What would you tell your 40 year old self?

[loyganroyal]

Approaching 40 and keen to hear from women and mums in their 50s and beyond, how can these next 10 years be great and full of joy, no regrets!

Bumping this.. would be great to know too! I’m mid 30’s and have no relationship with my female relatives or mum so I miss that camaraderie and advice that comes with it.

Yes I'd love to hear too! Am 46 now and I sometimes feel my life is over along with my youth.

Am getting concerned that lack of posts is because no one has anything positive to say😫

I feel like this

I've only just turned 30 but this seems like an interesting post! I'm definitely interested 😃

Exercise more (I didn’t). Make more time
for your friends - they’ll be there for you when your children have left home. Squeeze in as many family holidays/citybreak as you can.

Forget having another child and just book more holidays.

Keep fitter
Get house organised
Don't get fat
Get your thyroid checked
Watch less TV

What! I'm 43 and having a bloody great time (when not trying to cook for everyone, which I just posted about elsewhere 🙄)

Do what makes you happy, leave the rest behind.

Cultivate 3-4 close friends as you never know when you will need someone.Be the person they can ring at 2 30am in an emergency so you could do the same.Don't rely on one as they may die ( sorry but true) or move away.

Ooh good thread. I'm 51 and would tell myself the following:

Exercise as much as you can, focusing on building muscle
Eat unprocessed foods and maintain a healthy weight
Stop worrying about unimportant stuff, don't ruminate about the past
Meditate
Enjoy today because you'll never be this young again

In a few years, your joints will really, REALLY ache.

Lose the weight!

Try not to fall face first into a midlife crisis out of absolutely nowhere and develop an insane and debilitating crush on someone you are not married to.

Sorry, s'all I've got so far...

Also, if you think you might be anaemic, ask for your ferritin levels to be checked alongside the usual blood test.

In lighter news, parenting gets considerably more fun once they reach about 17.

Keep a healthy weight or loose extra weight now. The older you get the harder it is.

Look after your teeth.
Don't stay with a man who is abusive or isn't giving you what you need.
Make as much money as you can.
Cherish good friends.

LTB
Retrain in something you really want to do
Mug up on menopause

Sounds interesting…

Don't be afraid to do things on your own. If you see an event that you are interested in and nobody else is available go on your own. You will find like minded people there. Go to the cinema or the theatre, alone if need to. Do keep in contact with your friends, be the person who makes the arrangements for meetups. There has to be a person or nothing is ever arranged. Go on nights away, the household won't collapse without you. If it does change how others contribute to it. You are not there just to be mum/ partner. You will appreciate your friends more as time goes by. If you are lucky enough to have your parents, one or both, put yourself out as often as you can to be with them. Organise outings with them. One of the best weekends I had with my mum was when we went to where she went to boarding school and she showed me the places that were important to her.
Never be afraid to step out of your comfort zone, be brave. You are not too old, too fat, too wrinkly, too anything. You are fabulous. Want to scuba dive, go skydiving, run a marathon, write a book, take up karate you can do it. Don't be afraid to try. It may not work out but so what. Learn to laugh at yourself.
Look after your skin. Even if up to now you haven't start immediately. Use suncream daily. @Same with trying to keep your body fit and healthy. You get less aches and pains when you are at a healthier weight. Look after your teeth.
Make sure you do one thing every day just for you. Read a chapter of your book, use a face mask, watch a movie, whatever you want. We get in the habit of always putting ourselves last, at being at everyone else's beck and call.
Try and keep up with current affairs, do crosswords, sudokus, keep your brain active.
I'm loving my 50's more than my 30'sand 40's. My children are nearly reared, one more year of school. The older DC are lovely human beings who are not dependent on me. They live with us through our choice and theirs but we are adults now. Myself and DH can make arrangements just for us. Sex is back on the menu, I think that I'm more relaxed because there's no fear of pregnancy and I'm not exhausted all the time. The hard slog of working, childrearing and running a household is behind us.

Agree the weight thing, after being an 8-10 most of my adult life it just happened, I’m now overweight.

The positives are you give less fucks about everything in general and do more of what you want. I’m also retraining. Going to be broke whilst I do but managing just.

hahha, this is a timely thread, I'm 40 in under a year and last month decided that now is the time to attempt to loose 5 stone and get fit. Good to know the plan is a good plan!

Divorce him asap

Following! Great advice!

im 51. I loved my 40’s for the most part. Yes get fit, build your career, invest in friendships.

These are great. Thank you so much for taking the time. It’s genuinely really helpful and puts things into perspective definitely 😊

Yoga and Pilates are your friends.