This week on the Fit is Freedom Podcast, I have the pleasure of being joined by the incredibly knowledgeable and passionate Dr. Mimi Secor!

Join us as Mimi shares her journey into the health and fitness world at a time when she truly didn’t believe she had ANY time to give in her life. With our combined passions of everything health and fitness along with helping women, we’ll also discuss some incredibly important topics plaguing us women as we age including:

• Taking care of yourself

Mimi is a force to be reckoned with! She has over 45 years experience as a Nurse Practitioner and has always had a knack for helping other women. At the age of 59, she decided to go for her doctorate instead of preparing for retirement. This was one of the toughest decisions, but also the biggest life-changing decision.

In the throws of her doctoral program, she found inspiration from her daughter, who literally got Mimi off her feet and into a gym. Once Mimi started taking care of herself, thanks to the not-so-subtle nudging of her daughter, she realized how much her life and her body were improving.

Since that life changing moment, Mimi has competed in multiple body-building competitions.  She works alongside her daughter to help other women achieve their long term fitness goals, and has even written a bestselling book! 

Throughout the podcast, we discuss a variety of topics. Here are some of the top tips from Dr. Mimi Secor…

Self-care is quite the buzzword these days, but it is so important to take care of yourself. As a general rule, the more stressed you are, the more you need to be doing to take care of yourself.

Of course, there are all kinds of things you can do to take care of yourself, but here are some of the easiest to implement quickly..

• Speak kindly to yourself

Women have to consider all kinds of factors when they are trying to make lifelong positive changes.  Choosing your tribe may be one of them. Do you have people who pressure you to eat in ways you don’t feel will fuel your body properly? Do you have people who aren’t encouraging of your new health habits? 

It’s important to surround yourself with a tribe that has similar values. Maybe you could find a group that enjoys hikes or walks in the afternoon.  Maybe there’s a particular friend of yours who enjoys reading inspirational biographies. The point is…be intentional with whom you surround yourself.  It’s really important!

We all get them from time to time. Waking up sore. Bending over to pick something up only to feel a twinge in your back. As we age, this has the potential to become more and more common, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be. Here are some things you can do that can keep your body flexible, agile, and prepared as you start aging…

• Stretching

Both Mimi and myself despise diets. I mean, it literally has the word “die” in it!  What we do support is optimizing your health in a way that is sustainable and changes your life for the long haul. It all starts with your mindset and then trickles down to your food, your sleep, your movement, and more. 

If you focus on making small changes over time, you are much more likely to change your life in a big way down the road. It creates consistency and habits, which will keep you working even when life throws its unexpected stressors at you.