It is only when I meet up with girlfriends that I realise how much I have missed it!

How are you feeling?  The pandemic and endless lockdowns have really added to our feelings of isolation and affected our mood, even if you have never suffered with depression in the past.  Our mental. health is exactly the same as our physical health and it needs to be nurtured and cared for too. 

Mental health includes emotional, psychological and social well-being and it affects how we think, feel and act.  It also helps determine how we handle stress, relate to others and make choices. 

We all have times when we feel down, upset, stressed.  Mostly those feelings disappear but sometimes they develop into a more serious worry and we need a bit of help.  We are all different, some people bounce back, others feel weighed down for longer and withdraw from daily life and feel unable to communicate.

You should never be ashamed if you are finding it difficult to cope, to talk and ask for help.  I am no stranger to my own mental health worries.  From suffering from a phobia to the more recent anxiety associated with peri menopause.  I have written about it on my blog and I will share these posts at the bottom of this post.