4 Ways for Women to Age Well [Podcast Transcript]

Title: 4 Ways for Women to Age Well

Podcast Date: April 1, 2025

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Description

What does it take to age well? According to Instagram, it seems aging is all about what you eat and how you exercise. But, what if there's more to aging well than that? Today, author and Christian body image coach, Heather Creekmore, will encourage you with 4 strategies to age well that have a much greater impact on your health and on the way you feel about aging than any kale salad or cycling class. She'll look at how the science shows that gratitude can extend your life and improve your health. Similarly, she'll look at how finding community and activities you have fun doing can do the same. Heather talks about why it's not helpful to follow a restrictive diet and be rigid with exercise if you want to age well, because there's more to aging than just the way we eat and move. 

This is Aging April! Visit our website for more great resources on each month's topic. Monthly resource kits can be accessed the 10th of each month here: https://www.improvebodyimage.com/body-image-resources-for-christian-women-monthly-resource-kits

Are we email friends yet? Get the free 15-Day Mirror Fast Devotional download with regular weekly encouragement here: https://www.improvebodyimage.com/mirror-fast-christian-women

Check out Heather's 30-Day Devotional on Aging: Aging Gratefully, here.

Other episodes on aging:

What does the Bible speak to aging and body image issues? https://omny.fm/shows/compared-to-who/what-does-the-bible-speak-to-aging-and-body-image

3 Secrets to Aging Well for Women with Food and Body Issues

https://omny.fm/shows/compared-to-who/3-secrets-to-aging-well-for-christians-with-body-i

What is a Biblical View of Botox?

https://omny.fm/shows/compared-to-who/what-is-a-biblical-view-of-botox-is-it-okay-to-get

Transcript

Disclaimer: This transcript is AI-generated and has not been edited for accuracy or clarity.

[00:00:02]:

Life audio. Hey there. Heather Creekmore here. You're listening to the Compare To You podcast. The show for you, if you've ever struggled with your body image or the way you look or the way you feel about the way you look. Oh, friend, you're in the right place. Today, we're talking about aging. It's aging April on the show.

[00:00:25]:

We've had a theme every month this year. January, we talked about getting healthier. February, we talked about marriage. Last month, March, we talked about moms, and we talked about what to do if you're a mom with a daughter or even a son who might be struggling with body or food. But we also talked about what to do with your own mom issues. So go check out those episodes. Oh, lots of good stuff last month. But this month, I'm excited for what's ahead.

[00:00:53]:

As we talk about aging and I wanna be clear, our conversation around aging isn't just going to be for the 40 crowd. We're also gonna talk about ways that we are aging and changing at all stages of life. So I'm glad you're here for it. Today, we're talking about just generally how do we age well. What does that mean? I feel like there's a lot of messages in culture that boil aging well down to how you eat and how you exercise, but it's so much more than that. Did you know that the group, age wise, that's most concerned about aging is 25 year olds? Yes. The fear of aging is called draskophobia, and 25 year olds face it more than those of us who are 50. Likewise, use of Botox and fear about forehead wrinkles is highly popular amongst the 30 crowd versus the 50 60 something crowd.

[00:01:54]:

So friends, aging is oh goodness. Well, it's really the messages around aging are giving us a narrative that aging is not good. Aging is something you have to fight. So today, we're gonna explore that. Before we do, do you know about my website improvebodyimage.com? Are we friends yet? Like, join the mailing list friend, and we are gonna send you just four emails a month. It's not much. Just a weekly email to encourage your heart, to tell you what we're talking about on the podcast, to offer you great deals on new resources that we're putting out every month, to tell you about my new books, to tell you about coaching opportunities. Friend, if you were not on that list yet, I hope you'll go get on that list.

[00:02:36]:

We're offering a free mirror fast, which could be a great tool to kick start your body image journey. Go to improvebodyimage.com. You can get the downloadable fifteen day bible study free for you if you just go to improvebodyimage.com and sign up today. Now let's get to the. Well, hey, friend. Let's talk about what race for women to age well. Okay. Reality is we are all aging.

