Healing Inflammation After 50: My 2-Week Reset at 57 and Why I’m Finally Seeing Progress

Two weeks ago, I came across a 50+ year old woman on Instagram, named Emilie and she looked 30 and was really fit. She had lost over 100 pounds.

Something she shared completely shifted my focus.

She talked about doing everything “right”—eating clean, training hard—and still feeling stuck until she realized the real work was healing inflammation and helping her body feel safe again so it would finally release the weight.

As I started paying attention, I noticed a trend among many women over 50 on Instagram: they were managing cortisol by training smarter, not harder.

That’s when I stopped telling myself I was “trying” to lose weight and decided instead to heal inflammation first.

That single shift changed everything. The scale started to respond, and I lost 3 pounds in two weeks. At first, the scale stayed the same for several days because my body was rehydrating and weight training was causing my muscles to hold more water. I promised myself I wasn’t going to give up. I decided to have faith and keep going, trusting that I was healing my body regardless of what the scale said.

For years, my mornings looked the same: a peppermint mocha and a bacon gouda from Starbucks. Eventually, I added a grande Pink Drink. On top of that, I was drinking alcohol most days. Nothing that felt extreme, just consistent enough to matter. That combination quietly took me from 122 lbs to 133 lbs in just a few months, fast enough to feel confusing, but slow enough to ignore.

I wasn’t overeating meals.
I wasn’t lazy.
I was inflamed.

I had tracked my macros just enough to become aware, yet not enough to stay within them. Tracking alone showed me the truth: some of my “normal” foods were far more damaging than I realized. It also taught me that tracking macros wasn’t the chore I thought it would be.

At 50, I was in excellent shape. I worked out consistently and felt strong—though I always wanted to lose that last stubborn eight pounds. Somewhere between 51 and 57, my workouts became inconsistent, recovery slowed, and inflammation quietly took over.

What changed things wasn’t another diet.

It was watching women in their 50s who weren’t chasing thin—but healing inflammation, lifting weights, and mostly removing alcohol (or at least reducing it to occasional, social drinking). One woman talked about how nothing shifted until she addressed inflammation first and stopped drinking. That was the moment the tables turned for me.

Adjustments I Made to Myself

Walk 10 minutes after two meals a day most days
Lift weights 3–5 days a week
Reduce alcohol significantly (because alcohol = inflammation)
Focus on consistency, not perfection
Track macros using ChatGPT
No diet — just changes in my choices. Not only not a sprint, but a way of life

I also decided to bring my booty focus back—because yes, you can still have a great bum at 57.

My Booty + Strength Focus (At Home & Sauna)

I’ve worked my glutes for years in the past, but now I’m intentionally focusing on them again, not to make them bigger in inches, but to make them more shapely, stronger, and stay activated.

The goal isn’t size.
It’s function and form.

I use a combination of ankle weights, booty bands, and bands with resistance straps to activate the glute minimus, medius, and maximus, so those muscles are firing not only during workouts, but while I’m walking, lifting, and doing other movements as well.

👉 AMAZON LINKS To some of my favorite booty refining equipment for home or while in the sauna— booty bands / resistance strap bands / ankle weights

These are the same tools I use at home and in the gym to help cue proper engagement instead of letting everything default to quads or lower back.

I do most of this focused glute work in a far infrared sauna at Hotworx, about three times a week, layering heat with resistance. You don’t have to do that, I just like the health effect of the sauna, and I like… being in the sauna, so it means I’m more likely to get my focused glute work done. It only takes 10 minutes and the rest of the time I just relax. I’ve also noticed my skin feels softer and I sleep better on my sauna days.

This isn’t about extremes.
It’s about teaching my body how to move well again.

I also started reading Thinner Leaner Stronger by Michael Matthews, which helped me clearly understand calories, macros, and muscle preservation without overcomplicating things. The workouts felt familiar—just simplified and more sustainable for this season of life.

Two Weeks In

Down 3 pounds
Less bloating
Better energy
More awareness (without shame)

Red Light: Making Consistency Easier

I also reintroduced red light therapy after realizing I already owned a large, expensive panel that I wasn’t using consistently. Seeing Emilie use red light reminded me why I bought it in the first place. This is mine hanging on the back of my closet door.

The issue for me wasn’t belief—it was practicality.

I don’t love standing still, and I get bored. I saw a smaller, MUCH more affordable red light panel (available on Amazon) would solve that problem because it’s easy to position and use while lying down. That alone makes consistency much more realistic.

AMAZON LINK HERE — red light panel

If something fits into real life, I actually use it—and that matters.

Trying Something New for Cellulite & Loose Skin

Because I’m losing gradually, I’m also trying an anti-cellulite product with over 70,000 positive reviews and a 4.5-star rating to see if it helps support loose skin and cellulite as my body changes. I will report back further on into the journey.

I don’t expect miracles.
I’m simply supporting my skin while healing from the inside out—and I’ll share honestly what I notice over time.

Why I’m Sharing This Now

I’m still very much in this—right now.

This is what I’m doing in the present, and for the first time in a long time, I’m genuinely excited about the journey, not just the results.

What feels different isn’t just the scale or the habits—it’s my relationship with my body and food. I finally feel like I’m treating it with respect instead of frustration, working with it instead of against it. I’m eating tastier, more satisfying foods, and I’m actually starting to enjoy cooking again instead of seeing meals as something to control or dislike.

I’m not here with a finished transformation or a perfect system.
I’m here in the middle—curious, consistent, and hopeful.

Here is a link to Emilie’s instagram account: https://www.instagram.com/foreverfit_emilie/. Truly inspiring!

If any of this resonates with you I would love for you to join me on this journey and share your experience, thoughts and progress.

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