Why Exercise is a must!
Six months before menopause hit me full force I lost 35 pounds on Nutrisystem. Thank you, it was hard work! I felt good, looked better and my clothes fit great. Then one morning I woke up and my belly looked like a blimp! Bloated and swiggly. I was still eating the same amount of calories and still walking my 2-3 miles per day, but all of a sudden nothing was working and I started gaining weight! Who the heck gains weight on a diet plan! Those of you who know me know that I've struggled my entire life with my weight. I've been on every diet plan out there and nothing ever worked as well as Nutrisystem did. To have all that hard work negated because my body was entering the next phase of its life was to say the least, horrifying! What to do? I was already eating well and I didn't want to stop eating well, so I figured maybe the next thing to do was increase the exercise. Before doing that, tho, I did a little research to make sure this was the right way to proceed.
So here's what I learned about weight gain and menopause. Your metabolism slows down at midlife. This makes it easier to gain weight even if you are eating the same foods and amounts that you always did, and it makes losing that weight much harder. The weight you gain is usually in places you don't want it like your belly, thighs, and even your neck and face. The weight you gain puts stress on your joints and bones, which if you will remember, become less dense and more porous with menopause, leading to increases in fractures and strains. Now, limiting your calories is not the best way to offset this gain. You can't live on 800 calories a day for the rest of your life. You will have a perpetual headache and be a real bitch to be around! The best and most effective way to offset this is to try and reset your metabolism backwards to create a more efficient burning machine like you were when you were a kid.
Exercising is a good way to do this, but the most effective way is to build some muscle. Muscle not only weighs more than fat, but it burns calories and fat in a more result producing way. Now I'm not saying go out and start body building. I do not want to look like a Swartenagger- wanna be. But toning and defining while building is a great way to offset the extra pounds. Plus your clothes will look good!
Think of this as a total body makeover. Start with your arms. If you already lift some weights for toning, increase the reps or increase the pounds. I did both. Free weights are relatively inexpensive to buy and I found that when I was making dinner or just watching the news on tv that I could get ten minutes or so of lifting done without any real time effort. Twice a day, and this started paying off. That jiggly fat under my arms started to fade, replaced by some nice definition.
I hate nothing more than sit ups. But because the first place I always gain weight is my belly, I needed to do them. But they are not as effective as you'd think, so I found a great exercise you can do in a chair that has really helped tone me. Sit in a chair, preferably one with a hard back. Put a pillow across the back of the chair about the same height as your lower back. Lean back against the pillow, keeping your upper body straight and your arms crossed over your breasts. Now, raise your body forward until you are completely upright and push forward into a standing position, keeping your arms crossed. Stand up tall and then sit back down and do it again. After a few times your can really feel the pull in your lower abdominals.
I also increased my walking. I didn't add milage, because after three miles no matter what, I AM TIRED! But on my treadmill, I alternately increase the speed up and then the incline. Walking up a hill seems to use every muscle I possess! Doing this also increased my endurance so if I did want to walk more than three miles on a flat surface, I could.
One thing we shouldn't do during menopause is go psychocrazy with cardio. Running forty miles a week, or spending 1-2 hrs per day on the elliptical, or even doing a Zumba class EVERY DAY is just nutso. Now, if you're used to doing that, certainly continue, but incorporate more weight training with it so that your body becomes a more efficient burning machine. Just burning up those calories and sweating isn't enough. You want your body to continue burning even when you are at rest - thats what your metabolism is supposed to do - so building a little muscle will go a long way towards keeping your body is good shape as you navigate through this tortuous time.
So here's what I learned about weight gain and menopause. Your metabolism slows down at midlife. This makes it easier to gain weight even if you are eating the same foods and amounts that you always did, and it makes losing that weight much harder. The weight you gain is usually in places you don't want it like your belly, thighs, and even your neck and face. The weight you gain puts stress on your joints and bones, which if you will remember, become less dense and more porous with menopause, leading to increases in fractures and strains. Now, limiting your calories is not the best way to offset this gain. You can't live on 800 calories a day for the rest of your life. You will have a perpetual headache and be a real bitch to be around! The best and most effective way to offset this is to try and reset your metabolism backwards to create a more efficient burning machine like you were when you were a kid.
Exercising is a good way to do this, but the most effective way is to build some muscle. Muscle not only weighs more than fat, but it burns calories and fat in a more result producing way. Now I'm not saying go out and start body building. I do not want to look like a Swartenagger- wanna be. But toning and defining while building is a great way to offset the extra pounds. Plus your clothes will look good!
Think of this as a total body makeover. Start with your arms. If you already lift some weights for toning, increase the reps or increase the pounds. I did both. Free weights are relatively inexpensive to buy and I found that when I was making dinner or just watching the news on tv that I could get ten minutes or so of lifting done without any real time effort. Twice a day, and this started paying off. That jiggly fat under my arms started to fade, replaced by some nice definition.
I hate nothing more than sit ups. But because the first place I always gain weight is my belly, I needed to do them. But they are not as effective as you'd think, so I found a great exercise you can do in a chair that has really helped tone me. Sit in a chair, preferably one with a hard back. Put a pillow across the back of the chair about the same height as your lower back. Lean back against the pillow, keeping your upper body straight and your arms crossed over your breasts. Now, raise your body forward until you are completely upright and push forward into a standing position, keeping your arms crossed. Stand up tall and then sit back down and do it again. After a few times your can really feel the pull in your lower abdominals.
I also increased my walking. I didn't add milage, because after three miles no matter what, I AM TIRED! But on my treadmill, I alternately increase the speed up and then the incline. Walking up a hill seems to use every muscle I possess! Doing this also increased my endurance so if I did want to walk more than three miles on a flat surface, I could.
One thing we shouldn't do during menopause is go psychocrazy with cardio. Running forty miles a week, or spending 1-2 hrs per day on the elliptical, or even doing a Zumba class EVERY DAY is just nutso. Now, if you're used to doing that, certainly continue, but incorporate more weight training with it so that your body becomes a more efficient burning machine. Just burning up those calories and sweating isn't enough. You want your body to continue burning even when you are at rest - thats what your metabolism is supposed to do - so building a little muscle will go a long way towards keeping your body is good shape as you navigate through this tortuous time.
Comments
Post a Comment
Share your story!