Episode 134: Seven Simple Health Checks For Women Over 40

The scales can be brutally loud and wildly unhelpful, especially for women over 40 navigating perimenopause, stress and shifting hormones. So we’re doing something different: practical, no-drama health checks you can do at home to measure health and vitality beyond weight loss. Julie and Catherine share the simple tests we’ve actually tried ourselves, plus what each one can tell you about strength, mobility, balance, flexibility and cardiovascular fitness.

We start with waist-to-hip ratio, a quick measurement that can highlight visceral fat patterns and metabolic risk without turning it into a moral judgement. From there we move into real-life capability tests: getting up off the floor unaided, push-ups (with realistic progressions), and a properly aligned plank for core stability. These aren’t about “perfect”, they’re about building a baseline and knowing what to practise next.

We also cover balance for falls prevention, a flexibility check linked to joint mobility, and easy-to-track heart health markers like resting heart rate and recovery after exercise. Plus we talk blood pressure and why knowing your personal normal matters. To round it out, we add the chair stand test for leg strength and independence, and a simple breathing test, including the surprisingly common habit of “screen apnoea” while scrolling or emailing.

Try the tests, keep it judgement-free, and track your progress over time. Subscribe, share this with a friend, leave us a review, and come join our free Facebook group to tell us how you got on.

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For more information about Julie Clark Nutrition, click HERE
For more information about Catherine Chapman, click HERE

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