Hayley Foster: The Mid-Life Pivot Leader
It’s not too late for you to age backwards.
“If you’ve just read that and agree with mom, you should not bother reading the rest of this article.”
If you’re 50, 60 or 70, I promise you it is not too late to get started. That is of course, unless you’re stubborn and have no interest in making any changes – like my 80 year old mom whose mantra is ‘I’m 80, I’m not about to change at this point’.
I love her with every ounce of my being and the fact that I can’t convince her to stop drinking wine on a daily basis, eating gummy bears as a snack and a Haggen Daz Ice Cream after dinner nightly is heartbreaking. If you’ve just read that and agree with mom, you should not bother reading the rest of this article.
Change Is Hard:
I figure, if I can’t fix my mom, I can at least try to help anyone else that’s willing to listen.
So you my friend, thanks for listening (reading).
If you want to get started but you’re not sure where to begin, let’s start with some basic tips, information and possibly motivation.
#1 – If nothing changes, nothing changes.
Change is hard. I get it. I’ve made so many changes in my life over the last few years when it comes to a healthy lifestyle and not a single one of them has been easy.
Want to age backwards? Start today by making a list of ONE thing you can change this week that you know will have a positive impact. If you need some examples of small changes you can start making, read this to the end where I give you a list of things you can start doing today.
Make A Difference:
“when our brains know we are being successful, it motivates us to keep doing the thing that we are successful at doing”
The reason why you want to start with ONE thing is because taking on too many things at once can be stressful and that’s the last thing we want for you.
So pick ONE. You want to make sure it’s one that you KNOW will make a difference. Why?
Well, when our brains know we are being successful, it motivates us to keep doing the thing that we are successful at doing. That’s how we are wired as humans – scientifically speaking. So again, pick ONE thing you KNOW will make a positive difference quickly.
#2 – Sugar is the devil. I’ll say that again – SUGAR IS THE DEVIL!
Completely cutting sugar out of your diet is NOT EASY. More than half of American’s are consuming, on average, more than 25 teaspoons (125 grams) of sugar a day. That’s 20% more than is recommended. The question is, who is even recommending this? That’s a whole other story. I could write an entire article on sugar (maybe that will be my next one) but for the sake of time, I’m going to top line this.
Note: everyone reading this is biologically different. How sugar impacts one person can be very different than how it impacts another. When my husband and I were wearing our Glucose monitors, we were able to see how eating the same things impacted us differently. Our bodies also burn sugar very differently. We both try to stay in Ketosis – which means our bodies run efficiently by burning fat rather than producing glucose for energy.
A Dose of Realism:
I’m going to be realistic here. Kicking sugar is hard, very hard, and I would be a hypocrite to say that you should not eat ANY sugar. I used to be that person that needed something sweet after every meal. And there in lies the problem. When we eat sweets after our meals, we become accustomed to it and it forms a habit. I used to put that really yummy Coffeemate Creamer into my coffee – starting my day off with a sugar high which then makes you crash, spikes your cravings for more sugar, and the cycle goes on and on.
A few years ago, I kicked my sugar habit by going on a six-week challenge. Sugar was not allowed and if you ate it, it was a mark against you. What this helped me to do was to be highly aware of how much and when I was consuming sugar.
If you can kick this horrendous habit, you can literally add YEARS to your life and age backwards. There is so much research behind this, it amazes me that sugar is something that has not been banned, or at least have a warning label from our beloved FDA. (Don’t get me started on them!)
The best way to kick your sugar habit, is to JUST DO IT! It’s hard. If you need support, sign up for a challenge like I did – The Whole Life Challenge – this one is great and runs a few times per year.
If it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you.
“would you pick up a bottle of rubbing alcohol and start drinking it?”
As I mentioned above, sugar causes you to have cravings and cravings lead you to eat. Sometimes what you decide to eat, is even more sugar which sends you into a terrible cycle of more and more food and more and more sugar. Picture a hamster wheel spinning round and round and round. Are you dizzy yet?
