The 40+ Life
A place for conversations with women over 40. From careers, health, relationships and lifestyle to personal style this is The 40+ Life!
The 40+ Life
Lavina Mehta MBE - Simple Habits That Transform Midlife Health
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
This week on The 40 Plus Life, we’re joined by the incredibly inspiring Lavina Mehta MBE—fitness expert, author, and the powerhouse behind the “exercise snacking” movement that’s changing how women approach health in midlife.
If you’ve ever felt like you don’t have time to work out, this episode is about to completely reframe everything.
Lavina shares her journey from a self-confessed non-exerciser to one of the UK’s leading voices in midlife wellbeing—proving it’s never too late to start. We dive into the simple, science-backed habits that can transform your energy, mood, and long-term health… without needing hours in the gym.
From squats while the kettle boils to breathwork that calms your nervous system in under a minute, this conversation is packed with practical tools you can start using immediately.
We talk about:
- The truth about “exercise snacking” and why short bursts can be just as effective as long workouts
- Strength training in midlife—and why it’s essential for your body and brain
- The surprising power of balance (and what it says about your long-term health)
- Managing stress, anxiety, and sleep with simple breathwork techniques
- The impact of nature, movement, and social connection on overall wellbeing
- Rediscovering joy, confidence, and even new passions in your 40s and beyond
Lavina’s energy is infectious, her advice is refreshingly realistic, and her message is clear: you don’t need more time—you just need a new approach.
✨ Expect practical tips, powerful mindset shifts, and a whole lot of motivation to start feeling good—right now.
🎧 This episode might just change the way you think about fitness forever.
Find out more about Lavina Mehta -
https://www.instagram.com/feelgoodwithlavina/
https://feelgoodwithlavina.com/
If you enjoyed the episode please do subscribe and leave The 40+ Life a review.
Follow The 40+ Life on Instagram https://www.instagram.com/the40pluslifepodcast/
Find out more about TV Presenter Katy Pullinger https://www.instagram.com/katypullinger/
Hello and welcome to the 40 Plus Life. This week I'm chatting with Levina Meta, MVE, a passionate advocate for healthy active living and a leading voice in midlife well-being. She's a qualified personal trainer, author, and sought-after public speaker. She's dedicated to helping women over 40 feel stronger, healthier, and more confident. She's also an ambassador for organizations including Diabetes UK and Alzheimer's Society. She's widely known for her concept of exercise snacking, and she's here to share her healthy and radiant positivity with us today. Levina, I think I need to sit down after all of that.
SPEAKER_00Oh my God, I love you, Katie.
SPEAKER_01What an intro. Thank you so much for having me. Thank you so much for joining me and taking time out of your busy schedule because I know you work so hard every day of the week, juggling your life as a mum and busy PT and health advocate. How do you find the time?
SPEAKER_00Um, do you know what? I just somehow make it work. I think we're all juggling. I won't lie. But when it's something that you love and you know, I'm super passionate about all of this, and it wasn't planned, you know. Like I look back and I think, oh my god, little Levina would never imagine she'd be doing some of the things that she's doing now. But I honestly love it and I'm just grateful for every opportunity like this. Yeah, no, I make it work somehow.
SPEAKER_01So, how did it all come about? When did your love of fitness come into play?
