DOES HEALTH AND happiness dip in your 40s? Maybe, but there are many lifestyle habits you can adopt to keep you energised through mid-life.
Surely mid-life – a point at which we’ve found success, be it personally or professionally, and figured out what we need – should be a time of contentment?
A recent study by researchers at Dartmouth College in the US, however, found happiness tends to dip to a lifetime low in our late-40s. The research, which looked at 15 fundamental measures of health and wellbeing – including fatigue, sadness, tension, anxiety, depression and sleeplessness – in people from all over the world, revealed a U-shaped ‘happiness curve’ which bottomed out from age 41-48.
“In midlife, the alarming fact is that despite what professional, material or personal success you’ve achieved after years of effort and dedication, as well as the miracle of kids for many and/or a wide social network, research shows happiness dips to a lifetime low,” says Dr Marc Bubbs, a performance nutritionist who works with professional and Olympic athletes.
This dip can bring significant adverse effects for our mental and physical health too, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Rather than drifting toward low energy, weight gain, joint pain and the like in your mid-30s and beyond, you can take action. Small changes, done consistently over time, are the secret to success – and not the latest fad diet, trendy exercise regime, or biohack.
So, what sort of small changes are we talking? Here are seven simple strategies to help people approaching, or already in middle-age, improve their health and wellbeing…
- Get better sleep
The average person only gets six-and-a-half hours sleep per night, and 30% of people get less than six hours, even though the National Sleep Foundation recommends adults get seven to nine hours nightly.
Insufficient sleep makes it more difficult to disengage from negative thoughts, lowers mood, kills your libido, and sparks excessive inflammation. Recovery, better energy and libido, and more effervescent mood starts with sleep. Even a 20-minute power naps around midday can refresh your mind and combat stress.
- Start with breakfast
Although getting your day off to a good start with the right breakfast can make a huge difference to how you feel and perform, most common breakfast foods – like juice, cereal, bread, etc – come in boxes and bags and are ultra-processed, calorie-dense and nutrient-poor.
Breakfast is also the meal where we often consume the least protein, which is a problem for energy, focus and overall health. To reboot your breakfast, aim for at least 20g of protein from eggs (or tofu scramble for vegans), yoghurt, milk (dairy or soy), or protein powder in a morning smoothie.
- No late-night snacking on weekdays
It’s all too easy to grab a sweet snack at the end of a long, busy day but all that snacking before bed is a key reason why you may be struggling with weight gain or poor health in mid-life.
More than 40% of the calories we consume are eaten or drunk after 6pm, and they’re a “major roadblock” to a slimmer waistline, deeper sleep and recovery.
- Power up your protein
While protein is important for maintaining muscle, it often gets missed. Protein intake also correlates strongly with overall health and longevity and people consuming a higher amount of protein see a parallel increase in their vitamin and mineral intake. It supports lean muscle, which is a strong marker of healthy ageing, and builds everything in your body from immune cells to hair, skin and nails, etc.
Although the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) for protein is 0.8g per kg or bodyweight per day, some researchers believe this should be increased, and suggest a daily protein intake of 1.2g/kg/day as we age, due to protein’s association with reduced incidence of loss of muscle and bone, and better health.
- Movement is medicine
Studies suggest that by middle-age a third of adults don’t do any physical activity at all. Exercise is a powerful tool for igniting better health, lifting your mood, building muscle and shedding body fat – especially in mid-life. No drug in the world can do what movement can for your health.
- Commit to the process
Change takes time – and most people want overnight results, which just don’t happen. Middle-aged people need to map out a long-term strategy and stick to it, setting goals six, nine or twelve months ahead, rather than trying to achieve everything quickly. Doing it this way will dramatically increase your odds of success.
- Develop the right habits and understand why
Use your initial inspiration, motivation and discipline to build lifestyle automaticity – aka habits – where you simply ‘just do it’, without having to think about it or make a decision. You just eat the right breakfast, hit your daily steps, and go to bed on time because you’ve repeated the action so many times, it becomes second nature.
And it certainly helps if you’re building habits that are meaningful for you, rather than blindly following trends. Taking the time to know yourself better and identify the things that are important for you – your values – is a major piece of the puzzle. Your values act as your North Star and when struggling with low energy, weight gain or poor health, they help to highlight when your habits are out of alignment. Take a minute to identify your values and you’ll be amazed at how much more success you’re likely to have in developing new habits.
