We Are 55 and These 15 Fat-Blasting Habits Keep Us in the Best Shape of Our Lives

Don’t let menopause be an excuse for not getting into shape. Annie Murray (@anniesfitnesssteyning) is a 54-year-old fitness trainer whose mission is “empowering mid-lifers to get strong, build healthy habits, and be the best version of themselves.” She regularly offers fitness, motivation, and nutrition tips to her followers on how to be the healthiest version of themselves through and beyond menopause. In a recent viral post, she reveals how she got into the best shape of her life and the changes she made to get there.

In the First Photo She Was 42 and Perimenopausal

Annie shares before-and-after images of herself during the perimenopausal stage and after menopause. “The photo on the left was taken when I was 42 years old. At the time, I was perimenopausal with low Tmuscle mass, low body weight, and low energy. I was constantly ill, experiencing bouts of shingles and chest infections,” she says.

This Was Her Training Routine and Diet

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Her nutrition and exercise routine consisted of:

- Hours of cardio

- Bodyweight exercises

- Cutting out food groups

- Yo-yo dieting

- Eating too much convenience food, processed sugar and refined carbohydrates

- Drinking alcohol regularly

She Is Healthier at 54 Than She Was at 42

“The photo on the right was taken last week when I turned 54,” she continues. “I am currently post-menopausal, with high muscle mass and low body fat. My body weight has increased, I eat more, I have higher energy levels, and my immune system is strong. My metabolic age is 36, with a visceral fat rating of 2.”

Strength Training

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She then goes on to detail her “nutrition and exercise” routine. She starts off by revealing she does strength training three times a week.

Cardio

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She also makes sure to get cardio in, but doesn’t do as much. She does “cardio training 2-3x\week,” she writes.

Walking

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She also makes sure to get her steps in. “Walking daily” is part of her routine.

Nutritious Whole Foods

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As for her diet, she tries to keep it clean. “Eating nutritious whole-food,” is her focus.

Protein

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She also understands the importance of fueling up with protein. “Eating a minimum of 100g protein a day,” is key, she says.

No Processed Sugar or Refined Carbohydrates

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One of her biggest no-nos when it comes to diet? “No processed sugar or refined carbohydrates,” she writes.

No Alcohol

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There is something else she avoids: Drinking her calories. “No alcohol” is her other major, don’t.

She Discovered Weights at 48

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“At the age of 48, I became a personal trainer and started to incorporate lighter weights into my fitness routine. At 50, I started to strength train in the gym using the progressive load technique (increasing the weight or number of reps over time). That’s when I discovered the power of lifting weights and the importance of having lean muscle mass,” she says.

Here Is Why Muscle Is Important

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According to Annie, muscle is the “key” to:

✨ better body composition

✨ burning fat

✨ driving your metabolism

✨ protecting against disease

✨ regulating blood sugar

✨ controlling hunger

✨ increased mobility

✨ better mood

✨ increased energy

She Is “Fitter, Stronger, and Healthier” Than She Was in Her 20s

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Overall, she is happy where she is today. “I can safely say, I am fitter, stronger and healthier now, than I was in my 20’s,” she says.

Having Lean Muscle “Is Key”

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“If you’re serious about staying healthy whilst you age, then having lean muscle is key. The only way to build and maintain muscle is to lift weights and don’t stop. Combined this with good nutrition and that’s the formula that’s worked for me,” she says.

She Adds That “It’s Never too Late”

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Her final words of wisdom? “If I can do it, so can you. It’s never too late, and you are never too old to start,” she says. And if you enjoyed this article, don't miss these 20 Superfoods for People Over 50.

After 50, your body changes bigtime—and what you have to do to stay fit changes too. For me, in my early 50s during the onset of menopause, I was a certified Pilates trainer, and I was already doing my traditional Pilates workout daily—and yet I noticed an increase in belly fat and a decrease in overall strength in my body. What gives? I thought.

As an experiment, I hired a personal trainer to break this plateau and specifically asked him to try to bulk me up by using heavy weights. I was using myself as a guinea pig for my new concept of using heavier resistance paired with my Pilates training. I specifically needed to see how much weight it would take to bulk up my body. While every woman is different, most of us don’t have the amount of testosterone it takes to build large muscle mass. In my case, the very first thing I noticed using heavy weights was an immediate shrinking of my waist.

I had been teaching Pilates for several years which is 100% core centric but as soon as I picked up more resistance and incorporated it into my Pilates exercises, I not only saw my waist shrink but my arms and legs sculpt, my abs flatten, and my back cut.

At the same time, my daughter was getting married and wanted to see better results from what she was doing. I started combining the weight work with the Pilates work and my own program, Hilliard Studio Method, was born. I practiced the exercises on my clients, my daughter, and me and the results were noticeable almost immediately. Numerous guests at the wedding commented on our backs and arms and the rest is history!