[00:03:09]:

We're all changing. And here's the truth. Most of those changes are gradual. Right? It's like watching your kids grow up if you are a parent. Right? Like, you don't necessarily notice the changes. You don't necessarily notice how they're growing day by day, year by year until all of a sudden, you know, the shorts don't fit. Or the pants are too short, or the shoes are too small, or they're standing next to someone and you're like, wait. When did you get to be that tall? Most of the ways we age, grow, and change are subtle.

[00:03:47]:

But here's what I thought was interesting and perhaps encouraging if you, like me, are a women a woman in midlife. There are a couple times in our lives when we have something we call biological bursts. And then there's a couple other times in our lives where we have these massive biomolecular shifts that change things really fast. And so the biological burst they found happened at age 24, and then again at age 60, and at age 78. But those massive biomolecular shifts happen twice. The first one is around age of 44, and the second one is around age 60. Boy, apparently, 60 is quite the age. I'm not there yet, but I'd be curious to hear from those of you who are 60 how that's going for you.

[00:04:43]:

But that's according to Stanford Medicine, studies that they've done show that things are just going to change at these ages no matter what you do. So I think it's important for us to remember that no matter what diet and wellness culture tells us, we are going to age. Period. I mean, the alternative is death. Okay? But there are things we can do to age well, and aging well doesn't have to just be all about what you eat and how you exercise. What you eat and how you exercise, it feels like our culture has been overly focused and and just makes aging way too focused on food and exercise, food and exercise, food and exercise. And if you're like me, if you're raised in diet culture, if you've been on a diet since you were in the third grade, it's overwhelming to think about aging and think that what aging means is just more of a focus on food and exercise. Like, that makes me kinda wanna cry.

[00:05:49]:

Right? Like, I've been focused on this my whole life, and now the answer is focus on it more? Oh, surely surely there's more to life than what we eat and drink and how we exercise. In fact, I feel like there's a Bible verse in Matthew about there being more to life than food and drink and more to God's kingdom than what we eat and what we wear. Oh, friend. Aging doesn't have to be all about these things. Likewise, aging doesn't have to be all bad news. Aging doesn't have to be the downhill slope. Aging doesn't have to be things are getting worse, doomsday, the worst is ahead. Right? In fact, I wrote this devotional.

[00:06:43]:

It was released a year ago in April. It's called Aging Gratefully. I've been so thankful for your great response to this book. People are loving this book. They're telling me how it's their new go to gift for fortieth, fiftieth, sixtieth milestone birthday present. So thank you for that. But in this book, Aging Gratefully, I talk about 30 different ways, because there's 30 devotional days, 30 different ways that aging is actually a gift and how you can look at aging through the lens of gratitude. Like, there are lessons.

[00:07:21]:

There's wisdom that you've gleaned over these years, and that has a far, far greater value to not only you, but to those around you than you just having a wrinkle free face, friend. So I hope you could check out Agent Gratefully. It's sold wherever books are sold. Christian books are sold. It's on Amazon. The link will be in the show notes. But today, we're gonna talk about four ways to age well. And the first way is really about that concept of gratitude.

[00:07:52]:

We need to age gratefully, and we need to change our attitude to gratitude. So and that's what I do in the devotional is I'm giving you daily reminders. You can read it every month if you want to. It's a thirty day devotional. I'm giving you daily reminders of things you can be thankful for as you age. I'm also giving you really practical strategies as to things you can do to help these certain aspects of aging. Like, what do you do with all those clothes in your closet that maybe don't fit you right anymore? What do you do when you no longer have the community of, like, kids' school friends and their moms, and you've gotta find a new community? Or maybe it's a new season of life for you where you're not working anymore. What do you do? So I give you practical tips around that as well.

[00:08:43]:

But today, we're talking about gratitude. Okay? And gratitude in part is a spiritual discipline. Right? We are to be content. That verse in Philippians, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Friend, read the verses around it. That is about being content. And in order to be content, we have to have a grateful heart. We have to be thankful.

