Looking like a snack is the current trend, but Nicole Murphy says that our bodies are gardens. If you take care of it, it'll feed you forever. After five kids, the 50-year-old model and reality star still has cakes by the pound, and she recently revealed on Sway In The Morning how she's succeeded in serving us body goals for decades at a time. Nicole said that unlike most women, she didn't see any significant changes in her body after her first child, but as her family's roster grew, so did her insecurity.
"When I first had my first baby, I wasn't even thinking about working out. I didn't go to the gym and this and that. And no one told me, 'Hey, it's possible that your belly will never be the same. Your body's going to look different. You might have stretch marks.' I didn't even think like that. I was blessed in the beginning. I just went back into my normal shape. And then the more kids I started having, it was like, 'Yoooo, I need to work out 'cause I'm not the same.' I could see my little faults so I was like, 'I'm in the gym, I gotta work out.'"
Nicole says that this desire for a positive-self image was even more important, because like all women, she wanted to look her best for her partner.
"At the time, I was married so I was like, 'I always want to look good for my man.' I didn't want to get comfortable like some people do in a relationship and let themselves go. I know a few people like that and I'm like, me, honestly, that would turn me off. I always wanted to look good. So I've always been into it. I've been into eating right. Well, I do mess up, I'm not even gonna lie."
Her insecurity and negative self-image led Nicole to take her health journey more seriously, and that included solidifying a plan for fitness based on her lifestyle. No matter how chaotic or intense our daily schedules get, Nicole. She said:
"Just work out. It's only one hour out of your day. One hour out of my day. I can even do it at home. There's no excuse."
Although it's essential to your health journey to stay active, the mother of five says that one of the most important decisions she made was learning how to eat based on what made her feel good, not just what looked good. Studies show that what you eat is far more important than how you work it off, but that can mean redefining your diet completely, especially if your history of food choices has been consistently poor in the past, and Nicole said that old habits sometimes die hard. When asked one of her biggest challenges, she had this to say:
"Just learning how to eat properly. That took a minute because I didn't know. My mother's British so it's all about bread and lots of butter, lots of sauces on your food, potatoes and that. That's how I grew up. But the older I got, I figured it out."
With discipline and determination, you too can be as fine as Nicole Murphy at age 50. She says that despite unrealistic images constantly perpetuated in the media regarding society's idea of beauty, she's only working to be her best self and to inspire others to do the same thing.
"I want to maintain. I'm 50 now. I just turned 50 years old. So I want to inspire other women. Just because you're 50 doesn't mean it's over. I'm not trying to look 21 but I want to look good for myself — and whoever my mate is going to be."
Despite Nicole's insecurity in her self-image early in life, she took control of her narrative and made wellness a priority because she understood that a garden that is well kept can produce a harvest beyond her imagination.
Featured image by Kathy Hutchins / Shutterstock.com