Is intermittent fasting the key to aging well for midlife women?

You may have heard the buzz that intermittent fasting can help you lose weight easily and live longer. At the same time, you may also be questioning the validity of fasting for aging well and whether to try fasting yourself. 

To help you decide whether intermittent fasting is for you, we did a deep dive into the literature (and there’s a lot). More research will be published on this hot topic, so our views may evolve as we learn more. 

Why the interest in intermittent fasting? Healthcare has extended length of lives, but not necessarily health and quality of years. The decline in health experienced with aging is influenced by biological and metabolic changes (such as blood sugar, insulin, waist circumference, lean body mass, blood pressure, cholesterol, and triglycerides) that occur during aging. The scientific interest in exploring whether intermittent fasting can improve how we age is increasing. And, if you’re like us, your interest is piqued because you want to age well while living longer. 

Some studies have shown that calorie restriction and increased exercise improved healthspan and delayed the onset of aging-associated declines. Intermittent fasting has been shown to stimulate similar biological pathways at a cellular level as caloric restriction and has emerged as a potential regimen for preventing or reducing the risk for certain diseases such as heart disease, cancer, neurodegenerative diseases, and obesity, as well as for improving brain function and mental clarity.

Types of Intermittent Fasting

Let’s start by defining the types of fasting being studied and discussed in the literature and online. 

• Alternate day fasting is eating a normal diet one day and fasting completely or moderately (consuming ~25% of daily calories or approximately 500-800 calories, called moderate alternate day fasting) the next.

• Fasting on some days of the week. The most popular application is called a 5:2 approach—where a normal diet is consumed for five days, and a fast is done for two days each week. The fasting days tend to be limited to approximately 25% of energy needs (500-800 calories).

• Time-restricted eating limits eating time to 4 to 12 hours during the day. 

• A fasting-mimicking diet is a period of a water-only or very low-calorie diet for two or more days separated from the next cycle by one week or longer. It was developed to be used in periodic cycles.

Research To Date 

It’s important to acknowledge that relatively few studies have explored the different intermittent fasting routines in middle-aged and older adults, and many of these studies were less than one year in length. More long-term research is needed to confirm the promoted health benefits for midlife adults. 

With that said, when reviewing studies conducted with broader populations, some have suggested that fasting regimens can aid in mild to moderate weight loss through consistent reductions in energy intake. However, recent literature reviews have not seen a significant difference over simply reducing calories throughout the day to control weight loss, glucose, and blood lipids. Reducing calories throughout the day or trying intermittent fasting can be viable options for reducing intake. Choose the approach that is easier to adhere to long-term, some people have found intermittent fasting easier than daily monitoring of caloric intake. With either approach, losing weight can improve health, especially in individuals who are overweight or obese.

Time-restricted eating has emerged as an eating approach that may support circadian rhythms. Most studies to date have been done in mice and supported by largely observational studies in humans, but they have shown benefits such as a reduction in fat mass, increased lean mass, reduction of inflammation, improved heart function, and improved natural body repair processes. 

Research done with rodents has also suggested that the health benefits of restricting eating windows without restricting calories were similar to the benefits of calorie restriction.  A few studies have shown that eating the same number of calories earlier in the day compared to late at night aids in weight loss without differences in caloric intake, macronutrient distribution, or energy expenditure furthering the interest in whether intermittent fasting, especially time-restricted eating, could be a practical approach for weight loss. It also has been proposed that time-restricted eating may increase metabolic flexibility enabling the body to fluctuate between burning carbohydrates and fat more easily. 

Metabolism may function more optimally in the morning, which suggests that eating earlier in the day may produce better weight outcomes.  Eating at night (between 5 pm and midnight) can often lead to eating too many calories, which can increase markers of inflammation. More research is needed to understand eating times, fasting periods, and health outcomes. Shorter eating windows (e.g., 12 hours) or consistent first and last meal times may be practical approaches for midlife women to use to control calorie intake without negatively impacting eating in social settings. 

Although some people find fasting difficult to adhere to long-term, others find intermittent fasting approaches easier to follow, making adoption and adherence to these approaches easier. Most people don’t have to overhaul their eating, avoid certain food groups, or monitor calories to follow a fasting approach, especially when doing time-restrictive eating. However, more research is needed to understand hunger, satiety, and long-term success with any fasting regimen. 

While intermittent fasting regimens appear to be safe for short periods, more research on humans is needed to assess safety for long-term use,  Most research has been done on people who are overweight or obese. More research needs to be conducted to determine whether fasting is safe for people at a healthy weight. 

