Moments from Menopause

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...

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. ...

It is absolutely amazing how quickly a body can get out of shape - especially one that wasn't  in the best of shape to begin with. I think I shared that when I was on Nutrisystem last year and menopause hit me hard - almost a knockout! - I actually started gaining weight on the diet.  Now, no sane person ever wants to gain weight on a calorie reduction diet. At this point in my menopause struggle I was ready to jump off a ledge. I'd been exercising like mad, eating the nutrifood and nothing else and here I was creeping up the scale. So what did I do? I'll tell ya: I did what any self respecting moody and flashing woman would have done if faced with the same situation : I gave up. On everything. The diet. Exercising. Basically, life. How did that work out for you, you ask? Not well. A year later and all the weight I lost came back on and my muscles can't be detected under the fat anymore because I stopped moving them. I'm sure with my psych background of knowled...

Hey all you menopause peeps...it's been a while since I last posted. Lots LOTS has happened in my life since we last met. More about that later, but one thing that hasn't changed is I'M STILL IN MENOPAUSE!!! Okay, it's a little better I have to admit, since I broke down and went on some estrogen drugs last year. It came to the point where I needed to be talked off a ledge between the continuous hot flashes, the upending mood shifts from crying to mania, the non-ending weight gain, and the lack of sleep. After a week in which I was on the Nutrisystem diet and managed to GAIN 6 pounds, I knew something had to give. So. I buckled down, saw my GP and started on low dose estrogen to try and combat some of the symptoms. The flashes stopped, the moods evened out, I still don't sleep ( and probably never will) but the weight kept coming, so much so that now I am officially 35 pounds over the weight limit my heart needs to be healthy at. This is the reason I've resu...