#78 My Body My Story 45 Over 45 - Sarah

In this episode, you will learn 10 FACTS about Sarah, what age she would like to go back to and what advice she would give herself at that age! We also talk about the main causes of body image issues, how they come up and how she overcomes them. And we discuss what aging means to her and to her body.

 

 

10 Facts About Sarah

(at the time of the project)

 

1. 46 years old.
2. Sarah was born in Australia, on Phillip Island where the penguins are. She leaves on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, Australia now.
3. Single, no children.
4. Sarah loves hiking and getting in the outdoors.
5. For a while, just pre COVID she was selling hiking tours of Spain.
6. One of Sarah’s biggest achievements to date has been climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. That was amazing and took seven or eight days.
7. As a result of COVID Sarah couldn't sell hiking tours anymore, particularly in Europe. And so she found a job doing compliance on wind farms. So that was really interesting, she learned a lot about renewable energy and the industry.
8. Now she works as a recruiter for an engineering firm and feels like she has finally found her job.
9. Sarah also joined a body positive adventure group called escaping your comfort zone. And she went from doing not much at all to triathlons! and now she has done three!
10. Earlier on in her life, Sarah did a lot of semi-professional singing, with the choir and she was also involved in musical theatre.

INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT

(auto-generated)

 

Hi, you're listening to the My Body, My Story podcast.

 

But you never know how much impact you're actually making. You never know how many people's lives you will change just through existing and being new.

 

This is the 45 over 45 chapter where we celebrate Rule Breakers and role models, the women who inspire us to live life our way and to show their sensuality beauty, soul, and true essence. Here we talk about what it's like to be 45 Plus, adjusting to the changes that come with time, and we listened to the stories about participants. If you have an interesting story, we'd love for you to participate. You can email us at info@aleksandrawalker.com That's Aleksandra spelled with a K S. Or visit our website aleksandrawalker.com

 

Hello, everyone, and welcome to the My Body My Story project. And today with us in the studio, Sarah. And while she's sitting in the makeup chair, and Chitra is doing makeup for her. I'll be asking her a few questions. Hi, Sarah.

 

Hi,

 

welcome. And let's start. Tell us 10 facts about yourself.

 

I'm 46. I live on the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. Single no children. I work as a recruiter for an engineering firm, which I've just started doing in the last probably six months and I'm loving it. I feel like I've finally found my job.

 

I love hiking and getting in the outdoors. I think one of my biggest achievements to date has been climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa. That was amazing, because next level experience how and took that seven or eight days. They say slowly, slowly, apoli apoli. And I took that literally. I went very slowly. So as with a large group, and I ended up doing it on my own with a porter and the guide, and the rest of the group would finish an hour or so ahead of me. So I had like a solo journey on Kilimanjaro was amazing.

 

Really good to hear your spiritual experience.

 

Oh, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's phenomenal. There's just something about being out in nature and Kilimanjaro kind of looking down out. Above the clouds and across Tanzania was amazing. Yeah. Yeah.

 

What is the next goal? To climb which mountains?

 

I'm gonna keep it a bit lower. Probably. I would like to do the full Camino Santiago. For a while, just pre COVID I was selling hiking tours of Spain. And that was amazing. And I got to do the last 100 kilometres, but it's about 800 in total. So I'd like to do the full length of that. And the sister pilgrimage or the dual pilgrimage, which you can do in Japan called the Kumano Kodo. So that's a little bit shorter. But yeah, they're next on my bucket list.

 

Bucket List. Yeah, yeah. Okay. What else on your bucket list?

 

Oh, let me think. They're the big ones. The big ones that I'd like to do. I wouldn't mind doing the Larapinta Trail in Australia.

 

And where's it in?

 

Anywhere it is actually. South Australian Northern Territory. So yeah, Central Australia. So wouldn't mind doing that one. There's great walks in New Zealand, the Queen Charlotte track. And Milford Sound. There's just so many. Yeah, so plenty of things to do. Yeah. Plenty to do. Yeah. Okay.

 

Is that did we see over 10 facts about.. ?

 

Yeah, I think we've covered we may not have got up to 10 but they're the big ones. Many important ones.

 

Okay, so you mentioned that you just started to work six new when you work six months ago, and what did you do before? Before that?

 

As a result of COVID I couldn't do hiking to sell hiking tours anymore, particularly in Europe. And so I found a job doing compliance on wind farms. So that was really interesting, I learned a lot about renewable energy and well, and the industry and obviously it's a growth area in Australia at the moment, however many of wind farms in Australia. Yeah, there's lots of them is the ones I looked after were in western Victoria and South Western Victoria. But yeah, they're quite a few up the east coast of Australia.

 

Were you were born? in Australia? And Victoria?

 

Yes. Yep. Born on Phillip Island where the penguins are.