[00:09:11]:

But the cool thing about gratitude is it's a spiritual discipline that has actual physical health benefits. Gratitude lowers your blood pressure. It improves sleep. It boosts your immune system, and it even ready for this? It reduces inflammation. Like, seriously, friends. If I were to bottle gratitude and sell it to you as a supplement for $29.95, you would probably buy it because it has the same benefits as all of those other supplements we're buying and trying to help us sleep better and lower blood pressure and boost immunity and reduce inflammation. Everyone's talking about inflammation everywhere. Just be thankful, and that reduces inflammation.

[00:09:49]:

Isn't that crazy to think about? All of these health benefits come not from cutting out carbs or doing the exercise you hate. They come from this mental and spiritual practice that can help your body be healthier in all these ways. And friend, it's so easy, and yet it's so hard. Oh, because we are just so zoomed in on the negative, aren't we? It's so easy for us to remember the negative comments someone said and forget all the positive. It's so easy for us to look in the mirror and see the negative, see what we don't like instead of seeing what we can be grateful for. Friends, we have to adjust the glasses through which we are looking at life and be thankful. Okay. So I told you about those four health benefits, but wait, that's not all.

[00:10:54]:

I sound like an infomercial here. As I researched gratitude further, I found even more additional health benefits. Ready for this? Practicing gratitude reduces stress. Right? And we know, like, stress is really the underlying cause of all disease. So if you want to be healthier overall, reduce stress. Gratitude increases your pain tolerance. Isn't that crazy? But there are studies out there suggesting that practicing gratitude may help lessen an individual's sensitivity to pain. Gratitude increases your ability to exercise and eat healthy.

[00:11:35]:

Now, this is kind of a weird one, but listen to this. People who practice gratitude are more likely to exercise regularly and make healthier food choices because they have an optimistic joy filled look at life. From that is so different than the diet mentality of can't eat can't eat. No. No. Restrict. Restrict. Can't eat this.

[00:11:59]:

This is bad. Bad food. Bad food. Right? If you just tweak your attitude, and we talk about this on the show a lot. Right? Instead of a restriction mindset, have an addition mindset. If your attitude towards food and exercises oh, this is great. I'm gonna add some. This is fun.

[00:12:14]:

I'm gonna add some. Oh, friend. You're making healthier choices just because of your attitude of gratitude. Gratitude also can improve your mood and mental health. It can lead to increased happiness, positive emotions, and that has positive effects on your physical health. When you have a healthy mental health, we talked about this back in January. Mental health, spiritual health, emotional health is, in my opinion, the precursor to any physical health. You can't have physical health without those things, and gratitude can help you get there.

[00:12:52]:

And then finally, gratitude increases your resilience to stress. Gratitude can help people cope more effectively with everyday stress and build resilience to emotional setbacks. So, friend, how do you practice gratitude in a meaningful way? It really does take a shift. Instead of looking in the mirror and groaning over what you see, you thank god that he gave you a new day. And you ask him, how do you want to use me in this body at this age, at this stage of life today? What do you have for me today, lord? And get serious about being on mission for him. And, friend, that's really what life is about. It's not about the person who still looks the youngest at 60. That person doesn't win anything.

[00:13:38]:

There's no prize for that anywhere, not on earth and not in heaven. Like, there's not an actual award you get. Like, congratulations. You don't have as many wrinkles as everyone else. Like, friend, that is not what life is about. What life is about is how did you use these days that God gave you? What did you do with the days you were given? And friend, I'm gonna talk plainly here, but I don't think a good answer is, well, I tried to stay healthy so I could have more days. Like, if if you're just trying to be healthier so you can live longer, so you can just do your activities to be healthier and live longer, you are missing the meaning of life. You are missing out on the purpose God actually has for you here.

[00:14:33]:

God's purpose for you here is not to pursue longevity. It's to pursue him and what he has for you. My mom always used to talk about, choose your attitude. You get to choose your attitude. You can decide your attitude. But it's true. You really do get to choose your attitude. And, like, frankly, there's not a whole lot in life we get a choice about completely.

