Moments from Menopause

So a few months ago I told y'all I'd started using Crepe Erase on my neck to combat the signs of aging, crepey, old-lady looking skin there. You know: that cracked, ugly, dry and turkeyneck-looking skin that covers your neck and decollate. I've used it consistently and persistently for 2 months, twice a day - morning and night, along with the exfoliating rub in the shower. The results? While my skin FEELS softer, it looks no younger, no less turkey-ish, no  less...crepey. Sometimes my skin even feels a little greasy, especially when I use it at night. So the thought now is do I stop using it or keep trying to see if there are any real cumulative, long term positive effects. It's a conundrum. The stuff costs' $49.00 per month and I get a delivery every three months. Right now I'm on round 2 ( the first supply was only for a month.) So I still have some time left before I get to the 6 month mark which is when I typically stop using stuff if I see no mark...

So I've been absent for the past month of Tuesdays because I've been on a blog/book tour for my other life - the writing one. I had a new book release on 4.3.18 and I've been on a daily blog tour, so my writing for here got a little sidetracked. The last time we met I 'd just been hypnotized to try and lose some of the weight I've gained during menopause. I had a subconscious thought placed to stop drinking all the Diet Mountain Dew soda I drink and instead, switch to water. There were a few other "prompts" that were put in as well. The results? I no longer drink soda of any kind, which is amazing. But... I've gained 19 pounds since being hypnotized. Unbelievable, right? The one thing that should have helped me to lose weight, made me gain 19 pounds. I have a theory that the reason i did was because there was so much caffeine in the soda I drank all day long, that it helped rev my metabolism, so I was able to at least  keep my weight at a somewh...

Week one post-hypnosis. Eating patterns: changed. Chew more, feel full quicker, pushing the plate away with food still on it. Water consumption: 90 ounces average daily; no soda at all Exercise routine: 6 days last week, 12000 steps daily, weight/strength training x 4 days Weight: 1.5 pound GAIN Motivation: ughghg So, I guess the theory that when you make plans  God laughs is true. I've done everything - EVERYTHING - I was supposed to do and still, I gain instead of lose weight. Sososososososososo Frustrating. But, I do feel better not drinking diet soda, I am sleeping an average of 1-2 hours more each night ( so a total of 3-4 now), and I feel stronger physically than I did last week, so yay for that. Maybe the scale is broken? Yeah, that's probably it. I better go to Target today and get a new one ( although I got this one last month, but...you never know!) More....progress(?) to report next time, I hope. Le sigh. Looking for me in my other life? You ca...

I've been talking about my never-ending struggle  to lose any/all/something of the weight I've gained during the time I started menopause until this moment in time. Nothing has worked so far, in fact, my weight keeps creeping upward. Creeping ? Jiminy crickets, it's on the fast track! So, in an attempt to try something different, I went and got Hypnotized this past Saturday. Yes, me, little Miss Naysayer, actually went to a seminar where you can get hypnotized to lose weight. It was....interesting, to say the least. One of the best things about it is that I was the thinnest person in the room except for the hypnotist. And I realize how horrible I sound saying that, but anytime I can be the thinnest person ANYWHERE is a major plus for my fragile ego. So. The seminar was 2 hours. One was devoted to a detailed, medicine-backed lecture on why dieting doesn't work, the way our bodies process sugar and fat, and the ways we've slowly been killing ourselves w...

In my never-ending battle to rid myself of all the menopause and middle-aged weight I've gained, I've been very diligent of late going to the gym. Here's a disclaimer: I absolutely, positively, without exception HATE exercising. I always have. I don't like to sweat. It makes me feel... gross/dirty/slimy/smelly. And I especially hate sweating in front of other people. I know...weird. But that's me. Anyway... Because it's been drilled into me by every single person - professional and non- that I've spoken to about my weight struggles, I am now becoming a devotee of gym-going. I still hate it, but I recognize I need to do SOMETHING. The fat is not going to magically slough from my a**.  I'm not going to wake up tomorrow and my arms will no longer jiggle like congealed jello. And I'm sick and tired of investing in Spanx. So...to the gym I go. Since I hate it so much, I've found I am very anti-social when I am there. I have a headset ...

