Hi Reader,

I took a picture of myself in my workout clothes last week. I meant it to be a "before" photo, to pull up later when things have changed. I was being optimistic about it. Then I looked at it and felt sad, which was not at all what I had planned.

There's this idea that women our age let ourselves go, like we stop caring at some point along the way. That has not been my experience. I've been doing the same things I've always done. My body just changed the terms without telling me, and keeping up with any of it now takes real effort. Most of us are doing that without a personal chef or two free hours a day.

I think this is one of those parts of midlife that nobody prepares us for. It's not always about the big milestones we can see coming, but the changes that happen while we're busy taking care of everyone else. You look up one day and something is different, and there's no warning, and no one telling you this is normal. So you assume you're doing it wrong.

For me there's also been a foot injury that keeps interrupting my plans, and I have an MRI coming up that I'm trying not to worry about. There always seems to be something in the way when we finally decide it's our turn.

The good news is that something is working. I've done three days this week and I already feel better. Three days is not a transformation. It's enough to remind me that my body still responds when I take care of it, even in the middle of everything else that's going on.

Whatever is in your way right now, I don't think you have to wait until it clears to start taking care of yourself. Some weeks you get the full version. Some weeks you get ten minutes. Both count.

I wrote the whole story here, if you want it: We Didn't Let Ourselves Go. Something Else Happened.​

Thanks for being here and have a great weekend,

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