few weeks ago, photos of a restaurant launch did the rounds on Instagram, but the one that caught the eye most was one of CEO Catwalk Events, Frieha Altaf flexing her biceps and talking about the ‘6-pack at 60’ she’s working towards.

A former model, characterized by her dimples and bangs, Altaf was known for her very unusual beauty in the ‘90s. As the decades ran on, she became known for much more: establishing a modeling agency, choreographing shows, orchestrating massive events such as the Lux Style Awards, creating what can only be described as an event management, marketing, and perception management empire. No small feat, especially when you factor in the two children she raised by herself.

And still, candid as she is, Frieha Altaf opened up to Instep about what compelled her to fight for her fitness, and what that means for a woman past 40. If you are anywhere north of 35, you may have noticed that it has become harder to digest certain foods, work a certain way, or keep your fitness at a certain level. If you are anywhere north of 40, the grind becomes that much harder.

Believing that her knowledge was important to share, Altaf touched upon several aspects of her health and wellness, and articulated her experiences so well, that only her own words can do them justice. Read Frieha Altaf’s comprehensive guide to fitness at any age, but especially post-menopause, memorize it, hang it up on a mirror, because this is the most detailed guideline you will find, adjusted for age and ethnicity.

Why aging doesn’t matter:

I’ve always been the kind of person to celebrate milestones. My 40th birthday had 800 people, my 50th had so many people, we were up till six or seven in the morning, partying. So I’ve always been very social and always liked entertaining people, and I have never had an issue with disclosing or discussing my age.There are a lot of people who will tell you not to but that’s just completely wrong.

If you’re insecure, haven’t lived your life and haven’t checked things off your bucket list, then you will always be worried about age. So let’s talk about age first and let’s not think about all the negatives with age.

Focus on the positives. Think about what comes with getting older: the maturity, the wisdom. Of course your body is not the same but you can choose to be healthier now. My mother is masha Allah 81, and a friend pointed out that we will probably live up to our 90s, and our kids to their 100s. Average age has gone up over the years because lifestyle has changed and diets have changed and looking after our bodies and exercising has changed the overall quality of life.

Being healthier is always in style!

[As we grow older, our muscle mass decreases and affects us in ways we didn’t think of] And that’s why you don’t have the strength to climb up stairs. Or, in my case, I couldn’t even wear high heels, my stilettos, the beautiful shoes that I’ve collected all over the years. And that was so distressing to me.

Then I was always distressed about the fact that I couldn’t wear my gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous clothes that I had bought because my size had gone up. So, I’m not really a vanity-driven person; I’ve never been consumed by my looks, but I’ve always loved fashion and to wear the clothes that I like wearing, I needed to be a certain size. So one of the goals is to fit back into my clothes. But more than that, it was about gaining strength and being strong and healthy.

What happens to your body after 50, and how you can tackle it:

For me, menopause came a little late. I think it came around the time when I was 55 pr 56. Maybe it’s because I’ve always exercised and I’ve been very active, but of course, the changes came.

When my ankle broke, it took six months to heal. I couldn’t wear heels for a year. And it took a longer time to repair because I’ve broken my foot before. So I realized that I can’t be in denial. This is all happening because I’m getting older, and from the time that I broke my foot, I put on weight. And after i got Covid, it went to 75 kilos. I was 166 pounds. And today, I’m 125 pounds. I haven’t been this weight since I was 40 years old. So, it’s been a process for me.

Once I recovered from Covid, I wanted to eat everything and I would have ice cream at two in the morning and it was crazy because I was craving these things and I never really thought about my diet. Exercise takes care of about 20-30% of your weight and fitness, the rest of it has to be what you’re putting into your body. So I started my exercise, I got a trainer, it’s been over 19 months that I’ve had this trainer from Core and he started teaching me how to work out with light weights and making me do a lot of stuff, you know, like working on my core, working on my squats, squats are really good because they help your strengthen the knees and the muscles around your knees which you need to climb up the stairs or do anything [that requires you to move].

