A PERSONAL trainer in her 50s has embraced the journey it took to achieve her fit body.

She has lost 60kg and although she has gained a six-pack, she still has a lot of stretch marks and cellulite that she is still proud of.

4

4

Julia Peterkin (@ladyy.juju) has lost 132 pounds and now helps others feel as good as she does as a fitness trainer.

It wasn’t an easy journey, but she shared how proud she was of this stage of her life TikTok video.

She showed off her fit figure and progress as she flexed in a red sports bra and red underwear.

“Yes, 50. Finally enjoying me,” the caption read.

It was clear that Juliet was proud of herself by the way she smiled.

Juliet shared additional commentary in the video caption about how she was enjoying her “unfiltered 50 years” while “losing 132 pounds.”

She revealed she was covered in “all-natural stretch marks, cellulite, blemishes, veins and blemishes.”

While she embraced those aspects of her body, she also admitted that she was “premenopausal and sometimes bloated and heavy.”

Despite her physical changes, she has learned to help herself and now helps others make the “right lifestyle changes.”

Juliet encouraged others to join her wellbeing challenge in another caption asking: ‘Ready to work?’

Viewers flooded the comments with supportive words about her weight loss success.

“Wow this is the right choice princess,” one person wrote.

4

“QUEEN. YOU ARE AMAZING. AMAZING DISCIPLINE,” another complimented.

“Wow. Absolutely beautiful,” said one admirer.

“Fun!! Stay strong and glowing! Spread lots of positive energy,” another TikTok user added.

4

A BODY-positive woman has spoken out about being fat and says she won’t hate her figure anytime soon.

She said it took her a long time to love her physique, calling herself “fat and fabulous” in her 50s.

3

3

Shelli (@sparklewithshelli) filmed herself celebrating her body in a video on TikTok.

“I’m turning 52 next week and showing off my arms,” she said as she danced.

“Being confident in who you are is the most attractive thing you can wear.”

She wore a sleeveless black top with distressed jeans.

“Fat, fabulous and 50,” she added. “Enjoy life and being myself.”

The video attracted many viewers who weighed in on its body-positive message.

“I need to learn self-confidence,” one person wrote. ‘I don’t show my arms either. But you’re beautiful.’

“Girl, it took a long time,” Shelli replied.

“Confidence comes from competence. Love yourself daily and it will happen. You are amazing and no one else can be you.”

Another viewer commented: “54 [and] living my best life. Arms and all.”

“Girl yes,” Shelli wrote back. “Live your best life.”

“Get it girl,” a third chimed in on the body-positive video. “I have to learn to love myself.”

“Girl, yes. Life is too short to hate your body,” Shelli replied.

“I love your energy,” someone else said. “I’m confident and like to show my arms. No shame.”

3

Many congratulations to Victoria Coren Mitchell and her husband David, who appear full of joy as they announce the birth of their second child, June Violet, sister of eight-year-old Barbara.

The birth made the news, not only because they are both on television, but because Victoria is a mother again at 51 – well above the average age of 29 to 30.

You could say there’s nothing unusual about that these days. While just 55 babies were born to women aged 50 or over in England and Wales in 2001, that figure has risen in the 20 years since.

In England, an average of 275 women over the age of 50 gave birth between 2018 and 2021, seven of whom were in their 60s.

And there are plenty of high-profile examples: singer Janet Jackson had her first child at the age of 50 and actress Rachel Weisz at the age of 48.

I sympathize with women who put off the time-consuming hard work of raising children to climb the career ladder. I went through those nerve-wracking nightmares of wondering how I would ever manage my job and childcare.

I didn’t have to worry. I was 33 when I told my mother I was pregnant. Her response? “Good grief, not before.”

I was sure I had found the right man; my biological clock was ticking so loudly it was deafening, so I had just kept going, excited but scared.

These were the days when breastfeeding in public was considered obscenity and pregnant bellies were expected to remain hidden.

At the time I was presenting the BBC’s South Today. I had countless cards and letters telling me I looked disgusting, asking why I didn’t have a man to keep me, and berating me for even having a job when it should have been given to a man.

Furthermore, my paperwork at the NHS maternity unit described me as ‘risky, a geriatric mother’.

Geriatric indeed, at the age of 33! Then a second time at the age of 37.

I don’t regret choosing to have my children when I was young and fit enough to enjoy them and for them to enjoy me.

When I hear about women having babies in their 50s and 60s, I can’t help thinking, “Poor you and poor her.”

Oh, the sleepless nights. The terrible twos and the embarrassing tantrums in the supermarket. The struggle to find the energy to be a parental taxi driver or to stand on an icy sideline while your son or daughter plays sports.

There’s another benefit to having them younger, which I’ve learned to appreciate lately. My sons, now 40 and 36, are mature enough to help me at a time when the roles are sometimes reversed.