SPEAKER_00So some people get shocked when I say this that I never grew up doing any exercise like properly. It was just the sort of tick in the box at school. Right. And as soon as I started my periods, I think I just started um asking my mum to excuse me from the lessons or bunk the lessons. Um, so sport, exercise, like it was never part of my life growing up. And I mean, it's huge regret, obviously, knowing how amazing it is for your health now. Um, but also my message is it's never too late to start. And it was not until my mid-30s. So I'm a mum to three amazing boys, and my youngest is 18. And after that pregnancy, I'd given up my job in the corporate world. I was a global project manager and I tried to do it with two. But working for a company, you know, is it was BP at the time, and it was a very big role globally. I had to give it up. And after my pregnancy, I mean, Katie, there's pictures that, you know, have gone around the press of me looking super lean when I re-qualified as a PT. But before that, there's also pictures that I have shared where I was pretty much double my size, and it wasn't that I was just, you know, overweight physically. I was worried about things like type 2 diabetes because they're so rife in the South Asian community, but also in my own family on my mum's side. And I just wasn't feeling great about myself. So I joined the gym when he got into kindergarten, and both my older two were in edge, you know, like in uh secondary school and primary, and I had a bit more time for myself. I jumped around lots of classes, I tried lots of different things, had loads of coffee mornings, so wasn't really getting anywhere in terms of like results physically. And it was only when I got a personal trainer and he was pretty he was ex-army, like quite militant. I can imagine. Yeah, but I thank him. He introduced me to the world of strength training and lifting weights, and it was just transformational, like not just physically, but most importantly mentally. You'll probably have heard of my slogan, exercise for sanity, not vanity. But I really believe that because it got me through some of you know, life's ups and downs. We all have them behind social media. Everyone's going through lots of challenges in their personal life. One of them was grief. I was very close to my father-in-law, my late father-in-law, who I lived with, and we lost into a brain tumor really suddenly. Oh my gosh, I'm so um, I know, but it was like, you know, it was my sanity, like going in, lifting heavy weights, like doing something that just took my mind off everything, getting in that flow state, and it gave me strength, like within. And I just sat the courses in the evening out of interest because I was so fascinated by what exercise was doing for me. I just started researching it, decided to do the courses, never thinking it would be a career. And then obviously, as a personal trainer, as a fitness instructor first at level two, then level three personal training. I needed women to be my case studies. And some friends started finding out that I was, you know, training to be a PT, but I never thought I would actually train people in real life. But I did that for about a year and a half before the pandemic, just in my basement gym, like in school hours. I had an amazing group of women, and they were from the age of 30 to over 70, lots of different goals, not just weight loss. I learned so much training them one-to-one. And I was an ex-project manager, so I was really thorough about, you know, like giving them personalized plans around their exercise and nutrition and just kind of coaching them through. But it was such an amazing experience for me. And I thank them all in case they're listening. Um, but yeah, and then just change when the pandemic hit, and you know, you mentioned exercise snacking. That was something that I found back in 2018 when I was researching the science behind exercise. And at that point, I just thought, oh my God, this is a game changer. Because, like you said, we're all kind of leading busy lives, right?
SPEAKER_01Absolutely. And trying to find those windows of time, you know, thinking about you know, you mentioned how it wasn't until your youngest started going to nursery that you were able to actually go to the gym and start going to or doing a PT session.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah. How do those young mums juggle it? I mean, I've seen the buggy fit classes. I used to walk a lot with my with my fellow mums, uh, my NCT group and things like that. But one, you're exhausted, two, trying to juggle it in between everything else. And to me, going to the gym was maybe two hours out of your day that I just didn't have. Because it was get ready for the gym, go to the gym, do your exercise, come back, shower. You know, it's not like you can do it in a half an hour break. So, you know, I've experienced your exercise snacking because I'm I met you at a lovely uh women's event uh a little while ago, and you got me exercise snacking in the ladies' loo. We were doing press-ups against the sink, and I thought, gosh, this is brilliant because anyone can stop for a moment whether you're waiting for the toaster to pop and and do some squats in the kitchen.
SPEAKER_00I'm so glad you're um obviously you've experienced it firsthand, Katie. I think we should definitely release our clip, which was we should, we did for magical. Um so thank you for snacking with me personally and embracing it because often people, you know, ask me, like, what does it mean? And I'm like, the best way is to demonstrate it. But if anyone listening doesn't know what it is, and I often get, you know, is it like eating my favorite chocolate while I do my squat? And it could be that. Um, but the magic around exercise snacking is actually science-backed, and it's showing that even if you do, if you sprinkle these little minutes regularly through your day, so ideally I'd love everyone to snack every hour, just for maybe a minute to three minutes, that can be as effective, if not more effective, than the longer workouts. That like you said, we just can't fit into our busy lives, especially now. I think, you know, not just young mums, but people working from home. You know, the average person in the office job could be sitting for up to 10 hours a day on like back-to-back Zoom calls, the elderly, which you know that I train for free every week. I mean, that workout