"For me, as I go through the aging process and really start it, I realize it's more about, 'Do I feel vibrant?'" she said.
Gwyneth Paltrow is going all gold for her 50th birthday! The actor and businesswoman, who turned 50 on September 27, 2022, posted a nude photo of herself covered in gold body paint. The post soon went viral with well-wishers leaving comments under the post, wishing her a happy birthday. Ahead of her bold birthday post, she shared a black and white photo of herself on Instagram wearing a bikini as she joyfully leaps across lots of grass with her arms up high toward the sky, per Good Morning America.
"Musings on a milestone," she captioned the photo which led followers to a touching post she penned for Goop, titled "On Approaching 50." In the post, she reflected on everything from thinking back to when her parents turned 50 to how she feels physically and mentally as she ages. "My body, a map of the evidence of all the days, is less timeless," Paltrow wrote.
"A collection of marks and irregularities that dog-ear the chapters. Scarred from oven burns, a finger smashed in a window long ago, the birth of a child. Silver hair and fine lines. The sun has left her celestial fingerprints all over me, as if she soaked a brush in dark-taupe watercolor, flecking it over my skin. And while I do what I can to strive for good health and longevity, to stave off weakening muscles and receding bone, I have a mantra I insert into those reckless thoughts that try to derail me: I accept. I accept the marks and the loosening skin, the wrinkles. I accept my body and let go of the need to be perfect, look perfect, defy gravity, defy logic, defy humanity. I accept my humanity."
Paltrow, who shares her two children Apple, 18, and Moses, 16, with ex-husband Chris Martin, has been vocal in the past about her experience with aging and body image, telling PEOPLE in 2021, "For me, as I go through the aging process and really start it, I realize it's less about, 'Oh, I have this wrinkle, am I going to fix it or not?' and more, 'Do I feel vibrant?' She also made headlines in 2018 when she posted videos about experiencing the beginning stages of menopause. "I can feel the hormonal shifts happening," she said. "Sweating, the moods, you're just like all of the sudden, furious for no reason."
Menopause usually happens to women between the ages of 45 and 55, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and stops the ovaries from "producing the hormones estrogen and progesterone." The National Institute on Aging notes that menopause is "a normal part of aging for women."
"Some women don't have any trouble with menopausal symptoms and may even feel relieved when they no longer need to worry about painful periods or getting pregnant," it states. "For other women, the menopausal transition can bring hot flashes, trouble sleeping, pain during sex, moodiness, and irritability, depression, or a combination of these symptoms."
References:
https://people.com/style/gwyneth-paltrow-is-working-to-accept-her-body-as-she-ages/
https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/womensrh/index.htm
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by Pascal Le Segretain