I've been very honest with my weight struggles over my lifetime.  A 40-year eating disorder that started in my early teens has turned my metabolism into a non-functioning nightmare. Add in this hormone-crazed time called MENOPAUSE, and my weight, like the stock market, has been steadily climbing. The stock market may have in-place corrections, my menopause metabolism does not, so while the market gets, well, corrected,  my weight continues to spiral upward, no federal trade ceiling mandates to stop it. My eating disorder bloomed out of a random statement my father made to me when I was 12. A little backstory is needed: My parents divorced before I was born. My father's mother had been a very famous fur model in the 1940's and 50's in NY. My father had even been a child model. So, back to me. When I was 12 I was the tallest kid in my class and had been since second grade. My father is waaaaay over 6 feet and everyone thought I'd gotten the tall DNA as well. ...

I recently had a doctor tell me that if you change nothing about your diet and exercise regime, you will gain 10% of your current weight every decade after 50. No matter what. 10%! So if I weigh 150 pounds at 50, by 60 I will weight 165. By 70, 181.5 and so on until you die. If I do nothing, make no changes. Why I didn't know this before I ever hit menopause is mind-blowing to me, because if I had, I certainly would have made sure I weighed waaaaaaaaaaay less than I did when it hit me! I think I mentioned once before in this blog that I was on Nutrisystem when menopause hit me full force. I'd lost 30 pounds in three months. The second menopause reared it's ugly head, I gained 32 pounds within 1 month... and still while on Nutrisystem. Yes, you read that right: I gained 32 pounds on a weight reduction program. It wasn't the program's fault. I did everything I was told to do to the letter. It was that my body had suddenly been thrust into a cauldron of sw...

All month I've been complaining, er, blogging,  about the changes that Menopause wrecks on our skin, so I figured one more post for the month and I'd be done with this topic. Like, seriously done. The End. Fine. In all the research I've done on-line, in speaking to skin care experts, and even in barraging my own derm-guy with questions, the two most important pieces of advice I've heard over and over and over again about care, maintenance, and protection of your skin at any age is: 1. Sun block, and 2. Hydration From the age of 6 months old we should start skin protection when out doors. Every major skin care manufacturer now has a sun protection line, and many of their products include  an SPF protection/additive in productions like daily body lotion and makeup.  Johnson and Johnson's Waterbabies products are excellent for children who are outdoors, swimming, sweating, etc. Protect their skin when they are young and your chil...

I've always taken good care of my skin. It started when I was in my twenties and started earning my own money through my nurse's salary. I'd rather buy face and skin lotions than new clothes. And did! In my 30's and 40's I was always the first person in my crowd to try new and improved products, like lotions labeled age-defying and youth in a bottle. In my later 40's and then 50's serums and self-professed wrinkle creams became the norm. You state the brand, I've tried it. These products don't come cheap, and just FYI, the older you get, the more expensive the products become. I really believe this is a marketing ploy by the manufacturers. Don't believe me? Go out and price Johnson's Baby lotion, and then get a price for Neutrogena products, which is also owned by J&J. Which products do you think are less expensive? Our skin is our largest organ. It acts to protect the underlying structures of our bodies as a first line of defense a...

So last week I wrote about how there's a humongous marketing push for women of a certain age - read MENOPAUSAL! - and skin care. Every major cosmetic and skin care line now sells a separate line for the woman over 50. These lines are branded as youth in a bottle and non-surgical corrective cures for saggy, wrinkly, aging skin. If only. One particular line deals with an aging skin issue ( and don't I hate that phrase!) called crepey skin. The definition is skin that looks thin and dull and wrinkly, like crepe paper. Seriously?? When did this become a "thing?" Well, I'd never heard about crepey skin until I saw Jane Seymour hawking her line of skin cream called CREPE ERASE. Jane has Dr. Andrew Ordon explain why the skin turns to the consistency of crepe paper  and shows you how, after using this product, within 60 days there is a quantifiable and visible change in the appearance of the skin. So, for full disclosure here, I have this affliction. Crepey ...

Have you ever heard what the 7 dwarves of Menopause are called? Grumpy, Sleepy, Itchy, Sweaty, Boated, Moody and Forgetful. I have a few of my own Dwarves to describe Menopause skin: Saggy, Crepey,  Ashy, Pore-y. Wrinkley, Freckley and Dry. I've always ALWAYS been a fanatic about my skin even when I was younger and didn't have any wrinkles. I've always used sunscreen, even when I used to worship the sun, I always have moisturizer on my face day and night, I use serums, gentle cleansers, and ultra moisturizing moisturizers around my eyes. I've never used soap to clean, only body soap/lotion. You would think my skin would look pristine, procelain, and wrinkle-free like a new born baby's butt. You would be wrong. Nope. Not a chance. I never had a single pore on my face until I hit menopause and then overnight these friggin' craters appeared along my chin. The corners of my eyes - despite the liberal and continual use of specific eye creams - resemble r...