In our experience, with any type of restrictive rule-based eating plan, women may miss out on important nutrients in their diets when they restrict food to a small eating window or fast on alternate days. As we age, getting the nutrients needed to maintain muscle mass and stay nourished can be more difficult, and adding a fasting regimen may make that even more challenging. 

When energy and nutrients are restricted, women may experience symptoms such as hunger, temperature changes, fatigue, headache, low energy, irritability, and gastrointestinal issues. Eating healthfully during any restricted eating plan is important to maintain energy, support mental health, and optimize healthspan. 

We’d love to say intermittent fasting is a key to aging well. Some studies done with lab animals show promising results, but the studies with humans are sparse, short-term, and therefore not yet conclusive. Plus, there’s a lack of consistency regarding an ideal regimen. 

Bottom Line

If you’re interested in trying intermittent fasting,  a shorter eating window (~12 hours) or consistent first and last meal times may be practical places to start for most healthy midlife women as we all wait for more evidence.

Small calorie reductions can be fine, but it’s important to get the nutrients, especially protein, you need to feel great, have the energy to participate in the activities you enjoy, and eat from all food groups. Being too restrictive can prove detrimental to aging well, especially if you lose lean body mass or you fall into an overly  “restrictive” eating pattern that impacts your joy of eating or your ability to eat with family or friends. 

Lastly, work with your healthcare provider if you have a chronic disease or are on any medications to ensure your chosen approach will work for you and not be counterproductive to your current medical regimen. 

12 Simple Makeup Tips for Midlife Women

We don’t talk much about beauty trends and makeup in midlife because we deeply oppose the anti-aging messaging we witness in beauty industry marketing campaigns. This type of advertising puts too much unrealistic pressure on midlife women not to age. The messages women shouldn’t have wrinkles, gray hair, or sagging skin feed on our vulnerabilities and are wrong. 

We are aging. We shouldn’t hide from it. What we know about aging has evolved, providing us with opportunities to age well and differently than previous generations. It’s time to embrace our age, enjoy life, and live vibrantly into the future. 

Living well as we age and focusing on doing it from the inside out is possible. But, we also understand part of living well is feeling good in whatever ways work for you. If that means wearing trendy clothes, using makeup, using the latest skincare products, or dying your hair, we’re all for it! We do it too! 

In 2021, we were so pleased to work with Multi-Media Make-up Artists Amy Marie Reed and Carmelle Eickhoff. They educated us and other midlife women on how to adapt our makeup routines as we age.  

The information provided was so helpful that we asked them to share a few simple tips to help you make adjustments in your makeup routine so you continue to feel fresh and vibrant in midlife.  

Just like you refresh your wardrobe and update your style, you can use makeup and skincare to reflect your style and personality.

Take care of your skin first! 

• Moisturize. Moisturize. Moisturize. 

• Apply moisturizer before makeup and let it set before applying makeup. 

Use a foundation or tinted moisturizer to even out skin discolorations over the entire face. 

• Apply under the chin and down the neck area and blend well. 

• Use silicone moisturizers under silicone-based foundations. If you use a water-based moisturizer, use a water-based foundation. 

• Switch from cake or powder foundations to one that is cream or liquid.

Reconsider blush.

• Use cream blushes blending to hairline and high on cheekbones. 

Enhance your lips!

• Use lipsticks, glosses, and blushes interchangeably. 

• Avoid frosty lipsticks. 

• Have fun playing with color and top off with a “sticky” clear lip gloss for moisture.

• Avoid “smeary” glosses that will settle into lip lines and smudge. 

• Use your lip liner to fill in your entire lips for a long-wearing, matte lipstick look.

• For smoother, softer lips, use an exfoliator at night. Follow it with a Vitamin E Stick to bring full moisture back to your lips. 

• To prevent your lipstick from bleeding, try semi-matte lipstick. It has less moisture, but moisture is what creates movement of the lipstick. 

• After applying your first layer of lipstick, set your lip look with a translucent powder just like you would set your makeup, and then use another layer of lipstick for a long-lasting hold.

Avoid using too much powder, especially under the eyes. 

• Using a colorless powder over foundations to “set” foundations or conceal pore areas is fine - but less is more. 

Showcase those lashes. 

• Consider using a lash curler to lift lashes. 

• Apply mascara at the very root of lashes - wiggling it to get in the lash line. You may need two coats of mascara and remove any clumps after application.

Take care of your eyelids. 

• Eyelids get oily as time passes, so use an eyeshadow primer to help with shadow adherence and longevity and even out skin discoloration before applying shadow. 

• Stick with soft neutral shadows. Shadows with a sheen are preferable to shimmery or sparkly. 

• Eyeshadow primer is also helpful on lower lashes and lower lid areas to apply shadows used as a replacement for eyeliner. Avoid lighter or shimmery colors on hooded eyes. 

