Good Health-a-thon for the Midlife Set

I've never been on a weight-loss diet in my life. The women in my family run towards obesity, but I seem to have a different metabolic profile. When I was in my teens and twenties I was several times put on a weight-gain diet by my doctor. For months on end I consumed three cans of high-calorie nutritional supplement each day in addition to normal meals and snacks. I grew to hate the sound of a pop-top and took to carrying a toothbrush and mouthwash with me at all times in a futile effort to clean away the milky fuzz that coated my mouth and throat. I didn't gain any weight.

During my forties I finally started to flesh out and now, in my mid-fifties, I'm within the "normal" weight range for a woman of my height. My shape has been redefined by a poochy belly between the sharp outline of pelvic bones that once rivaled my breasts for supremacy of protuberance. My body has achieved on its own the goals I once tried to force on it.

My body is learning other new tricks these days, too. Those breasts, for instance, are fuller and rounder, contributing to a shape that is, overall, a bit more feminine than my previous boniness. They have a sense of humor, though, those breasts. It centers them at approximately the same latitude as my elbows (which are still bony.) My arms are still thin, but only if I wear sleeves to hide jiggly bat wings. The diner customers who nicknamed me "Legs" in my youth would not be so inclined today. My derriere seems to be taking its cue from my breasts, having learned that gravity is not a force to be denied. Hardware-grade bras and tight jeans may fool the casual observer, but my bosom, my butt and I know all of my body's secrets. Pouring jello into a mold doesn't change its gelatinous nature.

I like this current version of me, but it deserves more care than I give it. I used to swim almost every day and created my own water aerobics routine to stretch the long muscles and fight off flab. After I started my business I had to cut back on beach time, but my job is very physical so I still stayed in decent shape. When business slowed down, though, I didn't get back to my swimming and didn't devise another exercise routine. I have a medical condition that limits the kind of exercise I can do, and maybe I used that as an excuse. The same condition limits the foods I can eat. I can't digest fats (that's good) but also can't have fresh fruits and veggies (bad.) The lack of exercise and a diet heavy in carbs and proteins are taking their toll. My weight may be fine, but entirely too much of it is toneless flab.

Let's face it: we're not the women we used to be. Your experiences have been different from mine, but they've shaped your life and the body that you're living it in today. We're older and wiser. We've passed the halfway mark in our working lives and are looking forward to our retirement years. Many of us, perhaps even most of us, are used to taking care of everyone else and putting ourselves last. Many of us, perhaps even most of us, haven't moved ourselves up a notch or two on our list of priorities, even though the kids are old enough to be independent, our work is a settled routine and we know that we are absolutely worth the attention. The BlogHer Good Health-a-thon'09 offers us a perfect opportunity to open up a dialog about our midlife health and wellness concerns, as well as a platform for exploring changes we may want to make in our lives. Contributors to the Good Health-a-thon are sharing stories of what works for them, what they'd like to try, where they've been and were they want to be. This is a community-wide effort and everyone is invited to chime in. Here are some questions that open the door to discussion:

What health challenges are you facing now? How do your health and wellness concerns differ today from the ones you were addressing twenty years ago?

Do you see any roadblocks that stand in the way of your goals? Are they physical, mental, financial or maybe even political? How can you as an individual and we as a group confront and demolish whatever barriers we think might be holding us back?

How do you see the overall health picture of your midlife self when compared to your younger self. Are you in better shape today, or have you let things slide a bit?

The more years we accumulate, the more exposure we have to illness and injury. How has your historical health experience impacted the way you approach health and fitness today?

Let's include mental health and sexuality in our discussion. Both can have a huge impact on how we perceive ourselves, how we live our daily lives and how we shape our expectations.