While creating HSM, which combines heavier resistance with dumbbells, bands, weighted balls, and gliders with core-centric Pilates exercises, I noticed a significant decrease in belly fat and an overall strengthening and sculpting of my body all while in the throes of menopause. The other key change I made was adding more lean protein into my diet. Read on to see how you can incorporate these learnings into your life and get your best body after 50.

Eat Real Food

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Diet is an imperative part of the journey! What we eat is extremely important for overall health and longevity, and my motto is to eat real food and aim to consume one gram of protein per body weight to shed weight and see the results of your workout. Start the day with protein in your smoothie, enjoy eggs or egg whites with vegetables, add nuts and lean proteins to your salads, and combine complex whole carbohydrates like quinoa with your vegetables and lean protein for dinner. I eat whole fruits and avoid processed foods and sugars. I view food as fuel and try to remember that food is either medicine or poison for our bodies.

Me, I enjoy the Hilliard Studio Method Signature Smoothie. By starting my day with 27g of protein, I set myself up for success, fuel my body for my workout, stay satiated longer, and help my muscles repair and grow. I try to eat about 1 gram of protein for each pound of weight I carry. Since I weigh around 135 lbs., my goal each day is get around 130 to 135 grams of protein per day.

Related: Grace Albin Just Shared This Ultimate Glute Workout

Add Resistance Training to Your Workout Routine

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There is nothing more effective for toning and sculpting your body and strengthening your bones. It is literally the fountain of youth!

At the time I was developing HSM, strength training was associated with bulking. Many women were, and still are, afraid that adding weights to their workout will immediately make them “bigger”. What I found however was that weight training and compound exercises shaped my body in a slimmer, stronger way while also increasing my metabolism and improving my overall cardiovascular and bone health.

Move Your Body

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Take a walk, walk while you’re on a phone call, and get outside as often as possible. We require natural light to keep our moods and hormones in balance. Incorporate play into your daily routine whenever possible. Stand on one leg when you’re brushing your teeth and use your non-dominant hand. This not only helps with balance but engages your core muscles which are key to a healthy back and posture while challenging new pathways in our brains.

Exercise With a Friend or Group

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Whether you’re in a group class or on a walk with your friends, working out with others helps keep you accountable and keeps it fun! You’ll reap the benefit of both physical and mental health!

Related: I Lost 100 Pounds by Fasting and You Can Too

Here's Some Motivation!

Liz Hilliard

It's never too late and you’re never too old to get started! I started Hilliard Studio Method in my 50s and designed it so that it's doable for everyone no matter their age or fitness level. Your body can always get stronger. For the last 20 years my workout has had an incredible benefit to my overall health. I’m not genetically lucky. In my family heart disease, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, and osteoporosis traditionally strike at an early age. At 70 my VO2 max (an indication of overall health) is that of an elite athlete. I have a BMI of 19.5, excellent bone density, and cardiovascular health all due to my workout and good nutrition.

If you’re interested in longevity, graceful aging, and staying healthy as you age all of us need a workout that combines strength training, flexibility, and cardio. I strength train at HSM at least 4 times a week for my physical, emotional, and mental health. I just turned seventy and have never been stronger!

Melissa Neil is a fitness trainer who specializes in working with women over 40 to transform their bodies and health. Melissa, in her late 50s, along with her husband, Ken, who is in his 60s, eat and exercise together to ensure healthy aging. She takes her followers “through a typical day” of “how we get in shape at this stage in life,” she says. “So we're gonna show you how we eat, what we do for training, and we're also gonna show you a way that you can do exactly what we are doing to get in great shape in your forties, fifties, sixties, and beyond.”

We Eat a Protein-Packed Pre-Workout Snack

“The first thing that we are doing, which we do before every strength training workout, is we're gonna have a pre-workout snack,” she says. She makes cream of rice, about “two heaps” or 70 grams, which she combines with protein powder. “ Ken's gonna have about 40 grams, and I'm gonna have 30 grams,” she says in the video.

They Use Protein Powder for Flavor

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She opts for whey protein. “You could use a plant protein. It doesn't really matter,” she says. She adds that she uses chocolate flavor, which “kind of gives it flavor because the cream of rice in itself can be a bit bland.” She notes it’s a great way to get your protein in. She also mixes it with unsweetened almond milk and cinnamon.

They Drink Lemon Tea

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“I'm just making some lemon tea because we both have lemon tea,” she says. “It's a way for me to get some hydration first thing in the morning. So that's what I like doing.” She chooses to avoid coffee because “coffee's actually a diuretic, meaning it's not going to hydrate you. It's going to dehydrate you. So this is why we have lemon water, but coffee is not bad for you per se. It's absolutely fine. But I just like to use this opportunity for hydration.”

