At 65, she feels younger than she did at 45.

Dubai-based Anuradha Chatterjee feels that she is living her second life. "I've been a homemaker my whole life, looking after my husband and children, sending them off to college. My husband died a few years ago, and I was all alone at home. I was just listless and so idle, and I felt physically weak," she adds.

So, she started with a few brief walks. She would get exhausted, but it was oddly exhilarating. And then she gradually extended her walks from 15 to 20 minutes. "I felt adventurous enough to try a treadmill," explains Chatterjee. Over the course of the year, the spurts burst forth. It spread to dumbbells, and yoga. "I pushed myself gently, but not too much. I just gave myself a goal, to be fit. And it made me feel alive, younger than I felt," she says.

Her lesson through the years: It's never too late. Nothing is ever too late.

Nevertheless, it takes time to get there. For many women, midlife can arrive like an ambush.…