Your Age Is Your Strength

I was working out this morning with PJ Wren, a 50-something fitness trainer I discovered on the FitOn app. FitOn is a great workout app with hundreds of workouts for different skill levels and intensities. I’ve been using it for about two years now—doing strength training, HIIT, yoga, and walking regularly. I use weights, I work hard, and I feel strong.

PJ is one of the trainers I really like, and I recently found her YouTube channel. I did one of her workouts this morning and noticed a quote displayed behind her that immediately stopped me in my tracks:

“Your age is your strength.”

That line stayed with me.

I’m 57 years old, and I’ve spent most of my life overweight—battling my weight, battling for energy, and feeling tired much of the time. One of the biggest challenges I face is that I have a mental illness that requires antipsychotic medication, which causes weight gain.

When I was at my sickest in my 30s, I started taking Seroquel. For every 100 mg increase, I gained about 10 pounds. Eventually, my dosage reached 1000 mg, and I gained close to 100 pounds. Gaining weight was easy. Losing it has been a lifelong battle. I did not lose 10 pounds when I went down 10 mg of Seroquel.

Even now, I work out at least four mornings a week. I walk, lift weights, and stay active. I feel very fit—even in an overweight body. But losing weight is still incredibly difficult.

In March of 2024, I started Weight Watchers and by October had lost 30 pounds. Then October came, and everything changed. My dad became very ill and passed away that month while on hospice. During that same time, I had a gallbladder attack and had surgery just two days before he died. The surgery itself wasn’t the hard part—it was the fear of going under anesthesia and worrying that I’d wake up and he’d be gone. Thankfully, he held on two more days.

That season was overwhelming. I also care for my mom, who lives nearby, and with no siblings close, much of that responsibility falls on me. My husband is incredibly supportive, but the emotional load was heavy. On top of all that, I care for my grandchildren full time.

It was a lot of stress.

After October, my weight loss completely stalled. I was still exercising and following Weight Watchers, but nothing changed. Add menopause into the mix—I went through menopause that same year—and my body seemed to dig in its heels. I didn’t gain weight, but I didn’t lose any either.

Recently, I’ve finally started losing again—about 10 more pounds so far—but it’s slow. And that’s frustrating. I sometimes find myself thinking, I don’t want to die fat. I want to overcome this. I want to reach a healthy weight.

But I’m also getting older, and it feels harder with every passing year.

Being a woman can be exhausting—being a mother, a wife, a grandma. Your body doesn’t always cooperate with your goals. Losing weight is hard for me. Still.

That’s why that quote mattered so much.

I really like PJ—not just her workouts, but her vibe. She’s challenging without being punishing. I’m out of breath, but I can do her workouts. And seeing that quote reminded me that I’m not too old. I’m not running out of time.

A few days ago was my dad’s birthday. A friend of my mom’s—who plays the harp—came over and played for about 30 minutes. It was beautiful. She had also played at my dad’s funeral, which made it even more meaningful. While talking with her, we learned she didn’t start playing the harp until she was 65 years old.

That surprised me. And it challenged me.

I often tell myself I’m too old to learn something new—to paint, to make art, to try another creative pursuit. I’ve tried so many things over the years: crochet, cake decorating, baking macarons, cheese making, reselling, book selling. I’ve enjoyed them all, but I’ve never quite “succeeded” at any one thing.

But maybe that’s not the point.

That quote—“Your age is your strength”—reminded me that I still have time. I have experience. I have wisdom. I have resilience. My age isn’t something working against me—it’s something supporting me.

It felt like exactly the message I needed at the beginning of 2026.

So that’s my quote for the year:

Your age is your strength.

Thank you, PJ, for the workout—and for the reminder.