was for the elderly when I started it with my mother-in-law in the pandemic. And that was on YouTube, wasn't it? Yeah, so we've got hundreds on YouTube. I still go live with her every week. They've opened up to everyone from you know, care homes, the elderly to midlife women to younger women, because you can literally do those workouts in your pyjamas at home. Amazing. Um, on a chair if you're feeling hormonal, tired, fatigued, whatever you're doing, or even people in the workplace. You know, I go into uh companies to try and get exercise snacking. That's my goal to really spread it to everyone. Because when I found out that you could just do a minute, like you say, stack it onto an existing habit, like, you know, brush your teeth on one leg, get your squats in when the kettle's boiling, do some stair snacking, you know, up and down stairs, or go for a walk, or even some heel raises after a meal, you know, three times a day. That's great for your blood sugar levels, which affects your mood, your productivity, your energy. You know, there's lots of little snacks, and I have like this sort of sort of holistic approach to fitness. So it's getting the strength training in, which I really want everyone over the age of 30 to be doing because that's when we start losing our muscle mass and bone density. But then it also covers stretch, mobility, balance, and cardio. And it's kind of, and even things like breath work, you know, I've got like little snacks for mental health because I feel like you know, just reducing our stress levels is so important. Can you do us a little breath snack for us now for those listening? I would love you to. I would love everyone to have this in their like feel-good, talk it as I call it. So, literally, anytime you're feeling stressed or anxious, I sometimes do it before big talks, you know, TV, radio, anything that I'm feeling a bit uncomfortable, or chat with your boss or whatever stressing you at or your partner, yeah. You can just go away in the bathroom, in your bedroom, anywhere on the train and do this. And it's amazing to know that you can reset your nervous system within a minute. That's what the science is showing. And obviously, I've written a whole book about with lots of different breath snacks. And we start every Feel Good workout, which is open to everyone for free on Fridays at 10, saved on YouTube with a breath snack. So what's your YouTube called? Is it called Feel Good Lavina? Feel good with Lavina everywhere. I'm um, yeah, you can find me anywhere. And you know, there's hundreds there that you can try out. But one of the most simple ones, I would say, is just to breathe in for four and exhale for six. So we can just try a couple of rounds. Everyone listening, watching, you can just close your eyes, place your hands on your lap, just giving yourself even a moment to just escape from your thoughts and your busy lifestyles, and then you breathe in for one, two, three, four, and out. Two, three, four, five, six. Breathe in, two, three, four, and out, two, three, four, five, six. Breathe in, two, three, four, and out, two, three, four, five, six. Just keep your eyes closed for a second. That was only three rounds. I get everyone in my workouts to just rub their hands, generate some heat, and then place it over your closed eyes, take a positive inhale, and then breathe out. Let a bit of light in, open the eyes, bring a smile to your beautiful faces, and not the positive inhale and exhale, release away. Like we did less than a minute, like a couple of rounds of that breath where your exhale is longer than your inhale is proven to kick in that sort of rest and digest mode. We're always in that fight or flight mode. Um, you know, a lot of us, because we're just that's our busy lifestyles with technology and you know, social media and back-to-back commitments these days. So I always say to people, just if you could just even do that, you know, I just do it first thing in the morning when I wake up before I get out of bed. I just take a few deep breaths. Or like anytime, like I said, that you're feeling a bit stressed out. I hope that kind of gives you a little feel. But there's the box breath, there's the five by five breath, there's lots of ones that I explain the science about that I would love people to try out.
SPEAKER_01Well, I mean, already I actually feel like my shoulders sort of drop a little bit. And you know, it's really important when you talk about resetting that nervous system when you are in that fight or flight mode. It might just be that you're feeling overwhelmed about your day and you've got too much going on, you start to feel a bit anxious. You know, it's not about being chased by a tiger, which I think everyone thinks about with the whole fight or flight thing. We actually just get overwhelmed, and that's enough to make our body go into that fight or flight state. And if that can help, just a bit of breathing, just a minute, two minutes.
SPEAKER_00Even like it's magical. Like, even when I can't sleep, you know, obviously, I'm sure we'll talk about perimenopause and menopause, but you know, with young mums, I felt like as soon as I became a mum, my kind of sleep went out the window, and then you kind of get it back for a bit, and then perimenopause comes along and it started again. And that anxiety of like waking up at 3 a.m. and not being able to sleep, like breath work has been transformational for me for that. So even using that, you know, at night to just try and calm things down. Yeah, like you say, anxiety, depression, stress like these are all psychological conditions that a lot of us are experiencing, and it's probably top of the list when it comes to things like menopause symptoms now.
SPEAKER_01Well, you mentioned that three o'clock wake up, which I've had plenty of experience of. And thankfully I'm now kind of a bit on top of the hormone, so that's not happening as much. Yeah, but that three o'clock feeling, and then looking at the clock and going, I've got to get up in three hours. I know. Okay, if I can if I can go back to sleep now, I'll get back to sleep for another three hours. And then you look at the clock, it's another half an hour later. Okay, if I get back to sleep, I've got two and a half hours to sleep. And and you do, you go in this cycle of again, anxiety and panic. Yeah. So I yeah, I guess just a moment. I guess you can still do that breathing exercise lying down, can you?
