Halle Berry did a brief interview with Women’s Health Mag in which she talked about her changing approach to fitness and her fitness motivation. She’s 53 and is definitely fitness goals. Halle said that when she was younger she was focused on sculpting her body and her appearance but that now she’s focused on how fitness makes her feel. Halle was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes at 22 and that helped her make the shift.
Back in my 20s (and 30s)… I mostly worked out in order to look a certain way. I was young and appearance was a big part of my early acting career.
Back then, my workouts focused on weights. I was always in the gym, either sitting at a weight machine or with a barbell in my hands. It was all about sculpting; I worked my butt off isolating muscle groups and lifting as heavy as I could. It was a little boring (I knew every Monday would be exactly the same as the Monday before), but I looked fit and that was enough for me at the time.
After I found out I had diabetes at 22, though, things started t0 change and I began to see fitness as a way to care for my health and my body. As a result, throughout the next few decades, my perspective (and my workouts!) shifted. I began to focus on feeling fit more than looking fit and my workouts became acts of self-care.
Then, from the moment I became a mother onward, I wanted to be strong and healthy for my kids. I wanted to be around for them for as long as possible. I wanted to be able to carry them out of a burning house if I needed to…
With this approach to fitness, my mind is never bored, my body continues to reap the benefits, and I walk through the world with more confidence than ever before. The icing on the cake, though: In focusing more on my health performance, I enjoy exercise more than ever—and look just as fit as ever, too
Halle also follows a strict keto diet which really helps manage her diabetes and look phenomenal, frankly, although I know that’s not what she’s saying. I like how she described her approach to working out. (As an aside, I think that’s how trends in fitness have changed over the years as well – there’s less of an emphasis on toning and looking a certain way and more on wellness and how working out makes us feel.) One of my friends, the most fit person I know, says that it’s about self care for her too, and that exercise helps with her mindset. I have been amping up my workouts for the summer and trying to eat better and have noticed how much calmer and better I feel overall. However I’m also superficial and like to see those type of results as well. Hopefully I’m not focusing on that as much as I used to.
Her trainer is so hot.
I’m her age and I agree 100%. I enjoy working out and I’m grateful that I still have a body that can move and function properly. The alternative is no fun.
And to CB’s point about it being a big part of mental health, I figured that out years ago, too, when I was struggling through an extra tough bout of anxiety and depression. So much so that my psychiatrist would write “exercise every day” on her notes to me. It got to the point where I didn’t need the reminder anymore, lol. Now if I don’t exercise most every day it feels like I didn’t brush my teeth.
Double post
Exercise has helped my mental health immensely. I think it is also helping me have a less stressful perimenopause (at least so far). Does anyone else have one of those wheels liKe she is lying over in the garden photo? Is it just for lying on and stretching, or are there other things you can do with it?
I don’t but in a Pilates class years ago I learned to do that over an exercise ball if you have one. It’s amazing.
Go on Halle!!!
Needed to read this today. I’m 8 months pregnant with twins on bedrest and I look unrecognizable from the weight gain. Everything is so painful…it’s made me have a lot of empathy for people who are heavy and what a daunting task to even start the exercise process. I’ll be working with my therapist after they come to keep a lid on the weight anxiety, but *for once in my life* I’m going to try to approach the weight loss with this perspective – I want to be able to carry my babies out of a burning house, and use exercise as a means of self care, nothing more or less. Whew wish me luck!
Good luck! Pregnancy can be such a mind and body fck. You’re so not in control of what your body does, especially when it’s a risky pregnancy.
I think a lot of the talk around working out has changed, but I dont think most people’s motivations have actually changed. I think most people are just doing it look a certain way, and that’s fine, but pretending it’s something else is… a mind fck of its own. We still have the bodily expectations, but have to tart it up with different language. It just adds more layers to the cake of how we think about our bodies.
(And I’m not saying that no one Is working out to feel stronger, just that I think a lot of the women who say that they’re working out for strength are fibbing a bit.)
I agree. We still live in a society where women are expected to look slim and perfectly toned. Halle works in an industry where this expectation is even higher—to the point where how much you weigh/how often you work out can be written into your contract. I love hearing women say they exercise to feel good but I still think Halle wants/needs to look a certain way too.
I love miss Halle. Her social Media is great. She is so photogenic!