Then you have to do an overall body check because you want to pick up weights and not have a problem in your back. I’ve had so many problems for 20 years because of stress. I would get these frozen shoulders and it was very excruciating. I’ve been to so many chiropractors to fix my bones and fix my body and they would always say, you have to start working out and they gave me exercises, but I would still stick to my cardio because cardio always helps you lose weight. So I was doing the wrong thing. You have to do a combination of strength training, functional training with the cardio so that you get in your 10,000 steps a day. You’re working your core, you’re working, your shoulders, you’re working your arms, you’re working your thighs, your glutes, everything. So all these things are important, put together.

Learning to
prioritize
yourself:

As a woman, as a mother, as a daughter, I’ve always put everybody else before me and I’ve always put work before everything else. So I would never quit work, but I would give up exercise. And that’s the one thing I decided firmly never to compromise on again. The other thing that I decided to give up was this lack of sleep, your body needs eight hours of sleep for sure. The older you get, the more sleep you need. I used to boast about not sleeping, and joke about sleeping when I’m dead, but that’s literally not acceptable anymore.

Remember to breathe:

Mental health is so connected to the health of your body, and your brain detoxes while you sleep. So one, sleep is important.

Yoga is something I have done for a long time, and it is great for stretching. If you’re working out a lot, massages are important.

Center yourself: meditate, do yoga, say your namaz. Taking that timeout, even for a few minutes, is so important. Namaz has a lot of yogic movements which can help you calm down too.

I’ve always liked to sit in the sun on a Sunday and tan myself and go into the water because water is a really good and nutritive and we have a huge coastline, so if you;re near it, take advantage. If you aren’t, take a bath, stand under the shower, just breathe.

It’s okay to care about how you look:

I admit I care about the aesthetics. When I was 44, my daughter told me, ‘you’re looking really old. You need to do something’. So i experimented with fillers and Botox, and they worked for me.

I always found the thought of aging gracefully more appealing, but here’s the thing, you can do both. The idea is to do as much as you need of what you need, and not to become obsessed.

Dr Afzaal Lodhi recommended I only do the fillers every six months, and then I have worked with Dr Tasneem Nakhoda. I have tried threads, I have had Scarlet RF, I like wearing dresses so I worked on the varicose veins on my legs.

Technology moves fast, and there are options for everything! You can get PRP for under your eyes, and your hair. I lost a lot of hair after I got Covid, and I had PRP to restore that. I’ve also had Profilho, which you need to do once a year, and don’t need any fillers etc. afterwards. So I have experimented, and found things I like that work for me.

You are what you eat:

The one thing I have changed massively is cut down on my food intake. A lot of things happen when you’re sitting in front of the TV and binging away on chips and things that are not very healthy. I can’t even remember the last time I had McDonald’s.

I had a DNA test done from Healthworks, which would tell me what is or could go wrong with my health, and what I should be eating and what I shouldn’t be eating. One of the things that I cut out from my diet completely, 40 years ago was sugar. I never take sugar in my coffee, I don’t take milk in my coffee, I like to have coffee black and then also contain the intake.

If I had three mugs of coffee a day, big ones, I cut that down to one espresso in the morning and then have healthier vitamin C drink.

Then, I take supplements. I take fish oil and I take something for my bones and I also take zinc, and I’m also now told by the DNA test that I need to have more magnesium. So, I’m going to add that to my diet. I cut out a lot of gluten. I only have skim milk once a day with one cup of tea. But I’m going to cut that out too. I love rusk, but I will take care to replace those with a gluten-free version. I generally don’t have bread, rice, or pasta, but I suppose it’s okay to indulge every once in a while.

Protein is very, very good for you. You should try and avoid red meat, but lean protein is very good. Chicken breast is what I like to have. And then I also have shrimp and fish, white fish is better than red fish, like salmon.

Saturated oils are not good for you. So stick to olive oil or get oil done from Empress Market. It’s much better for you. Obviously, avocado, lentils, and kidney beans have a lot of protein. You should have some carbs as well: as apples and good fruits that suit you.