SPEAKER_00Or should you really honestly can do it anywhere and everywhere. I want sacking to be so accessible, like you don't have to have equipment, you don't have to be in a specific gym, you can just be, like I said, in bed, in the bathroom, in in your offices, on the tube. You know, I often do things like pelvic floor snacks, like how important our pelvic floor health is and using the breath work, or sometimes just a stretch before bed, a little stretch snack where it could just be a couple of simple stretches that are gonna help you relax and get rid of all the worries of the day. And when you tie that into your breath and you kind of like do that with the moves, I mean that is like brilliant, but you know, just a simple um signal for your body, like especially before bedtime. You know, we kind of want these little cues, like dimming the lights, like less screens, less doom scrolling, maybe try stretch instead of that, a bit of journaling, things like that are just there's science behind all of these things that I want the world to kind of know, right?
SPEAKER_01And it's so funny because uh those of us that that have got kids know that we we got our kids doing all these things to get them ready for bed, the dim lights, the bath, the calm voices, the maybe a little bit of bedtime kids' yoga, you know, we did all these things to make them sleep really well and then give it to ourselves.
SPEAKER_00Exactly, 100%. Like I just want women to know that we're always giving to others, but you've got to fill your own cup for especially you know, in my community, I always say that South Asian women, a lot of the time I lived in a joint family at the beginning, you know, there were nine of us together. I felt like there's a lot of pressure on women, regardless of your community, but to kind of help everyone around you, whether it's your kids, your partner, my in-laws, or you know, like I've in the sandwich generation now, and my kids are getting older, but so my parents are aging. But yeah, we really need to do this sort of self-care snacking and making sure that we're looking after ourselves so that yes, we can continue to give to everyone around us, but you just feel that slightly better person, right? It's gonna everyone around you is gonna notice. I know that my non-negotiable is going out for, you know, you'll see all my Instagram stories every day. I post my feel-good walk just to hope that inspires someone, little reminder to just get out in nature, like the science and the research I did for my book around nature, it has its own section because you just can't believe how incredible just a bit of greenery can be for your mental health as well as your physical health.
SPEAKER_01Well, I've only recently learned that when you're looking into your gut health, being in nature is incredibly important. It never even occurred to me that actually gut health isn't just about what you're eating, it's about the environment that you're in. If you go to an office every single day and you're just in air conditioning, that's not helping your gut in any way. And I know that's easier said than done. There'll be some people going, well, what am I supposed to do? I've got to get straight home to the kids. Well, uh, or if you, you know, maybe you don't have kids. But I think the majority of us have hopefully got some local green space, whether it's a local green, even if you don't have a garden, you know, you don't have to be in the middle of the forest.
SPEAKER_00No, no porridge bathing, always required. It's lovely, but it's not always accessible. No, but in your green greenery, like you said, like you know, I when I was writing the book, I was thinking, okay, we're blessed. You know, some of us are living like more suburban areas, but every time I go into London or cities, you you will find some sort of green space, even if you expose yourself to trees on your road and you're not in the park, if you can't make it to the park, like sometimes I just have to step out and just go up and down my road. Yeah. But even looking at a screensaver, which I know isn't ideal, but having a painting of a landscape or even a screensaver, Katie, like even the research we're showing, that even that little cue is amazing because you're still your mind is still thinking, okay, greenery. And like you said, like gut health, there's things called fractals, you know, the geometric shapes. I'm not to go too much into this, you know, that you find on coastlines to pine cones to grass to flowers, like those amazing little shapes. If you expose yourselves to fractals, like it could just be a five-minute exposure, um, it can reduce your stress levels by up to 60%. And there's studies to, you know, that back this up. There's phytoncides, which are like these amazing magical chemicals that the trees and emit to protect themselves from insects and pesticides. But those, if we get submerged in them. So if you're near a tree, and I often just give them a hug because I learnt about all of this, I'm a proper tree hugger now. Um, but you don't have to hug a tree, but just by being near trees and nature, um, those actually, if we inhale them and like feel them around us, they boost your immune system like as well. It's so incredible some of the science I found out.
SPEAKER_01It's funny, you know, you use that term tree hugger. It used to be such a a diss, if you forgive my survival childish use. Weirdo, more weirdo, I would think. But you know, they were ahead of the game, the tree huggers, you know. I joined one now. Totally. Oh, Lavina, I am out in my barefoot, grounding on the grass. You were inside. We are realizing the science in it that it wasn't just woo-woo, it is actually genuinely something that can help you. You know, people used to show you in my book.
