Over 50 with Chronic Illness: Finding Joy, Strength, and Movement Every Day

What does it really mean to live well after 50, especially with a chronic illness?

In this heartfelt solo episode of Beyond My Diagnosis, Michele Weston reflects on aging, movement, nourishment, and finding joy in the journey, even when living with a condition like Multiple Sclerosis.

This is an honest and empowering conversation about what it means to listen to your body, adapt to change, and embrace the life you have today.

Michele shares her personal experiences with weight loss, MS, aging, and learning to take ownership of her health. She reminds us that while our bodies change, our ability to grow, move, and find joy does not disappear.

As she shares, “healthy aging isn’t about slowing down to stop. It’s about choosing where your energy goes, nourishing your body, and moving because it feels good.”

This episode is for any woman navigating midlife, chronic illness, or simply looking to reconnect with her body in a more compassionate and intentional way.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• Why movement becomes more important as we age
 • How to shift your mindset around aging and chronic illness
 • The importance of listening to your body and honoring change
 • How to create a new “recipe” for health and prevention
 • Why slowing down and eating mindfully matters
 • The role of gratitude in long-term wellness
 • How to stay strong, mobile, and independent as you age
 • Why joy, connection, and intention are essential for healthy living

Transcript

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(Music) Hello, this is Michele Weston with Beyond My Diagnosis. I wanted to talk to you guys about something that we need to think of and think about, especially as women. And that's really enjoying the journey, savoring the journey, appreciating the journey that we have, even with a chronic condition. I was reading an article about Padma Lakshmi. I love her and she's now 55 years of age. And she said she's intentional about prioritizing connection and nourishing her body, making sure she's moving. And most important for her, making room for joy. I love that she said that. I think it's an important part of us all learning how to appreciate the journey, honestly, the journey itself. And with that, I also want people to really think about what it's like to be living with a chronic condition. Because it's not an easy way to walk through life, but it is something that we do and we choose. And what I think is important is that connection. So always trying to connect with the listeners for me, with people in front of me, with those that I'm working with, is important to me. And when I discover something that's amazing or incredible, I always wanna share it with others. So that's what Beyond My Diagnosis gives me a chance to do. And I can explore things. I can explore the journey, as I said, and look beyond and say to myself, it doesn't matter whether you're 30, 40, 50, 60, 70. Age is a number. And as we get older, as I find, I'm less attached to the number. At least I try to be. And I am laughing at that because I don't experience age every time I look in the mirror, but there's times when I'm moving that I know that I have to keep moving in order as they like to say, move it or lose it. And I think that that's an important little blurb, move it or lose it. And what we need to be is invested in connecting with ourselves. I mean, because aging isn't about rules or being perfect. It's about listening closely to your body and honoring those changes and finding balance in how we eat, how we move, how we work, and how we rest. And I have lived through a lot of things. I lived through the thing was in when I worked at Connie Nast and this Chet and Hearst as a fashion editor and as a fashion director and style director. And I don't miss those days being fraught with my relationship with food and with how I was dressed. I'm easier with myself today. I find that I take more care with myself and have more patience with myself. And what's important is when you learn the joy of learning new things, it makes a difference. And food is how parents connect with us and transmit our culture, our background, how I feel it is to walk through life. And for me, it was harder because my mother felt that food was something that it wasn't as important, whereas to my father and my sister, my brother and I, it was really important. We love thinking about where we were going next. That was part of my journey. And that was part of my journey because I made a choice to have bariatric surgery 16 years ago. I made that choice because of my health. I'm very grateful that I did make that choice and I get to remind myself every day because I think maintenance is even harder. It's harder as we get older. I think that our bodies run differently. You go through perimenopause. You go through menopause. Your system, your metabolism gets slower. Not bad, not good, but it changes. And with those changes, especially with living with a chronic condition like MS, comes frustration and the opportunity to say to yourself, I want to rethink this. I want to look at this and say to myself, I have to create a new recipe for prevention. I have to create a new way to go about living. So when I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and also walking through obesity and losing that 140 pounds, I learned a lot about myself. And you live with symptoms sometimes for years before doctors correctly diagnose you. I was fortunate with MS. It was very loud and a lot of symptoms came on top of each other. And so I also had a very, very smart physical therapist who was in love with doctors but was in love with making sure that he taught his patients, his clients, to check in with themselves. And when I had a morning waking up that I felt not just numb or pain in my back but all around my midsection, I called him and he said, "Come on in." And he felt after working on me, he said,"I could work on you for hours and I don't think it's going to make a difference with what's going on with you right now. Unfortunately, I think you need to see a doctor. You need to see a neurologist because I think you have MS." I didn't even know what MS was. Here I was in my 30s not even understanding that. Even though my girlfriend Lori had gone through it in the 80s, it was just this foreign thing. But I knew I felt badly and I learned that there were symptoms that all of us have. And I think that comes underneath a lot of chronic conditions. You have certain symptoms if you have fibromyalgia, sometimes you have more pain. Even with MS, there are patients that have pain. I'm fortunate, since I knock on wood, that I don't live with a lot of