Back to our big powerful brains. In order to kick the habit, let’s try to change your mind about sugar. Once you can re-trigger your brain to how bad it is, your brain will start to tell you that you don’t want it.
For example, would you pick up a bottle of rubbing alcohol and start drinking it? NO! Why? Because your brain is programmed to know that doing so could cause pain, illness or sudden death. All you need to do, is reprogram your brain to think of sugar in the same way.
Let’s try this Hack: Take some white stickers and put a big RED X on them. Go into your cabinets and put a sticker on all the things that have sugar in them. This will instantly tell your brain that what you’re looking at is NOT GOOD FOR YOU!
Let me know if this helps. It’s a bit harsh but so is cancer and sugar feeds cancer and cancer feeds on sugar.
BIG NOTE: I would not recommend you substitute with fake sugar – that’s just as bad. Read the labels for words like sugar, cane sugar, Dextrose, Fructose, Galactose, Glucose, Lactose, Maltose, Sucrose – notice that most of these rhyme with GROSS. If it rhymes with gross, try not to eat it. Those are just a few of the over 65 different names for sugar. Want more names, do a google search.
#3 – Take a walk! Literally – go for a walk.
5 minutes, 10 minutes, 20 minutes, 45 minutes. Doesn’t matter how long you have, just get out there and start doing it.
Get outside for a walk after a meal – lunch and dinner or just one of those but DO IT!
5 Reasons To Walk:
- Lowers blood sugar levels
- Helps you digest
- Reduces blood pressure
- Promotes cardiovascular health
- Helps you sleep better
While using my Nutrisense Continuous Glucose Monitor for 30 days, I saw dips in my blood sugar every night I went for a walk after dinner, which motivated me to keep up the walking. You don’t have to wear one to know the benefits, take it from me. Even though you and I are different, my husband saw the same positive results and countless studies have also shown this to be true.
#4 – Knowledge is Power. If we’re not growing, we are dying.
“If you can see it, you can believe it and if you can see it and believe it, you CAN become it.”
Think about it. There is so much FREE information out there these days on how to live a healthier lifestyle. I mentioned in a previous article the different pillars you can measure yourself against if you’re looking to ‘Foster Your Life’ – live your best, healthiest life so you can live longer feeling better.
10 Pillars To Age Backwards:
- Practice Gratitude
- Move and Sweat
- Meditate
- Journal
- Have Fun/Laugh/Play
- Hydrate Your Body
- Get at least 7-8 hours of sleep each night
- Learn and Grow
- Practice Healthy Eating Habits
- Visualize the person you want to be and life you want to live.
If you can see it, you can believe it. And if you can see it and believe it, you CAN become it.
Hope you found this helpful. For more tips and information on how to not die, live better, live longer and heal your body so you can age backwards, follow my Longevity Journey on Instagram.
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About the Author:
Hayley has been an entrepreneur for as far back as she can remember, always motivated to find creative ways to help others. Hayley is a two-time author, speaker, consultant, coach, podcaster, motivator, and mentor. In 2002, Hayley founded her first company, Verge Marketing Inc – a bag and accessory design and manufacturing company with offices located in New York City and Shenzhen, China (a WBE certified by the WBENC and member of WPO of New York). From building the infrastructure from the ground up to managing all aspects of the business, Hayley grew Verge to over $5M in revenues, earning accolades from Entrepreneur magazine as a “fastest-growing company” and landing on the Inc. 5000 list for three years. After 12 years, Hayley lost her passion for what she was doing.
In January 2015, Hayley felt it was time to take her 20 plus years of experience and give back in a way that would inspire, support and educate other women entrepreneurs. She started Foster Inc., a network and consultancy for women-owned businesses. Through peer-to-peer advisory and accountability groups, one-on-one consulting, boot camp workshops, masterminds and value-added networking events, Hayley works with women entrepreneurs to help them either get started or take their businesses to the next level.