SPEAKER_00I've got the tree hug snack, I've got the grounding snack, you know, like it's just all these little things. But so I've got the tree snack there, but I'm just showing you very quickly, just not like yes, little self-plug of my book. But it's little things you can do a minute, three, five, ten minutes, like a very pick and mix snacky approach. Um, a lot of them have QR codes straight to videos, especially with the exercises, because I'm what brilliant do things with form, and it's like a little recipe, you know, explains the benefits, like even on this one in the feel good for life, a little method and how to actually do them. Because I just want, look, even the sound of birds, there's studies that if you can listen to bird song, you know, for just like seven to eleven minutes a day, it's incredible for reducing anxiety, depression, boosting your well-being, like just simple free tools that I hope, you know, just you've got to find things that you enjoy. So there's like a selection. You might not be a tree hugger, everyone, but you don't have to be, but grounding, grounding. I wrote about grounding snack, you know, just by going barefoot, and obviously like being on a beach is wonderful. But this morning I had a big talk in front of 400 people online, and I just I'm about to share it on my reels. Um, I was like, I literally just stepped out in the garden, did my breath snack barefoot, and got that sunlight in my eyes, which um, you know, before midday is actually really beneficial to your sleep and your circadian rhythm, like lots of benefits, right? So just get outdoors, even on a rainy day. You can try and um if you can get outdoors, there's even more science about the rain and the nature and going out when it's all it was all made to work with us in harmony.
SPEAKER_01You know, I feel like I'm gonna burst into song in a moment, Lavina. You know, I work I went for a walk this morning. I I'm lucky I I live down on the south coast, so um, I'm also training for a hundred kilometer charity walk in June.
SPEAKER_02So I went.
SPEAKER_01Out for a two-hour walk, and I went along the beach. And you know, people used to send people to the coast to convalesce, and people knew that the coastal air was good for them. No, maybe they didn't know exactly in the Victorian times what it was actually doing. But now we know that the churning of the waves is actually creating ions in this in the air that just walking along water's edge. You benefit from those ions. And again, this isn't out there. It's not woo-woo.
SPEAKER_00It is, I mean, really, you know, if you don't know, just try it because honestly, like I've had some of my most creative, you know, magical ideas on those sort of quick walks or by the sea or by a little stream in your local park. No, I'm totally with you. And you will feel that boost in your energy and your mood. Like it's just finding things you love, you know, whether it's running, walking, cycling, swimming, like some sort of cardio. You'll see me jumping around and like getting my bone impacted, and especially, you know, being 48 now and having hit the menopause and all of that good stuff, to obviously the strength training, which um is actually a proven antidepressant, you know, like I just want everyone to know. It's that free magic pill there that we hopefully can all try, even if it's from home with uh tin cans and plastic bottles, like we my mother-in-law demonstrate.
SPEAKER_01Is that how you're doing it then?
SPEAKER_00Or do you do you ever do sort of mega weights? Oh, yeah, I love lifting heavy. So um, you know, like on my Instagram, you'll see like I often post me training. Obviously, the Friday workouts are all very accessible. I've had a 104-year-old be prescribed them to like, you know, younger, midlife, even young mums, just because they can do things from home, like I said, even seated. And we do demonstrate with, you know, accessible things like tin cans, plastic bottles, but I've also got my dumbbells and kettlebells. But I personally, and that's just me, I love lifting heavy weights. So I like to get in with the barbell by the racks, you know, doing my big compound moves from squats to deadlifts to pull-ups to kind of the big ones that make me feel strong. And then it's all about kind of progression. So this progressive overload, which, you know, I kind of want people to know that even if you're just trying to lose weight, the more muscle mass you have, the more calories you're gonna burn at rest. But beyond just weight loss, you know, like I touched on your mental health, your insulin sensitivity, your everything from like our bones, our muscles, our brains, our hearts, we all, the weight lifting actually is gonna benefit you all round. And it's just something that, you know, I want people to find it accessible. But yeah, eventually, if you can progress with your weights, that's what's gonna really help you on that strength training journey.
SPEAKER_01And weights are actually fairly affordable, at least for the smaller weights, anyway. And you these are things you can do at home. You don't have to be a member of a gym. No, I know some people find the gym quite daunting, yeah. And you can learn how to do this again, maybe keep them lower to be safe at home before you progress.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, and with body weight, just start with your body weight. Um, you know, my book has got little strength snacks in there with those video QR coaster videos to help explain. But even on my YouTube channel, you know, I have different playlists like um for everyone. Um, but exercise snacking is a great way because even if you started just with the body weight squats that you know I throw in after I've brushed my teeth on one leg with my balance snack, but I get the squats in, I get 11 press-ups done in the morning, and then obviously try and sprinkle them in through the day. But start off with body weight, learn proper form and technique, and then you start progressing safely.