They Also Drink Coffee

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“We don't drink a massive amount of coffee. We just drink it occasionally. I wanted to give it a try of not drinking so much coffee, and actually, I found it quite easy to do.”

She Eats Less Than Her Husband

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She notes the reason why she eats less than her husband is that her calories “actually need to be less in order to get fat loss. Ken can eat a lot more because he weighs more and he's a male. His body's burning more fat or burning more energy, and he's going to need a lot of energy to get through the workout,” she says.

Since Eating More Protein Her Training Has Improved

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She reveals that since she started eating the protein-packed meal, her training has improved. “We're both in a calorie deficit and what that means is sometimes, if you are in too much of a calorie deficit, you don't eat properly before training, your training is going to be compromised. That's your strength training. So it's really important to fuel your body correctly,” she says.

They Don’t Skip Meals

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She stresses the im[importance of not skipping meals. “People think that's a good way to lose weight, but actually, it's not because it's really important to fuel your body correctly,” she says.

They Walk to the Gym

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When it comes time to go to the gym, she reveals one of her fitness secrets. “We always walk,” she reveals. “Because what that does is it gets our steps in, so it's about a 15-minute walk to the gym, and yeah, it gets our steps in.”

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They Do Bench Exercises

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After a warm-up, they head over to the bench to do some exercises. “It's actually a decline bench,” she says, revealing that they have five sets of exercises. She starts with lower intensity, and by the third set, she moves onto “relatively heavy weight. The two final sets are what are called working sets. And they will be really, really heavy on the maximum that we can go for kind of six reps.”

Then, They Do HIIT Cardio

After their strength training session, they move on to cardio. I'm now going to get on the stair climber and do some HIIT cardio. It's just going to be 20 minutes,” she says.

They Eat More Protein for Breakfast

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After their workout, they move on to breakfast, which is oatmeal. “Ken's putting in 60 grams. I would probably put 50 grams in, so I have a little bit less than him, but then my carbohydrates through the day would be much less than Ken's for the rest of the day.” She adds almond milk and protein powder. Ken adds banana “because he can afford to have a little bit more carbohydrate,” she says. She sticks to berries.

They Have Lean Protein, Whole Grains, and a Little Fat for Lunch

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For lunch, they marinate chicken breasts in yogurt, whole grains, and homemade coleslaw with cabbage, a little bit of mayo, and apple cider vinegar. “I'm basically just gonna plunk it all on a plate and eat it. But I will weigh it out, probably like about 90 grams of chicken breast,” she says.

Her Husband Does Group Cardio Classs

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“Ken loves to do his cardio in a group environment. So he goes to a local gym where he does a class in the evenings. It's a high-intensity interval training class. It fits right in with how we recommend you work out if you are over 40,” she says.

RELATED:I'm 50+ and These 7 Fat-Blasting Habits Keep Me in the Best Shape of My Life

They Have Salmon and Veggies for Dinner

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Her last meal of the day is salmon and veggies. “We just bought one of those stir-fried vegetable bags; they're already prepped up. Just stir-fried that and put it like salmon in,” she says.

They Also Indulge in a Low-Calorie Sweet Treat

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She follows it up with something that is “always quite light, a little bit of dessert,” that is, low-calorie ice cream served in a cup of tea. “It's 250 calories per tub,” she says, revealing that she just has one-fifth of that. “It is going to have carbohydrates in it but not that many carbs, so it won't push me over my limit,” she says.

The Couple’s Program Helps with Accountability

They also explain that they created the couple’s program because it helps with accountability. “Some people are different, but I need to be pushed, and working with a partner and my partner has helped me tremendously. It's great,” says Ken.

It Has Also Challenged Her and Increased Her Fitness Level

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She admits that when they started out, they were on different levels. “What it's done is it's really brought my strength training, in particular, my upper body. I've just achieved a sort of personal best on my bench press by working out with Ken.”

It’s More Fun Doing It with Someone Else

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“So we've developed this program in mind so that if you've got someone you want to do this with, it's going to work so much better for you than doing it on your own. Because it's actually quite tough doing it on your own, isn't it?” she says.

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It Also Simplifies Things

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“If you can do it with someone, it's actually going to bring your training on more. It's going to bring more food to the side of it. Especially if you eat together because you know you eat together so you're going to have the same meals together. Ken eats more than me, but essentially, it's the same food we eat out together as well, don't we?” she says.

Overall, It Will Improve Your Health

“It's about your health as well, trying to improve your health in life and your activity by going out and you're walking, improving your mobility. And having a better lifestyle with that,” they add. “We are doing it together. So it makes it much easier to do it together, and it kind of brings us closer together.” And if you enjoyed this article, take advantage of these 20 Superfoods for People Over 50.