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50, Fit & Fabulous
Think hitting 50 means you're physically washed up? For many of us, it's a new start. Here are three women who prove that 50 is positively fabulous.
by Blane Bachelor
December 1, 2005
F
or many women, hitting 50 is a big psychological milestone. But, as these three Atlanta
women can attest, 50 can mark a new take on life. They've taken an active approach to their 50s by
celebrating their health, their bodies and their youthful spirit. Take a look, and take a hint from
their lifestyles about how you too can be 50, fit and fabulous.
Kathy Courtney
58, Yoga Instructor
When she was in her early 50s, Atlanta resident Kathy Courtney took a hard look at herself
and knew she had to make some changes. A clinical supervisor and program manager, Courtney was
overweight, struggling with menopause, smoking constantly and battling high blood pressure that had
required her to take medication for more than a decade.
"I felt so unhealthy, I told myself, 'I've got to do something,'" says Courtney, now 58. "I
decided that I wanted to do Pilates or yoga. And my hairdresser was doing yoga, so we met there one
Sunday morning. I fell in love with it immediately."
The style of yoga was Bikram, which progresses through a series of 26 postures in a studio
heated to temperatures exceeding 100 degrees. Bikram yoga has become mainstream, with centers all
over the country and a strong Hollywood following.
For Courtney, the practice offered the ideal solution for coping with menopause and helping
cure her other health issues. After taking classes for a year, she decided to quit her full-time
job to become an instructor. In 2002, she underwent the rigorous six-week certification program in
Los Angeles and now teaches about six 90-minute classes every week, in addition to working
independently as a therapist.
Courtney touts Bikram yoga as an ideal workout for women in their 50s because of its ability
to build strength, offset arthritis and decrease the effects of menopause, including hot flashes
and mood swings. Combined with a healthy diet, the practice helped Courtney lose 30 pounds, quit
smoking and reduce her blood pressure medication to the lowest dosage.
"My godmother told me that when I turn 50,'This is when your body starts to betray you,'"
Courtney says. "But I feel better than I ever have."
Denise Blount
50, Fitness and Nutrition Consultant
Every
morning, Denise Blount takes on, quite literally, a mountainous challenge. The 50-year-old runs
five-and-a-half miles on a route that goes around or over Stone Mountain. "It relieves any stress I
could possibly have in the day to come," Blount says.
For Blount, stress relief is just one benefit of a well-rounded fitness regimen that she's
followed since she was 24, when she began competing in bodybuilding competitions. She enjoyed the
healthy lifestyle so much that she eventually gave up a career in accounting and decided to pursue
ways to make a living out of fitness.
Now, Blount is a certified personal trainer, a designer of gymnasiums, home and office
workout rooms, and a fitness expert who specializes in counseling overweight children and
50-something women on the importance of eating right and exercising. She says she hopes to set a
good example for other African-American women, whose rates of obesity and related concerns like
heart disease are considerably higher than those of women in general.
"For African-American women, we have to start doing something, whether it's cutting back on
fatty foods, or whether it's starting to walk," she says. "We don't have a choice. If we look at
our genes, a lot of our parents were diabetic or had high blood pressure. It's like breaking a
curse. And to combat that, we have to put some kind of program in place."
Blount's own program involves her daily run, as well as strength training in the gym and
other cardio activities like in-line skating and swimming, which she often does with her teenage
son. Her diet includes lean proteins like grilled fish or chicken and lots of fruits and
vegetables. Blount's indulgence is movie theater popcorn, which she allows herself once a week.
Barbara Babbit Kaufman
50, Self-employed Motivational Speaker and Cyclist
Three years ago, Barbara Babbit Kaufman had never even heard of duathlons
- races that combine running and biking. But one day, while meeting with her stockbroker, he
casually mentioned that his wife did them. Kaufman's interest was instantly piqued.
So, on Thursday of that week, Kaufman met with a trainer, and after a challenging workout,
she decided to sign up for an upcoming duathlon just three days later at Big Canoe, a small
community in the north Georgia Mountains. Her result? A top-three finish in the women's 45- to
49-year age division.
"From the minute you take off, you just get into it like you want to win," says Kaufman, a
self-employed entrepreneur who lists motivational speaking as one of her main businesses. "They put
your age on your leg, and all of a sudden you see somebody five years older than you ahead of you
and you say, 'I know I can pass this person.' Your competitive spirit just kicks in."
Kaufman, 50, says that competing in duathlons has also kicked her body into top form. "I
feel so good. I feel fit, strong and healthy," she says. "When they hit 50 I think a lot of women
think they have to give it up. Really, it's time to take it to the next level. I feel like I'm
18."Kaufman adheres to an exercise program that incorporates strength work in the gym with race
training, including long runs and rides on the weekends. An e-mail every day from her trainer
outlines that day's work-out, down to her heart rate. "For me it's instrumental, because if I know
what I have to do I'll do it," she says. "If it's on my calendar, it's like a business meeting."