SPEAKER_01You've mentioned balancing a couple of times, and I know when I went to my most recent health check, they they make you do that. They want one foot in the other, they want to make sure you can balance, they make you, you know, it's arms out, it's close your eyes, it's yes, uh because and they're checking your balance. Why why is it so important? Why do we need balancing as part of our um routine?
SPEAKER_00Wow, I love this health check, Kate. Tell me who that's with, not to like promote anyone, but that's so great to hear because I do go on about it. Um, and obviously I say brushing your teeth because then I know people can do it twice a day. You've got the sink as support. It is really to reduce our risks of falls as we age. But what people don't realize is that you start losing your balance in midlife, so in your 40s, and um, there's lots of reasons, but I did a lot of research around balance, and you know, at the beginning I was like, okay, I found the study, 10 seconds is one of the greatest indicators for longevity, and this is probably the right audience. I don't mention it to everyone, but if you're not able to balance for 10 seconds, there's a study that shows you could be twice as likely to die from a premature death in the next decade, which is very scary. Yeah. Um, but we know that once you're older and once you have that fall, and if you fracture a bone, like especially your hip, you know, we know that the morbidity rates do go up. Your um ability to live independently completely declines. Like you just become dependent, right? Um, so I did a lot of research around balance, and it's it's one of those simple things. That if you can do 10 seconds, you know, there's a table in my book that shows by age range. I think I am 48. I think I have to go for about, if I can remember off the top of my head, without the brain fog, about 43 seconds with my eyes open. I think about 10 to 13 seconds with my eyes closed. But you build up to that. Snacking is all about like starting off small and then getting to those targets. But you know, I now confidently do a minute because I just go with my electric toothbrush, um, a minute on each leg, a morning and night. And, you know, now I'm like sometimes outdoors, you see on the train station, like I'm balancing on one leg, in the line for a coffee, or you know, wherever I am, I will get them in because I've realized, especially living um, you know, with my mum, my mother-in-law, and like seeing how challenging later life can be, but also with the people that I've trained, and I see them all, you know, I do it on Zoom and YouTube on Fridays. Um, and when I see them like different ages, those in the 80s and 90s, especially, being able to balance, I just think, oh my goodness, this is like it's a life skill, but we need to start early and it's training your body, but also as a runner, or if you're doing a big challenge, you know, like you are, you often have muscular imbalances because we're more dominant on one side, especially people that are doing high impact or long distance runs. Um, balance is really important, and I know it from you know, sport that I've just taken up. Like I wouldn't say I was ever sporty, and you know, I've got into strength training and all of that over the last 10 to 15 years, but it's only the last less than a year that I got into paddle, which is a completely new sport, and balance is a huge part of that as well, right? I've had to learn.
SPEAKER_01So I love paddle. I've seen on your Instagram that you're a bit of a paddle, well, you're a champion of paddle. I wasn't gonna call you a paddle champion because I don't know if you're at that level yet.
SPEAKER_00I'm literally just um, I think it's my midlife crisis, to be honest, but I'm just spreading the love of like starting something new in you know later in life, especially in midlife when I feel like a lot of women have a lot of challenges going on with menopause and things like that. You know, I found it after I hit my menopause, and it's been transformation on so many areas, like balance, but keeping my brain fit.