pain, things like incontinence, and you learn to manage that. And managing things shouldn't become a death sentence, shouldn't be something you get angry with. In fact, I think a sense of humor, especially as we get older, is really necessary. I think that we need to look at things and say, "You know what? So this is what I've got. Let me handle it from here." And I think with the weight that I gained and getting to 289, I learned the hard way that you can't take your health for granted, and you have to really be the person in charge of it. And that's important, you know, keeping on top of visits to the doctors, vaccines, not vaccines. And it's important to do those things because you need to do them for you. And I just don't want to have any more surprises. I want to be able to smoothly go through 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, maybe 90s. My grandmother lived to 100, and she had her own system of handling her chronic conditions. This was the one who went to Weight Watchers, and she went to Weight Watchers, God, probably when it started, eight million zillion years ago. But she never gained back that way. She took the lessons that she learned from Weight Watchers, and she put them into action. One of the things I always loved about my grandmother, and when I learned that what she was doing was mindfulness, I smiled as I'm sitting in my master's classes learning about eating mindfully. She always ate mindfully. She always took her time. She always enjoyed her meal. She was never in a hurry. And those are one of the things, as we get older, we have to remind ourselves that we are wiser. And our approach to healthy aging should be about moving. It should be about nourishing our body, the body that you've been given. Rather than thinking about workouts and healthy eating and food plans as something that you have to do, you should consider them a luxury. You should consider me going to Pilates a luxury. I love the way my body feels as I do Pilates as it lengthens and strengthens, and that core strength connects with me. And I can be tired after I leave, but I'm also grateful and appreciative that I am still moving and not using a cane, a walker, a wheelchair. And those are luxuries as far as I'm concerned, living with a chronic condition that many, not most, not all, end up with wheelchairs and walkers and canes. And so, knock on wood, that, as I said to my doctor when I was diagnosed a bazillion years ago, no wheelchair, no cane, no walker, and not bedridden. And so far, knock on wood, I've been able to keep away from that. Now, that doesn't mean that I don't use tools. I have a carbonite brace for my right drop foot leg that I use when I have long distances to walk, when I'm on vacation, when I'm at the US Open. I utilize that. I take advantage of having the help with that ankle. It doesn't get messages from my nervous system as well, because I'm not going to run again. That's something I lost, but I was never a big runner anyway. But it means I have to take more time when the light is yellow here in New York City. I normally don't cross the street because I don't want to be caught and I want to have time. So time and resources and access to things is also a luxury. It's a privilege. It's a privilege that not everyone has. But if your mindset is in a positive place, that can make a huge difference. Sometimes, when you're running around or at work or traveling or kids or dealing with your parents, you don't have a chance to eat a lot of home cooked meals that you love. But what we plan to do is we can try to get to our vegetables and make sure that you have access to things that you love. Soops, like Italian vegetable soups and so forth. And also, we can, as I've been trying to do as I grow older, is to prioritize moving, like cardio. So even though we think Pilates is very soft, it is a way to build strength training and using the weight of your body is also a good way for osteoporosis to help your bones. And it's also good for your mental health as much as it is for your physique or your body. And do I love to exercise? I don't think I'd use that word on exercise. But I would leave, I would say that I try to remember that when I exercise, it's a great opportunity for my mind because it is my way of self-care. It's when I can be myself and listen to a podcast or music. Nobody can bug me. Nobody can disturb me. It's a reset time because I learned the hard way. You can't take your health for granted. You have to be the person in charge of it. And that is a quote from Todd Mabachmi. I thought it was very important that we remember that. You can't take it for granted. And gratitude is something we forget about. I remember what it felt like to be younger and learning your way through the journey. And you also get to see, for me, I don't have my own children, but I have nieces and nephews. You get to see their coming of age, their getting married. And those are important life steps. I tell you, I do feel like I've arrived in a good place because I know myself better than I did before, probably better than ever. I'm in tune with my body. Is that because of a chronic condition? I don't think so. I think it's more the exercise of living through and living with that chronic condition. I have to remember that gratitude, if I could speak to my younger self, I would start with gratitude because I've always had tenacity and I've always had persistence and grit. And I would say to my younger self, thank you for all that groundwork you laid that allowed me to have the life I did in magazines running around the country and around the world. And remember, today, don't worry if you're not where you want to be this second, you will get there. So take it easy on yourself. Even if your schedule is demanding, you have to be intentional on what you want. What you want next? Do you want more balance? Do you want more presence? Do you want to make sure that you don't go into autopilot and waste that precious time? And I think that that is important. And I hope that as I get older, I'm not working that hard in my 60s, 70s, 80s. But that's also you have to look at it and say, all right, I have to have time to smell the flowers and really enjoy my life. So healthy aging isn't about slowing down to stop. It's about choosing where your energy goes, nourishing your body and moving because it feels good and you have to allow room for joy, for rest, for connection, for intention. And you can nourish your body well after 50 years of age because you can lean towards things. Plun in Lock Street also was talking about that. Lean toward lighter foods and meals don't have to be as heavy to be delicious. You can have a lot of beans and lentils and rice and vegetables and fruits and chickens