 

Yeah, born there and grew up in central Victoria. And then move to Melbourne. Yep.

 

Nice. Well, I think we've got 10 facts about.

Okay, let's move to our subject of our podcast, the main the main subject is ageing and our body. And I'd like to ask you - What does ageing means to you? Now, at this age.

 

For me, ageing is growing in wisdom. It's looking back on lessons learned throughout your life and, and looking forward to learning from others that are older than you. So I see it as a really positive, positive thing as I'm approaching my 50s. Not too far off, but I'm excited about. Yeah, I see it as a really positive thing. Learning from your own experiences and the experiences of others.

 

So if you could go back to any age, what it would be, and why, and what advice would you give yourself at this age?

 

I would go back to my 20s. And tell myself, but your mother is right most of the time.

 

Listen to your mother.

 

Yeah, yeah. 98% of the time. And I would definitely say don't wait for the husband and the white picket fence to buy a house start investing now.

 

Yeah, so now, it's very hot topic.

 

Yeah, yeah. It's had good 20s Really enjoyed them. But yeah, those extra bit of tips. If I had listened to my mother's advice,

 

If you body could talk, what do you think it's, it would ask you or tell you?

 

It would definitely tell me to listen, listen to what I'm telling you. So ignore the listen to your gut instinct.

Your body tells you when you're stressed and tired. Or if you're not looking after yourself, you're not healthy, you start to feel those aches and pains more. So definitely stop and listen to me.

 

The question is how to learn to definitely understand this language.

 

I think it takes quite a while to figure out what each signal means. And for everybody, it's unique. It's different.

 

And do you think that negative body image can affect relationship and in what way?

 

It definitely can affect your relationship I, the negative body image ties into yourself with so not feeling good about the way you look? Whether it's too skinny to fat, I don't like my nose. I don't like my legs don't like my boobs. You know, all the different parts. We've all got a bit that we don't like some, some more than others. But it can also translate into I'm not good enough. And when you think you're not good enough, you can prevent yourself from having opportunities. So I guess I liken it to Kilimanjaro. I was I never would have thought I could have done anything like that. And I joined a body positive adventure group called escaping your comfort zone. And I went from doing not much at all to triathlons, and you know doing the stadiums dump events where you climb a ridiculous amount of stairs. Doing walking marathons. The triathlons was the big one. I never ever thought I'd do a triathlon and now I've done three. it's changing the way you speak. to yourself, it's like, these are the things I can do with my body. And the new friendships, you gain the confidence you gain just by allowing yourself and giving yourself permission to.

 

So I think, yeah, if you do have that negative body image that also is negative self talk, and you can, I guess, self-sabotage yourself and not take opportunities that you're presented with.

 

And I even heard some women saying that it affected their job choices, like because they during interview, they wouldn't be chosen for, like, mainly I hear it from overweight women, like who lost, let's say, lost some weight. And then they saying, now I see the difference. Like before, nobody would hire me. And now, like, I can get more jobs I want and I was just always wondering, is it because of her self-confidence? Or it's also people's stereotypes? I’m, leading to the other questions - what do you think are the main causes of body image issues of body image, insecurities?

 

it's the societal expectations, and the expectations we put on ourselves. Earlier on in my life, I did a lot of singing semi professional singing, with the choir. And I love that I had a great time and some amazing experiences as a result of it. And I was also involved in musical theatre, and not getting the roles because you don't look the right way. And it's would be the same with acting, I guess, they're looking for a particular look. And they want you to look a particular way. And it's no different in society.

But we also take that on board and accept it. And in accepting that, it becomes the norm. So you know, I could never do that. I'm too fat.

 

Or I'm, you know, I'm too old.

 

I'm too old. There's always I'm to something. Or, yeah, yeah, definitely. It's body image affects everyone, I think no matter what your size. And I have seen people that have lost a lot of weight. And then all of a sudden gained the confidence because they feel like people are notice noticing them more. But I think, I don't think that changes, I think, perhaps in the weight loss. Their health may improve as a result. And it's not necessarily about the shape or the way they look, how they feel. But it's how you feel when you're feeling healthier. You're more positive about yourself.

 

Yep. So you don't transmit that insecurity out there. And when you're confident than it shines, so you can see that the person is confident and obviously, they want to hire. Yeah, or people will say to me, oh, Sarah, I don't see you as a plus size person. Like, I'm a size 22. I've got a curvy figure. It's, I don't see that as a negative. Yeah, for me, there's just more of me to love. Unless you don't you feel healthy or you Yes, you are. Yeah. And it comes back to listening to your body. It's at the moment, I'm probably the largest I've ever been. And I'm starting to notice it now. You know, I feel it in my knees. And the lethargy, I'm like, okay, so I just need to get out and make sure I get that half hour walk in a day.