SPEAKER_01Like, you know, cognitively, it's a really, really good game. I mean, you'd you'd laugh down here, Lavina. I don't know whether if it's the same way you are, but all of my female friends are playing now. Near all of them, anyway. Yeah, yeah, and we're all in our 40s, 50s. The the training sessions that I go to, they're really open for everybody, for beginners. There's women from you know, you've got people in the group from 20 through to their 70s and 80s. You've got um older women who have been playing tennis up until now, and now they can't move as quickly across a bigger court, and now they're they're playing paddle. And they're amazing. It's so fun. If you haven't, if anyone listening has no idea what we're talking about, imagine tennis meets squash, it's just really, really good fun. You can play the ball off the back glass, it's always a game of four, yes, and it is such a laugh. When you're learning, you will laugh so much as well. I've enjoyed it. I mean, genuinely, I never thought I'd find a sport at this age that I loved. And I found it.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, we've got to get a match in. You know what's really magical about like what you just said is all the research I did around exercise, food, like stress management, sleep, like all those kind of five areas. The last one being, um, and this was for my book, social connection. Yeah. And that is probably the one that is the most important for a happy, healthy life when we think about longevity and that social connection that I've got from this sport specifically, like you say, all ages, all abilities. You're on court. I'm often with my husband and boys, they're all natural sportsmen. You know, I spent all these years like taxiing my kids around to sports lessons, tennis, and like all of this stuff, and I never did anything myself, but now I'm in the deep end with them, and it's actually been such an amazing bond. Like, it's great to do if you've got teenagers or you know kids that are older and they're kind of going off and they're doing their own thing. This has really brought us back together, and that social connection that just meeting new people when you're playing a sport, and it's given me this passion, you know, like for you'll see me. I'm just like, I'm in my element, and it's just a bit of fun, but actually, there's a lot of science on all the benefits it's giving us from, like I said, brain health, you know, the coordination, the balance, um, the stamina, the bone health. You know, I know that I'm getting impact training now, like the little jumps and the things that I never probably was doing as part of my training program. Um, so yeah, lots of benefits. We're promoting Paddle here. We are, yay, Paddle.
SPEAKER_01Now, Levina, the 40 Plus Life is taking on midlife with style. So I want to ask you about style. I mean, obviously, you look fabulous today for those that are just listening, and the Levina is wearing the most incredible Feuchia cardigan right now. How important is style to you?
SPEAKER_00So you will see probably from my social media that again, I'm always out there in these sort of bright, bold, vibrant colours because I think in my 30s I was just in black, you know, like I was just uh doing my thing, it was life. But now I really want to encourage women, you know, like I have. I found a whole new unplanned career path. I'm doing something that I really truly love. That when you're going through difficult times, you can actually have that rebirth. You know, I did my world's first menopause party, and it was the three words were rebirth, reinvention, and reframing midlife and colour therapy. You know, I call it dopamine dressing. Um, you'll see I'm kind of out there with my, especially with my pinks, but um, normally I am in bright colours, and not only does it make me feel good, you know, it just gives me that instant kind of um happiness. Like I know you've got to have a bit of confidence to do it, but I encourage everyone just to put a little bit of colour into their lives, and you'll feel it on your dopamine levels, you know, like that natural kind of endorphins, the boost of um feel-good, I guess, that I get from um fashion. I love it. It's like food, fitness, fashion, those are some of my loves for sure. And it can it can make such a difference, right? On a sort of dull grey, totally UK. Oh my gosh, like can't even say the seasons are all so messed up now. Um I know.
SPEAKER_01Throw some colour on. Absolutely. I feel the same to me. I think some people think fashion is frivolous, but actually, it can do so much for your confidence, the way you feel, the way you present yourself to the world, even for just that day. Maybe you want to be seen as soft and feminine that day. Maybe the next day you want to feel powerful and you've got your shoulder pads on and your and your blazer. And sometimes you want to, you know, look like you want to be looked after. And you put your and you put your cozies on and your and your soft knits. And your fashion and style can really, I don't know, make or break the way you feel, I think. 100%. Yep, love it. We're now going to uh wrap things up with a little game of this or that. So you've got to choose one or the other, Lavina. So the first one, early bird or night owl. Uh night owl.
SPEAKER_00Yeah, that's quite interesting. But yeah.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, I kind of expected you to say early bird, but no, you're a night owl.
SPEAKER_00I'm more of a night owl, I would say that. Um, I don't, I mean, I have to get up early just because you know, at the moment I'm still doing the school run and everything. I think that's gonna change with my son just turning 18 and I'll be an empty nester potentially in a few months. Um, but yeah, I'm more I'm more happy like focusing on my sleep and getting um extra hours than waking up too early. Okay. Solo time or social? Oh, it's hard. I love the social connection, and you'll probably see that on all the things that I post. But it's interesting, people probably don't realize that I also love my me time and I love just being, you know, with myself, and that's come um, you know, in the last I'd say in midlife. I never thought I'd enjoy just being by myself and even going out to a restaurant and eating by myself and doing things, the walks and everything. You know, I don't really have to have anyone with me. So I've say a bit of both. Okay, I'll let you have that. Weights or Pilates? I'll keep it short. They're both great, but for me it's weights. Trainers or heels? You know me. I'm always in my trainers. Someone said to me last night as well, you just carry off where I'm in parliament, in like a workplace doing a talk, or yeah, whatever I'm doing, even in Indian clothes under a sari, I have always got my trainers on. Beach holiday or city break. Oh, I like them both, but I'm a Piscean and I love being by the water, so I have to save the beach.
