I posted this same message under another thread, but thought it might help some of you who may have missed it, hence the "repost"
I just wanted to share with you MY experience with diet/exercise and peri-menopause! I’m forty five years old, and I couldn’t believe what was happening to me with each passing year after the age of forty! Once, it was much easier to lose a few pounds, tone up, stay slim and trim, but not anymore!
I have been dieting/exercising most of my adult life, having conquered
a slight weight problem I have had since I was a child. I also work out religiously. Due to some major life tragedies, I gained a little weight while I was going thru some messy personal issues, and my workout routine fell by the wayside. I wanted to lose the extra fifteen to twenty pounds I had gained. I didn’t really think it would be a problem once I started back working out. I don’t have a problem with will power, or sticking to a routine, so in May 2002, I promised myself I would pick up the pace and exercise religiously, because I always feel better, and this was always the key for me in terms of losing inches and dropping extra pounds.
After one entire year of waking at 5:00 A.M. and walking five miles a day, on a varied terrain involving lots of killer uphill stretches, at least five days a week-usually more (all done within an hour), I found myself only MAINTAINING my current weight!! I couldn’t believe it!
During this entire YEAR, besides a couple of pounds lost in the first month of my regimen, even with all this walking, I did not lose one ounce or one inch no matter what I ate! I would tell my husband, “you’d think I would be SKINNY with all this exercise, and all my food restriction…what’s the deal????” He would just tell me that I was gorgeous and that surely my heart and blood pressure had to be GREAT! (they indeed are.)
So, I started tweaking my food intake…..
I tried low carb (but only for a little while), low fat, juice fasting, Slim-Fast, high fiber,and any other diet you can imagine. Since I didn’t drop any weight in the first week, I would get discouraged, because BEFORE, the first week of any diet would really give me a quick 3 or 4 pound loss NOTHING was happening!
I really got mad! The I got smart!
I did a little research and changed a few things….viola…in one month, I’ve dropped five pounds, lost many inches (like about three in my hips alone) and look better than I have in years!
Let me tell you what I did, and maybe it will help some of you gals out there who are struggling!
First, I added 2 pound hand weights to my walk. I swear, the difference is remarkable. At first, I could not believe how much more difficult it made this walk that I had been doing for a year (now about a year and two months), but the difference was phenomenal!
Second, I started taking major supplements. I still have a fairly regular period, but I was experiencing outrageous hot flashes, breast tenderness, awful skin rashes, difficulty sleeping, mood swings, you name it! It was awful! Plus, my waistline that was never more than 26 (even when I was really heavy~ I’m an hourglass body type) was about 30! I read somewhere that the imbalance of hormones we experience as we approach menopause makes us hold onto fat as if we were pregnant! Oh MY GOSH! You’ve got to manipulate those hormones a little bit….and WITHOUT synthetic ones!
So I researched and added the following supplements:
1. A premium multi-vitamin with herbs (Kirkland Brand with Ginkgo Biloba and other herbs which boost energy and memory~) I get these at Costco because they are much less expensive than at a health food store (I’ve been taking these forever, but they were not enough!)
2. Magnesium (1200 mgs)-
3. Flax Seed Oil Gel Caps (2000-4000mgs per day with each of two meals-sometimes I forget the second one, thus the variation in dosage)
4. Supplemental Vitamin E-800 IU
5. Healthy Woman soy supplement-to support estrogen
6. Natural Progesterone Cream-one teaspoon twice a day, rubbed on my neck and wrists so it is absorbed better.
I just knock back all of this stuff in the morning before I walk on an empty stomach, but it’s probably better to take them with some sort of food. I usually drink either Crystal Lite, splenda sweetened tea, or some sort of sugar free fitness water when I take them. Somehow, the high energy walking soothes out my stomach and keeps it from getting upset from all these pills! The cream I apply after my morning shower, and before I go to bed.
All of these work together to balance you out, and indeed, I feel like I’m twenty five instead of forty five! I heard about these from an author who appeared on Dr.Phil, talking about what we need as we approach menopause. Her name escapes me, but you can find the info on his website-www.drphil.com.
The third and final step in my road to my former self was really, really being good about low carbing. I mean, giving it more than a week or two to work.
In the first week, my weight went up and down, I retained water at times, I had headaches, etc. But by the second week, I felt GREAT! The inches started dropping before the pounds, but now, after a month into it, I feel like I’m melting a little everyday!
At first, I think your body is burning fat for sure, but for me, it seems like it displaces that fat with water. Like your fat cells have lost fat, but they stay swelled up with water. That’s how it is for me, even as I'm drinking tons of water. Of course, I have no scientific evidence whatsoever to back this up, but I’ve got this feeling...
In the past month, I haven’t slipped up at all, because I’m determined to stay as young, vital and fit as possible.
Even with all that exercise I was doing, my clothes didn’t fit any differently, and I wasn’t ever a big eater. However, I did eat my fair share of carbs via pasta, crackers, margaritas, potatoes, cookies, etc. I think those refined carbs and sugars are worse for me now, at age 45 than they’ve ever been. So, I cut them out, added the supplements and in ONE MONTH, I feel and look better than I have in at least three or four years. PLUS, my clothes are starting to get looser, my tummy isn’t all poochy, I’m feeling my hip bones again and I think I’m easier to get along with!
It really is harder to stay fit and trim after age forty, but we’ve gotta fight the good fight and not let that be an excuse to puff up, right? Hope this marathon post helps some of you out there who are struggling!
Blessings to all!
For Gals 40+ who are having trouble
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