[00:15:00]:

But our attitude is one thing that we do get a choice about. Now, I'm not saying you have to gaslight yourself. If something is hard, if something is bad, call it hard, call it bad, but likewise, call out the good. See that blessings. Count your blessings, big and small. In my book, the comparison free life, I talk about just how much this attitude of gratitude can help you stop comparing. It can truly free you from a jealous, envious, ungrateful, comparison filled life. Ask yourself, what has God done for me today? This week, how has he provided? How has God shown me he cares? Think about all the little things you can be thankful for.

[00:15:49]:

And friends, there's oodles of bible verses about being thankful. Like, you know this is all through scripture. So here's just a few to encourage you before we go to break. Psalm 100 verse four. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and enter his courts with praise. Give thanks to him. Bless his name. Psalm one zero seven one.

[00:16:06]:

Oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. First Chronicles sixteen thirty four. Oh, give thanks to the Lord for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever. I feel like I've heard that before. Philippians four six. Don't be anxious about anything, but in every situation by prayer and petition with thanksgiving, present your request to god. And I'll leave you with this one. Colossians three seventeen.

[00:16:33]:

And whatever you do in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the father through him. I'll be right back with three more ways to age well after this quick break. Okay. Strategy two for aging well is to forget fighting aging and embrace aging. Now let's talk about our bodies for a second. Here's the biggest thing I've learned in the last, like, five, seven years. Things go better when I've decided to be on the same team as my body. I would say my philosophy for most of my life was that my body was the enemy.

[00:17:05]:

It needed to be ruled. It needed to be tamed. It needed to be disciplined. And I think underlying that was kind of a misuse or misunderstanding of scripture. I I was kinda taking out of context how we're supposed to rule over the flesh and maybe confusing the fact that my flesh was my body, but my flesh isn't my body. My flesh is my sin nature. And, yes, as a new creation in Christ, I'm supposed to rule over my sin nature. The new man who I am in Jesus is to rule over the old man who wants to do things out of selfish ambition, lust, and greed.

[00:17:40]:

But that's not a picture of me versus my physical body. My body is me and I am my body. I don't have to fight my body. My body is not the enemy. In fact, it's working really, really hard to keep me alive. It's actually so much more on my side than I ever gave it credit for. So as I think about aging, I wanna stop fighting my body and start listening to it. So here are some practical ways to be on the same team as your body.

[00:18:10]:

First, when you feel like moving, move. Honor the urge to move, take a walk, do something active. Right? You know that feeling, that restless feeling of, oh, I should just go do something. Well, move when you have that feeling. But likewise, and don't ignore me here, when you need to rest, rest. And I think this one might even be harder to incorporate than the first one, Because, yes, it's true. Sometimes you're going out for a walk or going to work out can energize you, but sometimes you really just need to rest. And this is a very nuanced thing about listening to your body.

[00:18:51]:

You actually have to listen carefully to know honestly what it is your body needs. And most of us have ignored our body's needs. Some have pushed too hard, too long, too much, and you know, maybe even from experience that this can lead to injury or this harms our bodies, like how over exercise actually hurts your thyroid. And you may not know that you've hurt your thyroid for years and years until you get diagnosed with something. As you get older, put aside those silly mantras that tell you to ignore your body, like no pain, no gain. You know them all. And instead, try honoring your body. Now that doesn't mean you always have to stay comfortable.

[00:19:34]:

Of course, there's benefit to pushing our body sometimes. That's how we grow, but pushing all the time or not listening when it's it's just too much, that's when things go bad. The next one is eat when you're hungry and seriously friend, there's no badge of honor for starving yourself, especially as we age. You're just hurting your already slowing metabolism when you reduce the amount of food you consume. This is one of my biggest concerns with the use of drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy for weight loss only. What they do is they mask with your GLP one hormones, And that hormone makes you want to eat less so you're not as hungry. But listen to me clearly, when you eat less, over time, your body adjusts and adapts to the new amount of food you are eating, and it shifts all your systems to run on this new lower amount of food which will slow your metabolism. And when you don't have enough food in your body to burn energy, your body is so smart.

