HOT! 2019/2020

One of the best things about working on this magazine is the letters we’ve got from you: warm, smart, self-mocking, sometimes entirely fed-up women who are also funny and interesting – and who always have one another’s backs. We’re an interesting bunch, despite the way the media – and advertisers – continue to misrepresent us. I recently read a great story in Campaign (a Brit magazine aimed at the advertising and media industries) written by Vicki Maguire, chief creative officer at media company Grey London. In it, she has a good go at all that: ‘As a 50-something woman, you serve me up hearing aids when I’m dropping hundreds on earbuds, and cushioned insoles when I’m wearing Air Max… No wonder I’m shunning such blanket-targeting and turning to brands that…

4 TAKESOUTS FROM A RECENT META-ANALYSIS OF 126 STUDIES 1. Weightlifting is the most effective treatment to prevent, slow down or partially reverse age-related muscle loss/sarcopenia. 2. Lifting weights helps reduce risk factors for falls; it also improves functional independence, functional capacity and quality of life – all of which makes weightlifting a necessity as we grow older. 3. Weight training has repeatedly been shown to reduce a wide variety of general aches and pains that come with age, as well as many disorder-specific pains. 4. Exercising for as little as 20 minutes a day reduces the risk of early death by as much as 30 percent, and strength-training twice a week reduces the risk of all-cause mortality by 46 percent. Source: Nick Rizzo, training director at runrepeat.com SPOT ON…

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‘Despite the droopy bits and parts that look like roadkill, I realised that women our age appreciate seeing bodies they can relate to – that aren’t fake and ironed out.’ ‘The other day one of my twin daughters, Tabitha, tweeted an image of me on a billboard in a London subway. “I’m speechless and so proud of my mom, the model,” it read. I was overwhelmed. As parents, we’re always proud of our children. But to have it turned around is amazing! My daughters are so thrilled for me – and so supportive of what I’ve achieved. It’s such a lovely feeling. my previous life I certainly haven’t always been a model. As a single mom to young twins I started a home business to ensure that while earning an…

1 Most women in their fifties and sixties want to look chic without coming across as mutton dressed as lamb. Find a celebrity you admire and look at how they put outfits together. In fact, ‘stalk’ them and copy them. For instance, Jerry Hall is my height, with bony legs. She got married at 60 in a wedding suit, which looked just fabulous. And I know why she did it. When you have a long torso and long legs, waistbands are always too high up. 2 Focus on the parts of your body that you like. A friend of mine has a beautiful face and flawless skin, but she hides behind big black baggy things because she’s frightened of showing off her curves. Another friend, who’s only about 1,5 metres,…

The insults of age had been piling up for so long that I was almost numb to them. The husband (when I still had one): ‘You’re not going out in that sleeveless top?’ The grandchild: ‘Nanna, why are your teeth grey?’ The pretty young publisher tottering along in her stilettos: ‘Are you alright on these stairs, Helen?’ The flight attendant at the boarding gate: ‘And when you do reach your seat, madam, remember to stow that little backpack riiight under the seat in front of you!’ The grinning red-faced bloke who mutters to the young man taking the seat beside me: ‘Bad luck, mate.’ The armed child behind the police station counter unable to conceal her boredom as I describe the man in a balaclava, brandishing a baton, who leapt…