Comments on: Understanding weight gain after 40

By: Eliza

Eliza — Sat, 16 Jul 2011 00:16:42 +0000

Ada – Love your advice about finding exercise that fits your temperament. I have finally settled into swimming laps, one or two days a week on the treadmill, and just generally being active around the house. Occasionally, when my body screams for some stretching I pull out the WiiFit yoga. In the winter, I love to do some Xbox Kinect dance videos. All these things make me happy, so I do them. When i forced myself to do other forms of exercise because ‘I thought I should’ I always gave up on them.

By: Ada

Ada — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 23:16:19 +0000

I started out doing wild dvds like Jillian Michaels Banish Fat Boost Metabolism but I found it a bit too high impact after a while. My knees were killing me. I gradually moved more towards strength training with walking for aerobics or using my elliptical trainer. I recently started doing yoga because I have outgrown the weights I was using and I didn’t want to buy heavier ones and wanted to do more body weight exercises which you can do when you’re travelling. The thing with exercise is to do what fits your temperament, the time you have available and your circumstances e.g. how much money you have or how much space you have at home. I even have kickboxing dvds. I do power yoga like Rodney Yee and Sadie Nardini which really work up a sweat cos I’m not into chanting etc. My legs haven’t been this slim for 10 years!!
You have to cut out/ down on cookies, chocolate, ice cream and sodas!

I also read Eat to Live and it was a real eye opener. Trying to gradually introduce some of those things into my family life.

By: Eliza

Eliza — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 10:32:53 +0000

@Davina – I am reading a book about balancing hormones, and I am sure I read something about gluten-free diets being a challenge. I am going to try and find that section again, and re-read it. If I’m correct about what I read, I will leave another comment with what I found out.

By: Davina

Davina — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 07:18:23 +0000

Hi Eliza. You know what is interesting in my case is that for most of my life I was "skinny". After I went on the gluten-free diet I started gaining weight. Granted, it happened around the same my hormones shifted. But I can't help but wonder if some of the weight gain is because my body is finally absorbing more than it used to. So I "should" eat less? I don't eat that much now. My "problem" is spending more time in front of the computer than I used to. I hope I'm in the average range of the numbers you mentioned because I'm already at the 12-15 lb poundage increase. These are all great suggestions by the way. All I need is to strengthen the self-discipline. Davina’s last blog post..On the Edge of Being

By: Eliza

Eliza — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 01:08:27 +0000

@Patricia – thanks for the tweet and stumble. One of the main reasons why I started Silver & Grace is because I strongly belief in prevention. Therefore, I needed to know what changes would be taking place in my body to know how to best prevent any negative impacts. I am working on a more plant based diet. I never was fond of my veggies, but I am actually learning to love them. And I try to walk everyday at lunch time.

Very impressive your 73 year old friend who does the triathlons. Perhaps she would consider writing a Graceful Women’s post for me? Would you mind asking her? Thanks!

By: Patricia

Patricia — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 00:15:48 +0000

wow, this is such a good post and needs to be read by a lot of women. I am definitely in the post menopausal mode but went through an 11 year hellish menopause period after my ovarian cancer treatments and surgeries….
I don’t have enough estrogen to sing any more (plus tumors have been removed from my vocal cords – also why singing is difficult) I walk 5.5 miles every day and I each a plant based diet…. stay fit, do not just wait until disaster strikes – get preventative…my 73 year old friend who does senior triathlons, 2 every summer, has had such a much better recovery from her cervical cancer hysterectomy…..My Mother was dead wrong – one should exercise especially every month – not sit around or sleeping.

Thank you for giving folks the information ahead of time….now they know…

twittered and stumbled

Patricia’s last blog post..Strawberries Glorious Strawberries

By: Patchwork Post: Jasmine, Fireworks and YES!

Patchwork Post: Jasmine, Fireworks and YES! — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 18:10:54 +0000

[...] of Silver and Grace wrote one of the most practical and helpful pieces you can ever hope to read if you’re a woman [...]

By: Eliza

Eliza — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:35:20 +0000

@Lin – yes, I am finding that too. Pop makes me gag, and although Mr Very Right makes a killer gourment pizza, I can only eat one slice. And the stuff I used to think was a fun treat, like KFC, now just takes like a mouthful of salt. I guess half the battle is really listening to our own bodies. P.S. I promise not to tell anyone that you are in the Forty Plus crowd

By: Lin

Lin — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:01:35 +0000

I'm finding that I have to eat vegetables and fruit everyday now or my body isn't happy. It's funny how I don't like things like pizza and soft drinks anymore--it's kinda like my body knows it isn't good for me. And yep, I'm a tad heavier now and finding it harder to lose. Lin’s last blog post..When I'm a Goner

By: Eliza

Eliza — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 20:58:58 +0000

@Wendi – “Sometimes we act like we are our own enemy. we are not. We need to be nice to ourselves.” Now that truly embodies the spirit of aging gracefully, the call to be nice to ourselves! I was always curveless; straight as a pin. So much so, growing up I often gotten mistaken for a boy! It wasn’t until I hit 40 that I finally got some curves, and after getting over the initial shock, I discovered I really liked them. They made me feel sensual and feminine. Somedays I am definitely a little curvier than others. The only part that bothers me on those days is that darn old muffin top. I see all these young women proudly sporting muffin tops, and I do think “good for them; they are just going with it”, but when I look in the mirror and see a roll of flesh along my waist band, I feel frumpy. My solution? Empire waistline tops. Stylish, sexy, and muffin top hiding.