Six months to 60: health, style, travel, confidence and saying yes in midlife!

At the end of November I wrote about my countdown to confidence at 60 and why I wanted to reboot my health and wellness journey in 2026. At the time, I felt a little lost, tired and very aware that 60 was no longer somewhere in the distance. It was coming towards me rather quickly!

On 15th June it will be exactly six months until my 60th birthday! And as I have a winter birthday and I love summer, it makes complete sense to me (maybe not everyone else) to start celebrating now - and continuing into 2027 too!

When I wrote that blog post back in November, I was actually a bit anxious about turning 60 but I am feeling much more positive now.  My HRT is working and my mood is better.  So instead of dreading it, I am embracing it.  And you know what?  I look and feel pretty damn good for nearly 60 so I am making the most of it!

I don’t want to spend the next decade waiting for the perfect time to start living properly.  So I am planning to make the most of right now.  No one is guaranteed tomorrow, my mother has been living with advanced Alzheimer's (she is now 82) for over 10 years, I am very aware of the fact her diagnosis was around 70.  A close friend passed very suddenly a few weeks ago, he was only 67, but the overriding feeling at the celebration of his life was that he'd had a life well lived which I hope bought his family some reassurance.  But also made me appreciate what a good motto that is!

I will be 60 in December - it is time to start the countdown!

6 months to 60 feels different!

When I look back to turning 50, it felt exciting. I was optimistic, full of ideas and really looking forward to the next chapter.  I certainly wasn't anxious about it, or bothered at all!

Starting my blog Fifty & Fab gave me a new goal and a sense of purpose after many years of being a full-time mum (of which I am immensely proud and would never go back and change that decision).  But my blog was something just for me, a place to write, share and slowly rebuild my confidence.  It has given me so many opportunities that I could only dream about ten years ago.  I am so grateful.

I lost a stone, got leaner and stronger, learnt to love my body again after feeling a bit meh about it in my late 40s and started to feel more confident in my style. I had energy, enthusiasm and a sense that there was still so much time ahead of me. Time to enjoy the university years with my daughter, time to travel, time to save properly for retirement and time to make plans for whatever we fancied doing!

Looking back at photos from then, I can see that I looked good, although interestingly I think I prefer my photos now. Maybe that is what confidence combined with experience does for us.

At 50, feeling fabulous was about embracing my confidence, my sexier side and my independence. It felt like a beginning.  I had a 50th birthday party you can see here!

​So what about 60 ...?

I plan to embrace confidence again and say yes more often!

What has changed since November?

When I wrote that original countdown post, I felt as if I was standing at the edge of something, but I wasn’t quite sure what that something was.
 
I just knew I wanted to make some changes, I wanted to feel better, stronger and more like myself again, but it still felt a bit foggy. Since then, things have started to shift. My HRT finally feels right, which has made a huge difference, and after a lot of trial and error I can now tolerate progesterone which is having a positive affect on my sleep - sleep is one of the most important things we can do for our health and my lack of it was really adding to the anxiety.

My mood feels brighter too, helped by accepting that a low dose antidepressant is part of what supports me rather than something to be ashamed of.

​I have also decided to work with a Alice Young, an online Weight Loss and Mindset Coach, which feels like a very positive step, I want guidance, accountability and a realistic plan.  Having done The Body Coach Plan back in 2016, I know that having that support really does make a difference but this time it is even more personalised.

I don’t feel as though everything is magically sorted, but I do feel more hopeful. And that's progress!

There will be some support from a health and fitness coach

My 5 focus areas for the next six months

I started thinking about the next six months, my actual birthday and the six months after, the period I have chosen to really focus on being 'fabulous at 60 and beyond' and decided it really needed some structure.

I don't want this countdown to be just a vague promise to 'get fitter' or 'feel better'. I need something a little more thoughtful than that. So I have divided my countdown into five areas that feel important to me right now: health and energy, confidence and body, style, travel and saying yes, and home, love and the next chapter. They are all connected of course but hopefully will come together as one big goal!

​I don't need perfection but I do want to feel better in myself and have fun too!

Of course you don't have to wait for a milestone birthday to make changes but I think having that date in mind does help focus the mind.

1. Health and energy

This has to come first because without my health and energy, everything else feels much harder.  With my sleep better, my HRT right, and the low dose antidepressant, I aleady feel more able to cope.  

Working with Alice (Weight Loss & Mindset Coach) is a positive step. I don't want a punishing plan or a dramatic transformation, but I do want guidance, accountability and a realistic way to feel stronger.

And I certainly don't want another strict plan that I abandon the moment life gets busy, and I don’t want to turn 60 feeling as if I have spent the whole year chasing a version of myself that just isn't achievable. 

Instead I want to build back my fitness in a realistic way, make better choices with food, sleep properly, manage my menopause, protect my mental wellbeing and feel comfortable in my body. I want to wear the bikini, book the trip, say yes to the lunch, get dressed up for no particular reason and stop saving things for some imaginary perfect moment that may never come!