 

Yeah, there's 2000 10,000 steps.

 

Now that six kilometres a day, so unless I'm training as well, but just half an hour of movement, so whether that's doing the housework, getting out for half an hour of fresh air, or, you know, putting some music on and dancing like no one's watching for half an hour. It's more about movement, and how that makes me feel. That translates to positivity for me.

 

So you just answered the question, how do you overcome body related insecurities when they come up? Do you have any other methods go to learning to acknowledge it before it gets too far along?

 

The negative journey when I was growing up, if I threw a tantrum, my mom would call me sad yuck. And so I refer to that negative voice now. Sad yuck. And depending on how loud say it is, depends on the level of the language that we use. To tell Sad yuck to be quiet, acknowledging it that, yes, that feeling is real. But it's real to me, it's not the actual reality, and finding positive things to think about. So that's, you know, you've got a great family that loves you, you've got great friends that support you. You've got a great job, you've got your own house. You climb Kilimanjaro, depends how extreme I have to go. But I have that list on my wall of things I've achieved so that when that negativity kicks in, I'll look at that list and go, Oh, yeah, I've done that. And I've done that. And I am awesome.

 

You've got a, it's that positive affirmation that I think is best coming from yourself, rather than external things, reminding yourself what you achieved, you know, unless you're worth it. Yeah.

 

Yeah. That's an excellent approach. So how does it change with age this approach? Like, what did you do when you were younger? It was the same thing, or now it's different.

 

When I was younger, I would have let it stop me. Whereas now, I'll be like, No, I'm going to do this. And these are the steps I need to do to achieve that. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes I don't. But it's Yeah, acknowledging the negative voice and applying reason to that going, okay, so, yep, that's there. But what? What positive things can I do? What can I do with my body? What can I do to change my emotional state? What can I do to change my physical state? And that, yeah, that has definitely gotten easier with age. And acknowledging it, it's, it's hormones, you know, what time of the month? Is it?

 

Oh, okay. explain to you yeah, hormones. And it just sometimes even the good skill to have is to acknowledge what's going on. And even sometimes you cannot manage that. Second part of you who is unhappy, and you just say, Okay, I let you go for half an hour, I allow you to take over me just be this unhappy person for half an hour. Just feed this dragon. Yeah. Yeah. And then they said, Okay, timeout, and just let yourself sometimes to be that bad person, which is also bad in our eyes. Yeah. Like you're Yeah, yeah. 100%.

 

Being like a victim in the victim mode, I call it.

 

Yeah. Yeah, very much. So yeah, it was just for me. It's also part not tried to be all the time Perfect. And I can manage that. And I can manage that. Sometimes. I said, Yeah, at the moment. I can see that, but I cannot manage that. And I let myself do it, you know, in this bad way. And but I give myself half an hour, let's say well, one hour. Yeah.

 

Yeah. Yeah. Very much a case limiting it and going okay, that's enough. Yeah, yeah. Off you go. Yeah.

 

Great. So my last question, and I love it. If you have any favorite quote, or saying about being a woman,

 

it's not necessarily about being a woman. I think it applies across the board. But there's excerpts from Nelson Mandela's speech that I also have in my office, place of positivity.

 

We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous. At actually Who are you not to be? So I think it just reminding yourself that you are awesome. And that there's a big speech that goes on. But there is nothing enlightened about shrinking to what other people feel secure around you. And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. And as we are liberated from our own fears, our present automatic presence automatically liberates others. And I do see that with things that even the response to Kilimanjaro, talking to people about coming up here today and said, I'm going up for a pamper day to Sydney and people go wow, you do that for yourself. And you see the ripple effect, tiny ripples, but you never know how much impact you're actually making. You never know how many people's lives will change just through it.

Sitting and being new, and participating in like public different public activities and voicing out

 

like we created this podcast and the project so women can talk. Because sometimes we do so many things, you know, and we would love to share it. And I think it's a great chance to share with a wider audience and maybe who knows, maybe someone who is listening to you now and it will affect their life, you know, that in our hands is to do as much as we can to tell our story, you know, so it was interesting episode.

 

Thank you for sharing your story. And I hope you will enjoy the rest of the day in your photo shoot, and you will enjoy this experience.

 

Thank you. I'm sure I will. Thanks for the opportunity. Great.

 

If you have an interesting story, we'd love for you to participate. You can email us at info@aleksandrawalker.com That's Aleksandra spelled with a K S. Or visit our website aleksandrawalker.com

This is the 45 over 45 chapter of MY BODY MY STORY podcast, where we celebrate rule breakers and role models - the women who inspire us to live life our way and to show their SENSUALITY,  BEAUTY, SOUL, and TRUE ESSENCE.

 

For more information about the project visit:

https://www.aleksandrawalker.com/45-over-45

 

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