SPEAKER_01Of course, I forgot you and I are both Pisces, aren't we? So paperback or Kindle. I might give you an audio book in there as well. It's one of three.
SPEAKER_00Paperback. There's something magical about just holding a book, turning the pages, scribbling little things down. Yeah, I've gone back to old school.
SPEAKER_01I like to see the pages disappear as well, you know, get get uh smaller on the side, on the other side.
SPEAKER_00No makeup or full glam. Um, you see me in full glam, but I've only got confidence in the last few years after battling with my skin for decades. That I never like I remember coming on a chute without any makeup on, and that was just literally transformational for me because I used to hide under makeup to cover my spots, rosacea, acne, which all came back in my perimenopause. And now I think like just embracing my natural skin. I never thought I'd be able to do it, but and it's not perfect, but yeah, I'm trying to go less makeup.
SPEAKER_01How did you get on top of that with your skin? Because I expect there'll be someone listening going, tell us what you did.
SPEAKER_00Oh gosh, yeah, it was a bit of a journey. Um, is when I started doing my lives and I realized, oh my gosh, you know, I'm like on TV, radio, Instagram. I didn't really realize I'd be so public-facing. And I found a skin doctor online who I always promote on my socials, so messaged me. She's amazing. I finally invested in my skin after, like I said, teenage, like major acne scarring to um that rosacea that I didn't realize was part of the perimenopause. And it's been a journey, it's been two years. I've been consistent alongside. I would definitely say, like, your nutrition plays a huge role. You know, like my mum is uh food author, and you know, it's all about what she called superfoods antioxidants. But you know, we need that lovely, diverse, lots of plant um-based foods, lots of colour, fruits, vegetables, you know, hydration, I've had to focus on and even exercise. You know, there's some research I've done just about getting all the oxygen to your skin and your hair. Here's another whole topic. But yeah, I've had my challenges on both fronts. Um, but if I can get there, and it's still a journey, I'm just feeling so much better in my skin. And it is by no means perfect, but it's so much better than it was.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, it's looking pretty good to me. Now, each episode, I like to finish up with leaving a recommendation for the listener. So, what would your recommendation be? It could be a book, a show, a hobby. I have a feeling I know what your hobby might be.
SPEAKER_00What would you recommend? I was gonna say paddle, you know, I was thinking about this, and we've definitely promoted paddle here, but I think just finding something that you enjoy. Um, I recently went back to some painting. You know, I wanted to be an artist at the age of 18 and I did A-level art. And I mean, I you know, I was frowned upon when I had dreams of going to Central School of St. Martin's and I had to do the right thing. A dream. Yeah. I mean, like, God, maybe one day we could go and do it. But you know what? Like having that sort of hobby or creative side, just something that can take you away from whatever you're doing, whether it's a sport, whether it's learning a new language, you know, all of these things are great for your brain health and reducing risks to things like dementia and Alzheimer's, all of that. And that again, the changes in your brainstart in midlife. So it doesn't have to be paddle, it could just be, you know, just drawing something, learning something new. Um, but yeah, for me, it's it's probably the art. And I'm hoping that I'll get a bit more time after my motherhood duties are and the school runs, the long school run that I have. I might be returning to my art, I'm hoping, next year.
SPEAKER_01Oh, I hope you do. I hope you do. So for those listening, yeah, find something that you love. Just book a class. Yes. Book a book a session to learn paddle or some other sport that you haven't tried that you've been thinking about, just do it. Just do it. Yeah. Lavena, it's been such a treat. Thank you so much for joining me on the 40 plus life and sharing all your health tips and knowledge and remind us all where can our listener follow you and find all your lovely tips.
SPEAKER_00Oh, thank you so much. It's been a joy talking to you. Um, you can find me at Feel Good with Lavina. Um, my main platform is Instagram. The free workouts are on my YouTube at Feel Good with Lavina. Um, I'm on LinkedIn. You know, I love doing talks and workplace wellness and things like that. But yeah, you'll probably find me everywhere. I do have a dated website as well, feelgoodwithlevina.com, which I've got a contact me page. But yeah, it's been an absolute pleasure. Thank you so much, Katie.
SPEAKER_01Thank you, and thank you for listening. And don't forget to subscribe and tell your friends and leave me a review on the 40 Plus Life, and we'll be back next week.