2. Confidence and body

At 50, confidence was about feeling lean, sexy and independent. At nearly 60, it feels a little different. I still want to feel good in my body, wear the bikini and feel fabulous in my clothes, but I also want to be kinder to myself. I have another FYEO boudoir photoshoot planned because I promised myself I would do one at 60, and it feels like a very personal marker of confidence.

I posted a carousel on Instagram earlier this month where I asked 'What do you see when you look in the mirror wearing a bikini?' and 'What is it you tell. yourself?' do take a look here - but the overriding conclusion was that 'confidence really is the best accessory you can wear' but I was surprised by how many women like me - mostly smaller - still have body hang ups and confidence issues, how we feel in our bikini isn't just about the number on the scale.  And embracing confidence often does come with age and an 'I don't care anymore' approach.

3. Style

I love colour now, summer dresses, good basics and outfits that make me feel put together, but I want to be more intentional about my shopping with less panic buying, less saving things for best and more wearing what makes me feel good.  Style has always been important to me but it is only now in my later 50s and 60s that I really feel confident about my choices, having more money to buy things helps and being able to invest in better quality, longer lasting style, that I can love for years to come.  

My mum always looked amazing and had beautiful style, she was constantly trying to to get me out of 'safe black' and into colour but in my 20s and 30s I resisted it, preferring to hide in black outfits.  Nowadays I never or very rarely wear black.  I do think it looks chic but I also feel there is much more colour and nicer things we can wear!  Fortunately my daughter hasn't gone down the black route!  I wish my mum could appreciate my style more, but I do always make sure I dress up in colour when I visit her.  I know she'd say 'I told you so'!

4. Travel and saying yes!

This is my year (and beyond) of saying yes. We're off to the South of France soon to visit family, slow down a bit and step out of routine.

Sardinia in September is about sunshine, glamour, bikinis, summer dresses and romance - it will be my big 60th holiday.

I have a cruise in August with my middle sister, our daughters and my dad, something I'd have never agreed to before (read my post about emetophobia to understand why).

Closer to my birthday, my sisters (with husbands) have organised a surprise trip to a European city which will be lots of fun, laughter and reminiscing!

And my birthday weekend?  Well it is on a Tuesday but the plan is to rent a big house in the Cotswolds or by the sea and have a weekend away with my family - my husband, my son and his girlfriend, and my daughter and her boyfriend.

Hopefully there will be more days out and little adventures too. Last year I might have said no too much because I felt tired or overwhelmed. This year I want to choose things that make me feel alive and I say yes to.

5. Home, love and the next chapter

There are changes coming at home too. My husband is moving towards semi-retirement, which feels both exciting and slightly scary. I know he needs to slow down, but pensions, new routines and more time together will all take some getting used to.

I've had the house to myself for the last 28+ years, with some periods of him working from. home (not something I agree with for men or. young people) so having him here more will feel rather challenging at times.  But he has his hobbies and lots of DIY jobs he wants to do so I am sure we can work it all out.

There is also talk of a camper van, which he would convert himself, and I love the idea of more freedom, spontaneity and easy road trips around the UK and Europe.  He has one to convert for our son first!

I have lots of lovely holidays and outings planned for my 60th year!

I want these next six months to be about fun, proper fun. The sort that comes from more laughter - with my kids, with my sisters, spending time with my dad, making memories with my family, enjoying slower days in France, sunshine and glamour in Sardinia, more time with my husband as we navigate this next chapter, and making space for friendships that lift me up. After the last few years of responsibility, worry and feeling as though I was always trying to hold everything together, I want to remember that joy matters.
​
Mostly, I want to arrive at 60 feeling proud of myself. Not because I have ticked every box or transformed my life beyond recognition, but because I have made an effort to choose the things that make me feel alive. Health, fun, energy, love, travel, confidence, family, friendship and fewer regrets.

As I have a December birthday the celebrations will be from June to June because I love summer!

Because if not now, when?

​If you are approaching a milestone birthday too, or even if you are just feeling a little stuck in midlife, I hope this blog series will help. I don’t have all the answers and I am certainly not pretending that life suddenly becomes simple because you decide to say yes a bit more often.

There will still be tired days, family worries, hormones, responsibilities, wobbles and all the usual real-life stuff going on. But maybe that is exactly why we need to start now, in the middle of ordinary life, rather than waiting for everything to be perfect.

So this is my countdown. Not a transformation project, not a reinvention and definitely not a quest to become younger. It is about feeling more alive, more confident and more intentional as I turn 60.

I will be sharing honest updates here and on my Instagram, the good bits, the the not so good bits, the health and fitness progress, the travel, the style, the confidence and a few lessons learned along the way!

Is there something you have been putting off?  Maybe now is the time to say yes.

Love from
Michelle xx


Coming soon ...
Rebuilding health and confidence with the help of my coach
Life, love, travel and retirement
My 60th birthday celebrations
What I learned, where I am now and what happens next

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