The 7 habits I quit to be my strongest ever self at 55 - and what I do instead

There are a few things that you’ve probably stopped doing as you’ve got older. Staying out until 5am, wearings sky-scraper heels to the office every day, and living off beans on toast, for example. In the same way, not all of the exercise and nutrition habits you picked up when you first started training should stay with you forever. As 55-year-old midlife fitness coach Deborah Moore from Canada says, she only became ‘the strongest [I’ve] ever been’ when she quit seven things.

‘I never saw myself getting this strong,’ she wrote on Instagram. ‘I was doing all the things that many of you are likely doing – trying to eat as little as I could get away with and still get through my workouts. My value was attached to the size of the jeans that I fit into, and whether I was as skinny as the women I saw around me (which I never seemed to be).

‘Food was a minefield, and I never thought that I would break free of the body image prison that I had created for myself. Enter CrossFit and the barbell – life changed. Whether it was reaching my 50s and giving less of a crap what others thought, or being so tired of this exhausting negative cycle, I’m not sure, but I finally decided to trust the process, trust the food to nourish me, and trust my body to perform.

‘The funny thing is, I think I look better now having let go of all of these ridiculous rules for myself. But one thing is clear: being strong (vs skinny) has been the single biggest mindset shift for me, but it was a real learning process.’

Here’s everything she stopped doing, and the habits she replaced them with.

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1. I stopped being obsessed with my body weight number, or even body fat number

And became obsessed with the weight I can move on the barbell. I was once under 120lbs (54kg), with less than 15% body fat, and a US size 0-2 (approx. UK size 4- 6) Now, I've gained 10lbs (4.5kg), increased 5% body fat, and am a US size 4-6 (approx. UK size 8-10), but I focus on the 100+lbs of barbell weight I can lift.

2. I stopped restricting calories, calorie deficits or fad diets, and training fasted

And started eating for performance – about 2300 calories daily (155g protein and occasionally tracking macros). While it is true that working out fasted leads to increased fat oxidation for fuel, the reality is that fat loss depends very heavily on being in a calorie deficit overall.

So working out fasted, but then eating in maintenance or more calories than you have expended in the day will lead to no fat loss or fat gain.

And what often happens is that if you fuel your body for a workout, you will be able to put in more intensity or work out for longer, and therefore expend more calories overall, than if you were fasted. Not to mention that this intensity can be much more beneficial for building muscle than a half-arsed effort.

3. I stopped being afraid of lifting SUPER heavy (as in 2x my body weight)

And started pushing my limits, and I love it!

4. I stopped caring about looking “too muscular”

And started bringing on thick muscle.

5. I stopped seeing food as a reward or punishment

And started seeing it as energy and nourishment for body and mind.

6. I stopped chasing quick fixes like a "summer beach body"

And started going for the long game and trusting the process.

7. I stopped chasing validation in clothing sizes or my appearance

And started getting validation from my consistency and progress.

Now, Deborah does CrossFit several times a week and says she ‘credits it for changing [my] life when I turned 50 and picked up a barbell for the first time’. ‘To say that my self-confidence, my attitude towards my body, and my nutrition had been a bit of a mess for pretty much my whole adult life is an understatement.'