[00:20:39]:

It wants to keep you alive. So it's not just gonna burn fat, it's also gonna burn muscle. This is called muscle wasting. And you can lose up to 50% of your muscle mass just because you've reduced the amount of calories you're eating, which which if you know anything about metabolism, having less muscle is even worse for your metabolic health because muscle is what helps you burn that fat. It muscle keeps that metabolism going. And if you have less of it, it's a worse situation for your body. It greatly concerns me that doctors are recommending these drugs freely and widely to everyone who wants to lose weight. I've done a couple other shows on the topic.

[00:21:23]:

I do think there may be some circumstances when they're helpful, but by and large friends, a lot of women are gonna have greater challenges ahead because they use these drugs to lose weight, and they might find themselves in a really bad spot after doing so. A friend of mine was recently telling me about how her hairdresser is seeing so many more women with hair loss because they're on these weight loss drugs. And friends, hair loss isn't any kind of sign of health. It's a sign that your body is struggling if you can't grow hair. So there's some definitely some things to be concerned about when it comes to these weight loss drugs. I just want you to hear from me that being healthy is not the same thing as being skinny, and it's really sad that our culture has conflated these two things. I am healthier now than I was twenty or thirty pounds ago in every way, physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally. And so as we age, I hope we can remember this.

[00:22:22]:

Health is not about a number on the scale. So let's be on the same team as our bodies. Let's give up the war. Let's wave the white flag, declare a truce. Our bodies are so smart. Let's try to start listening to them. Number three, as we age well, you need to find something fun to do, friend. And this is gonna be a similar list of benefits, to gratitude because when you find fun things to do that bring you joy, it is actually so good for you mentally and physically.

[00:22:59]:

So here is the list of benefits of having fun. Ready for this? Stress reduction, improved mood, boosted creativity, stronger social connections, enhanced overall well-being. Friend, like, it's good for you to find fun things to do. Oh, here's one that I missed, improved sleep. Right? We hear all the time about how important sleep is. I'm gonna talk about that, in fact, in just a minute. If you want better sleep, Find something fun to do. Again, if I could sell you a pill that promised you that better sleep, greater resilience, improved mood, stress reduction.

[00:23:36]:

I mean, you might already take some pills for these things. If I could give you a pill to do all these things, you would probably buy it. But you don't need to buy anything. Just start playing pickleball. I'm serious. I love pickleball. Join a community theater group, a knitting club, a volleyball league, a water aerobics class. Take up your photography habit again and go start taking pictures.

[00:24:01]:

Take an Italian class at a community college. Join a bunco group. Friend, just do something with other people that is fun, that makes you laugh, that makes you smile because it will relieve stress, and you're gonna get so much benefit from it. Now I talked about this back in January. We did a webinar. The research around your health and being in community. So let me just say that a different way. Having friends.

[00:24:31]:

The research around this is fascinating, but having community of people whom you call friends, people that, like, know you see you, connect with you, is as important to your health as what you eat and how you exercise. And get this, not having community is as bad for you as smoking. Like, seriously, when they looked at all cause mortality, what causes people to die early? Being lonely, not having people was as dangerous for your body as smoking. But here's what I see. I see women who are trying to fight aging. I see women who are pursuing health goals because they don't wanna age. They don't wanna get disease. They want to be healthy, and they're doing it in isolation.

[00:25:21]:

They're trying to beat the clock, and so they have to eat a certain way. And so they turn down dinner invitations because they don't think they can eat the food that's gonna be served, or they turn down social activities because they need to get their special workout in, and they might as well be sitting at home smoking a pack or two of cigarettes because missing out on being in community hurts your health even if you're trying to do something to help your health. Oh, friends, community is so important to our health, especially as we age. Being community is connected with strong social support, community cohesion, participation in social activity. All these things are associated with lower mortality risks, while social isolation and living alone increases mortality risk. That's just straight from the science there. So here's the deal. Number three, find fun and find people to have fun with, and you will age well.