I don’t want you to think that I spent a month wandering around the south of France. I was actually bothered by that phrase I’ve always hated: “I fell.”

I tried to deny that the aching pain would soon disappear. I was wrong. At the Royal Free Hospital, a chest x-ray revealed that I had a severely broken vertebra in my spine.

An operation, which I was afraid of, was ruled out. The cause of the fracture was the common bone-thinning disease in older women: osteoporosis. The bone would be too weak to benefit from surgery. I would just have to wait and hope the vertebra would heal itself.

And this is where my wonderful, wise, knowledgeable, adult sons came into their own. They were there, by my side, bringing the love and comfort I so desperately needed.

I had to undergo several painful scans. Lying on my back on the hard surface of the MRI machine was more painful than I thought. Several times I screamed in pain and begged to be let out of the machine.

The boys – I know I’m not allowed to call them that, but they’re still boys to me – were prepared. They had made sure there was no metal anywhere on their bodies and insisted on coming into the room with me.

As I cried, they caressed my forehead and spoke calmly and encouragingly that these scans were needed to give the doctors a good idea of ​​what was going on in my spine.

I know, if it wasn’t for them being there, patient, knowledgeable and wanting me to be okay, I would have given up and walked away.

Ed, my eldest son, is a vet and has medical knowledge, as does his wife Liz, a senior consultant in the NHS. Without their support and advice, I would not have known how to talk to the doctors who came to see me.

They told me what to ask about my bone health – or lack thereof – and what future plans would be in place.

Ed then sent me a long list of questions to ask the doctor later. I got good answers for the next phase of managing the pain and treating osteoporosis. She laughed when I finished and asked me which medical professional was on the list.

Charlie has now taken over my old role as taxi driver. It will be a while before I can drive again, but he is there to help and calm me when worries about my future overpower my usual common sense.

I’m home now, on painkillers and grateful that they bullied me into installing a toilet downstairs; an upright, comfortable chair instead of my sloppy old couch and a new bathroom with a beautiful shower.

I hope Victoria’s daughters will be just as supportive as she reaches her 70s. They will be in their early twenties.

But the young men, whom I gave birth to in time so that they could be useful when I grew old, have a great asset behind them. I couldn’t be more grateful.

Why my father hid the fact that he was Jewish

There is nothing to be cheerful about in the London area where I live. It is a predominantly Jewish part of the capital and I am shocked by the stories friends tell of the fear they suffer as a result of what is happening around them.

Jewish schools are closed, children are told not to wear uniforms that mark them as Jewish, posters of missing hostages are torn.

In this city that prides itself on diversity, anti-Semitism is now worse than at any time since World War II. Don’t people know they are racist?

I can feel the fear that drove my father to hide his identity. I only discovered my grandmother’s history when we visited Auschwitz together. I was 14 years old. It was 1964.

Just leave the Venus alone!

What is it about Diego Velazquez’s Rokeby Venus, depicted, that makes people want to destroy her?

First a suffragette named Mary Richardson cut her in 1914. Now the Just Stop Oil gang has attacked her by smashing the glass that protected her.

What an unoriginal protest. Just leave her alone.

Ellie and Vito get my vote

I was very relieved when Angela Rippon survived the Strictly dance-off last week. But Ellie and Vito were a revelation.

Ellie did a bit of tap dancing and ballet as a child, but had no style training. She is what Strictly should be – from almost management to the Ginger Rogers to Vito’s tall and elegant Fred Astaire.

Sorry Angela, but my money now goes to them winning.

You may have seen Susannah Constantine (of TV’s What Not to Wear fame) publicly rebuke Samantha Cameron (designer of the fashion label Cefinn) on her My Wardrobe Malfunction podcast.

“Can you lower the waist of your dresses,” Susannah wrote to her in an email.

“We are middle-aged women (Susannah is 61) and we look like mutton trying to be lambs.”

So far Sam Cam hasn’t replied, but I’m guessing her response would be, “Sorry? Did you mean me, because I really don’t know what you’re talking about.’

This was a curious fight to choose from. Of all the brands that make dresses unbearable for women over 40, Sam Cam’s isn’t the first to come to mind, and high waists aren’t even on the list of middle-aged fit.

I have a busty girlfriend in her sixties who always looks her best in a slightly high-waisted, sleeveless, V-neck dress.

For her, high-waisted becomes a kind of deep, accommodating empire line and is her preferred dress form.

I have another friend with a neat top and an unruly center who relies on Spanx and a high waist, gathered under the bust and then flared out into a subtle A-line shape to cover her tummy and hips.

And if you have an athletic figure – like Sam Cam himself, who is no spring chicken at 52 – a high waist is the waistline that suits you, just like it did 20 years ago.

In my case, they’re regular-waisted dresses with buttons down the front, the kind Kirstie Allsopp loves, which make me look ten years older, even though they look great on Kirstie and anyone who’s a bit around .

In other words, different women fit different waist sizes, but age has nothing to do with it.