and fish and spices and enjoy those lighter fairs so it doesn't feel as dense and as heavy as we grow older. And I think that that's a good lesson. And honoring your cravings with balance. So she said in part of an article I read,"Sometimes what my body wants is grilled cheese and fries." So that's what I give it. But then I gravitate back toward veggie healthy fiber filled fair, wonderful fish and chicken and fruits. And right now I'm having a love affair myself with passion fruit that I enjoy. And remember to up your protein and your water. You may need more protein than you did before and you really need to think about how much water you drink. I leave glasses of water around, a pitcher of water or bottles of water if I'm out and can't get to my own fridge. And I try to get those eight to 10 glasses of 12 ounces, I don't even go for eight ounces, 12 ounces of water a day. To really, your body needs water to send everything through just like it needs us to breathe. When you're exercising and we forget to breathe in order for muscles to keep stretching and working, we need to give them oxygen and that's really important. And focus on protein to support strong muscles. And with that, I think that those are really, really good lessons. I think that we forget what healthy benefits of things are. So look towards fruits and vegetables and think about what could help you. Our immune systems are more fragile. So think about lycopene because it's an antioxidant, tomatoes have lots of lycopene. And what it does is it fights molecules called free radicals that can damage your cells and affect your immune system. And because of that, foods, as I said, like tomatoes may make you less likely to have things like lung or stomach or prostate cancer because the research is showing that they might help prevent a disease of the pancreas, colon cancer, throat cancer, mouth cancer, breast cancer as well. And that's important to remember. So keep that in mind when you think about eating and boost your heart health. Make sure that you're also getting enough lutein. Again, tomatoes are great for that. And just remember to enjoy your life. Really, really enjoy your life because that is a gift that we have today. And I don't ever want to take it for granted. I want to be able to check in with myself. And as we get older, there are things we need to remember to keep doing because we want to keep away from things. Having a mammogram is important. Making sure that you go for breast cancer screenings, going to the doctor and having a pap smear and making sure that you're not... everything is fine down there. And even colorectal cancer screening and heart disease, seeing your doctor. I have high cholesterol. It's something that runs in my family. And checking your blood cholesterol and seeing what you can do to really help your body. Checking your blood pressure, making sure that you are less stressed and that your body is in a good place. And I think that those things are an opportunity. Also a thing that I've been asked to do, go have bone mineral density testing to make sure that my bones are strong. And do I have more osteopenia or osteoporosis or arthritis? Because I don't want to go there. I want to keep myself as well as I can. And even your sexual health. I'm still busy. I hope I'm always busy. And that makes sure that you just make sure that you're feeling good and that you are really taking care of yourself. Simple things. Skin exams. Most skin cancers are curable. So make sure you have your skin checked every year. If you find any moles or skin changes, we have to go. And address that. And eye exams. Every one to two years until you're in your 60s. But if you wear glasses, you're going to go more. If you have vision problems. And things that we'll talk about also is perimenopause and menopause as women are going through it. But as we listen to some of the things that I was mentioning and what I was reading from Padma Lakshmi, I really wanted to seriously be glad that I could see that we are more educated than we were before. Ever before. And that is pretty darn cool. And with that, you want to continue to do things to help your journey. And so I encourage all of us to really go and find that joy. Find ways to nourish our body. Find time to prioritize connections with a partner, with a loved one, with your children. With yourself, with your friends. But connection is important. And move because it's important to keep moving. Just because we get older, it doesn't mean that we get more sedentary. So that's my intention today to talk to you guys about telling the story of your body and your journey. And it's a really incredible, incredible journey. And that's something that I want you guys to enjoy living with a chronic condition. It's not a death sentence. It's not the worst thing that's ever happened before in our lives. But we can be in control. And you are always in the driver's seat. And that's your choice. I never thought I'd have a career. Now being a helping wireless coach. But I love that I can talk to others about that journey and connect with you and make sure that I am there because I want to make sure that I'm storytelling. That you're telling the story of your journey. And we're all living our best lives. Honestly. It's a gift. And prevention is important. And making sure that we advocate for ourselves, that we read new research, that we educate ourselves. Because we're driving our body and you have to take the reins in your own health. And I will encourage people to do that forever. You do these things because you don't want to have any more surprises. And you want to live your best life. So remember that moving and nourishing your body is a gift that we have. And make sure that you're taking advantage of that. And that I will see you on our next journey. And we'll talk more about perimenopause and menopause and things that I'd like my readers to consider. Because being firmly in our bodies and moving forward is so, so very important. See you next time. Have a good day. Thanks for tuning in to this episode of Beyond the Diagnosis. There's something we talked about today resonated with you. If you're craving deeper understanding, better support, or just want to know you're not alone on this journey, make sure to subscribe to my free substack at Micheleweston.substack.com. That's where I share personal insights, expert takeaways, and extra resources to help you stay informed, empowered, and one step closer to the clarity you deserve. And if you found this episode helpful, leave a review or share it with someone who needs to hear it. Your voice helps this message go further. Until next time, keep asking questions, keep trusting yourself, and keep going beyond the diagnosis.