[00:26:24]:

So what sounds fun to you? What have you been thinking about trying? What have you been putting off? Because you have to do other things first. Like, oh, maybe if I do this, do this, I'll get healthier first, and then I'll go do this. No. No, friend. Go find the fun. Go find the people to have fun with, and that's how you're gonna get healthier. And number four, finally, your fourth way for women to age well is to stimulate your brain. So let's talk cognitive function just for a second.

[00:26:51]:

Friend, your phone, the social media apps, your YouTube, your Facebook, your Insta, your TikTok, they may be turning your brain to mush. That's not the technical term. But I want you to think about your brain health as much as you're thinking about the health of the rest of your body. And brain health can be the physical health of your brain, but it also can just be your mental health. So here's the truth, friend. If you're obsessing over your body, your size, your weight, your appearance, get some help. Don't stay stuck there. Reach out to us for some coaching help.

[00:27:26]:

Join the forty day journey. Because, friend, no matter what age you are, it's not too late to get free from these things. It's not too late to get on a healthier course for yourself mentally. We've worked with women who are in their seventies. Like, there is no age when you're too old to find freedom. And if you're younger, then there's no time like the present to start working on these things. Find the places you're mentally stuck so that you can enjoy the rest of your life. Enjoy the years you have ahead of you without obsessing over food and body.

[00:28:02]:

And so let's go back to those screens, friend. What are you seeing? What are you consuming? What are you ingesting? Are the things you're seeing, consuming, and ingesting causing you to obsess more over your body, over your food? Friend, they're they're not only bad for your mental health, but they're bad physically for your brain. So consider taking some screen breaks. Turn off your phone. Read a book. I've got several you can read. Go spend time with people having fun. That's what will simulate your brain.

[00:28:39]:

So just ask yourself honestly today, friend. Do you need to turn off the Netflix or turn off your phone or maybe vow not to take your phone to bed so you can get more sleep? Do you know sleep is so important for your brain health? Sleep is when your brain signals for your whole body to repair your cells. And guess what? Your cellular health is what determines your health. So your cells need that time of repair. In fact, I found this quote from a professor of neuroscience and psychology, at a big school in California, and he says, sleep is the single most effective thing you can do every day to reset your brain and body health. There is no operation of your mind that is not wonderfully enhanced when you get sleep or demonstrably impaired when you don't get enough. So, friend, if you're obsessing over what did I eat today, am I gonna lose weight, did I lose weight today, what did the scale say today, And you're staying up late to exercise or you're getting up too early to exercise. If you are prioritizing obsession over food and exercise and you are not sleeping friends, you're hurting your health more than you're helping it.

[00:30:00]:

Get good sleep. Think about your brain. Think about your mental health. Think about caring for it in the same way you've probably obsessed over caring for your body all these years, and that will help you age well. So, friend, remember these four strategies, the four ways for you as a woman to age well. The first one is change your attitude to gratitude. Be thankful. The second one is forget fighting your body.

[00:30:29]:

Embrace aging. Be on the same team as your body. The third one was find something fun to do. Again, I recommend pickleball. I love it. And the fourth is to stimulate your brain. Think about your mental health and get good sleep. I hope these four ways to age well have encouraged you today.

[00:30:48]:

Hey. If you want more great tips and information about aging, I've done several other shows on aging on the podcast. You can go check them out. I'll link to them in the show notes. And join us all month long because that's what we're talking about this month is how you can age well. We want to encourage you. And don't forget, check out my book, Aging Greatfully, a thirty day devotional for women in midlife. It's available everywhere books are sold.

[00:31:14]:

Hey. Thanks for listening to the podcast today. I hope something today has helped you stop comparing and start living. Bye bye. The Compare To Podcast is proud to be part of the Life Audio Podcast Network. For more great Christian podcasts, go to lifeaudio.com.