If we want to talk about what really doesn’t work for mature women, regardless of their figure, here are my Just Say Nos. . .

Short hemlines

This is the killer for most women in their 50s and 60s. A little swing dress that ends inches above your knee? No thanks.

A slightly higher hemline can work in months with opaque tights in it, but the problem here is the quality and firmness of the flesh and, if exposed, the texture of the legs that show.

You can work on your arms and wear sleeveless for years (hurrah), but Pilates toned, exfoliated, and fake tan don’t automatically make good bare legs.

There comes a time when the legs are best seen from the calf down, and the legs from the back, above the knee, will otherwise look sad. That’s why hems that fall back are so popular.

Splits

Thigh slits, back slits, side slits. I can’t count the number of dresses I’ve stepped out of only to discover that when you walk or sit down, your legs show all the way to the hot pants line.

Smock

A smocked waistline works nicely, but smocking, not on your life. I’ve seen women as skinny as Vermicelli pasta try on dresses with smocked torsos, and they look like they stepped into the youth pool, stole the youngsters’ stuff, and it just doesn’t work.

It’s the same when you see grown women in pearl button shirts with Peter Pan collars, bras shown on the show (under a sheer top), dungarees (I love them, but not as a fashion item right now) , net or tulle skirts, and most things with bows if the goal is cuteness rather than drama.

Bulging feet

My personal horror is the foot that has seen a lot of heel wear and is now showing the strain – a little mottled, a little veiny and dry. The only solution is lower heels or no heels at all.

HUGE sunglasses

Super cool one minute, eccentric old lady with cats the next. The same goes for hats.

Wide-brimmed hats look great on Joan Collins, but they usually add five years.

Mary Janes

There are a few shoe styles that can add inches to your ankles and make you look like an old doll, including Mary Janes. Why would you?

Beautiful printing

Sometimes they’re so painfully pretty it’s hard to resist, but there’s no getting around it: the meadow-like fabric skirt and little daisy-print dress are just too pretty if we have to be sweet with a good squeeze of lemon.

Also watch out for sweet pink tones; neon colors only work at clubbing age and don’t let anyone tell you that silver leather is a good idea: maybe a good idea for Dua Lipa.

Welfare experts warn that 750,000 Americans in their 50s could lose their food stamps thanks to the expanded work requirements under the debt deal passed by Congress this week.

The debt plan expands work requirements for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients to include those ages 50 to 54 — a group that was previously exempt.

In total, some 750,000 people in the US have been affected, says the left-wing Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. Some may have to take jobs to keep their aid, others will be buried in extra paperwork.

Kofi Kenyatta, an anti-poverty campaigner at UpTogether, a non-profit organization, said the job requirements were “arbitrary and really brutal.”

Eligibility requirements for the SNAP became a lightning rod in debt agreement negotiations. Food banks across the country are struggling to meet rising demand as poor Americans face higher grocery costs as COVID-era benefits wear off.

The debt plan that President Joe Biden says he will sign includes work requirements to get food benefits.

The measure would exempt veterans, those who are homeless and young adults who are aging from foster care, provided they can prove their status.

The White House, which approved the deal as a compromise between Democrats and Republicans, says SNAP enrollment will be about the same once the changes are implemented.

Republicans argued during the negotiations that expanding job requirements would help more SNAP recipients get jobs and reduce their reliance on benefits.

Some progressive lawmakers said the job requirements were their reason for ignoring the debt deal.

Anti-hunger advocates say the new hurdles for older Americans will cause many to lose benefits, while the newly exempted groups will struggle to navigate complex bureaucracy to prove their status.

For example, people ages 50 to 54 may have health problems that limit their ability to meet the new requirement to work 20 hours a week, said Ty Jones Cox, vice president for food assistance at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Veterans and homeless people may have trouble collecting the proper documentation to prove their exemptions as part of the complex, state-by-state process of securing SNAP benefits, said Ellen Vollinger, SNAP director of the Food Research & Action Center.

“This will be a very tough job for caseworkers,” she said.

“It gets very confusing.”

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who led Republican negotiations for the debt deal, has said the expanded job requirements will put more adults into work and thereby strengthen the economy.

Anti-hunger groups say the research doesn’t support that conclusion.

In a 2022 report, the Congressional Budget Office found that SNAP job requirements reduced recipients’ total income because the amount of work required made them ineligible for SNAP based on income.

Currently, SNAP recipients ages 18 to 49 with no dependents or disabilities must work 20 hours per week to receive benefits for more than three months over a three-year period.

The changes would increase that age limit to 54 years.

Colleen Young, director of government affairs for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank, expects demand for her organization’s services and food supply to increase as the debt plan is implemented.

The food bank is already over budget as it distributes the second-highest pounds of free food in its history, a common story among emergency food providers as inflation hammers household budgets.

“It’s going to be a tension,” Young said.