• Replace eyeliner with an eyeshadow in lash lines to darken and enhance lashes. 

Be sure to blend.

• Blend edges of all makeup, whether blush or shadows, to eliminate harsh lines. 

Consider concealers.

•  Start with very thin layers, and be sure not to miss the inner corners of eyes that tend to darken with time. 

• Gently tap concealers with a brush under your eyes or use the warmth of your ring finger to tap in. Less is more!

Set your look.

• Using a final overall face mist with a setting spray helps secure your makeup and make it last. 

Leave your brows to professionals.

• Professionally wax and tint your brows. 

• Touch-up brows with eye shadow or pencils in between maintenance appointments. 

End your day with a clean face!

• Wash makeup entirely off your face and neck every night.
  

Would you like more midlife fashion and style tips? Download Rumblings Media's Fashion After 50 Tips curated by fashion experts to help you edit your closet, build a capsule wardrobe, select swimwear, and more!

Live Inside Out: 8 Steps to Be Healthy, Move Beyond Anti-aging, and Age by Design

Aging is an extraordinary process where you become the person you always should have been. ~David Bowie

We’ve been thinking and talking about what it means to be ‘youthful’ recently. We believe that the key to being youthful is to have a long-term, sustained focus on being healthy. Live Inside Out is one of the Rumblings 4 Rocks (foundational principles) to Flourish After 50.

• Go inward to live authentically outward

• Look inside to determine what and how much you eat

• Recognize the joy of the journey

• Eat whole foods, mostly plants

• Be grateful for your body’s capabilities

• Enjoy what you eat and your daily movement without guilt or judgment

• Honor tradition

• Celebrate culture

 Even with our focus on health, we have experienced body changes as we age, such as a slight thickening around the waist, difficulty maintaining our weight, more wrinkles, muscle aches, and symptoms of menopause, to name a few. 

Women discuss the impact of these changes and nostalgic memories of how we looked in our 20s, 30s, and 40s with friends. We share tips and tricks for looking as young as we can - or as good as possible for our age. Yet, there is one part of aging that we may not discuss as commonly—the abundance of messages that our aging bodies are abnormal and we should fix them.

Individuals and organizations are competing for our attention and our money by selling promises of happiness and youthfulness. Their message is, if we conform to the culture of ‘thinness’ to fit in, we will have value and be worthy. It’s as if somehow aging is unnatural or makes us imperfect, so we must succumb and prioritize anti-aging. 

Media bombards us with images of unrealistic and unachievable ideals for a youthful appearance.  It would be hypocritical to imply that things like facials, overpriced skincare, or even injectables and fillers are the enemy. Still, the emphasis that aging is somehow a personal shortcoming or character flaw diminishes our value to what is superficial and appearance-related. 

Yes, our bodies are imperfect, and they sometimes let us down. As we age, our bodies may be less cooperative and cause us to struggle to stay thin and fit, or even simply healthy! 

One of the most beautiful things about aging is the opportunity to shed those superficial expectations of society and the media and instead step into the person we know we have become. 

We don’t need to fight against our bodies as they gracefully do what bodies do - age. Our bodies are not the enemy. The changes during midlife don’t make us diminished, less relevant, or even disgusting. 

There are social movements focused on body inclusion, body positivity, realistic weight, and promoting physical strength for girls. It’s now time for a movement of accepting aging too. 

We can shape the future of societal norms surrounding aging, particularly in women. We can demonstrate by example that our worth as we age is not defined by unrealistic and unattainable superficial beauty standards any more than it should be for our younger daughters, granddaughters, and nieces. 

We don’t have to accept aging trends focused on how we look, how we dress, our skincare, and our makeup routines. We can age by design, in our way, as we choose. 

If we focus our efforts instead on the approach to Live Inside Out, we can not only be grateful for our body’s capabilities; we can take that next step and embrace the process of fully stepping into the person we were becoming all along. 

Embrace all of the lumps, bumps, and wrinkles that represent a well-lived life. We have come by all of these ‘imperfections’ naturally - and they are perfect. We are creating and becoming a ‘well being’ - a healthy, inside and out human body, one that is more than our physical appearance. 

Our main goal should be to be healthy in a whole-person way, not to stay looking young, but to live well. Life is good, and midlife is the middle, not the end. It’s a new season that we can design to thrive and flourish. 

Living inside-out is a sustainable well-being approach and is the real pro-aging ‘secret’ for feeling youthful and thriving after 50!

To learn more about the Rumblings 4 Rocks (foundational principles) to flourish after 50 and receive tips, tools, and techniques to thrive, sign-up today.