I am in menopause too, and I swear that the word "menopause" wants to just bring an extra 25 pounds along with it, doesn't it? And it all seems to be gathered in our midsection, our belly, where it's obvious no matter what we wear. I share your pain. I'm working on my weight too.
Susan gave you great information. I'll just add some things that are helping me:
-- My iPod. Please, if you don't have one, spend the money on one for yourself. There's no way to tell you how much more you'll enjoy your walks if you have your favorite music with you. Downloading music is very easy and you can use the iPod for motivation. Tell yourself that today, you'll walk three songs, turn around and walk three songs back. When that gets easier, do it for four songs. You can also buy audio books and listen to them while you walk. I'm doing that right now and I have to tell you, today I did NOT want to do my walk but when I remembered the audio book I'm listening to, I wanted to go because I wanted to listen to it some more. That kind of motivation is worth the cost.
-- Are you a constant snacker? I am. It does NOT work for me to not be able to snack. I am a grazer. If I was an animal, I'm sure I'd be an animal who grazed all its life. So my commitment has to be to have enough fruits and veggies in the house so that I can graze constantly if I want to. I need to be able to munch strawberries and blueberries for breakfast, baby carrots mid-morning, slices of cucumber, grape tomatoes, celery, on and on. That's a lot of fruit and veggies to have in the house. It takes work to buy enough for about 3 days (I don't buy more cause they don't stay fresh) and get back to the store in the next three days, not to mention the washing, chopping or cleaning. But if you'll commit to just this, it's amazing what it will do. You don't have to remake all your menus if you'll just remake your snacks to start with. And occasionally throw in something like a spoon of peanut butter or hummus spread on a whole wheat tortilla, or a container of vanilla-flavored yogurt with some granola thrown in.
-- if you need companions, check out weightwatchers.com's bulletin boards. You don't have to be a member of Weight Watchers to participate in the forums. You can find groups of people there at all levels of weight loss, trading tips and encouragement (and sometimes discouragement, when they need some support). Here's a link:
-- do you have something comfortable to walk in? a loose-fitting t-shirt and a comfy pair of shorts and a good pair of sneakers? It doesn't matter if you wear the same thing everyday to do your exercise in, but it's got to be comfortable. I get out of bed and put my exercise clothes on in the morning (I work at home like you), and then whenever I've done my walk, that's when I shower and put on clean clothes for the day.
-- Do you have a goal? It can be daunting to look at the entire amount we think we need to lose. We feel like we'll never, ever get there. Chop that up into pieces. Make your first goal 5 or 10 percent of your weight. Studies have shown that at 10%, there is a noticeable improvement in quality of health. In your case, that would be either 11 or 22.5 pounds. You can do that! And when you get there, then you just bite off another 5 percent. I find it much more realistic to think about this way.
We want you around for a long time, too. Please write back and let us know how you're doing. I promise I'll let you know the same.
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Hi, Kokokatz!
I am in menopause too, and I swear that the word "menopause" wants to just bring an extra 25 pounds along with it, doesn't it? And it all seems to be gathered in our midsection, our belly, where it's obvious no matter what we wear. I share your pain. I'm working on my weight too.
Susan gave you great information. I'll just add some things that are helping me:
-- My iPod. Please, if you don't have one, spend the money on one for yourself. There's no way to tell you how much more you'll enjoy your walks if you have your favorite music with you. Downloading music is very easy and you can use the iPod for motivation. Tell yourself that today, you'll walk three songs, turn around and walk three songs back. When that gets easier, do it for four songs. You can also buy audio books and listen to them while you walk. I'm doing that right now and I have to tell you, today I did NOT want to do my walk but when I remembered the audio book I'm listening to, I wanted to go because I wanted to listen to it some more. That kind of motivation is worth the cost.
-- Are you a constant snacker? I am. It does NOT work for me to not be able to snack. I am a grazer. If I was an animal, I'm sure I'd be an animal who grazed all its life. So my commitment has to be to have enough fruits and veggies in the house so that I can graze constantly if I want to. I need to be able to munch strawberries and blueberries for breakfast, baby carrots mid-morning, slices of cucumber, grape tomatoes, celery, on and on. That's a lot of fruit and veggies to have in the house. It takes work to buy enough for about 3 days (I don't buy more cause they don't stay fresh) and get back to the store in the next three days, not to mention the washing, chopping or cleaning. But if you'll commit to just this, it's amazing what it will do. You don't have to remake all your menus if you'll just remake your snacks to start with. And occasionally throw in something like a spoon of peanut butter or hummus spread on a whole wheat tortilla, or a container of vanilla-flavored yogurt with some granola thrown in.
-- if you need companions, check out weightwatchers.com's bulletin boards. You don't have to be a member of Weight Watchers to participate in the forums. You can find groups of people there at all levels of weight loss, trading tips and encouragement (and sometimes discouragement, when they need some support). Here's a link:
http://www.weightwatchers.com/community/index.aspx
-- do you have something comfortable to walk in? a loose-fitting t-shirt and a comfy pair of shorts and a good pair of sneakers? It doesn't matter if you wear the same thing everyday to do your exercise in, but it's got to be comfortable. I get out of bed and put my exercise clothes on in the morning (I work at home like you), and then whenever I've done my walk, that's when I shower and put on clean clothes for the day.
-- Do you have a goal? It can be daunting to look at the entire amount we think we need to lose. We feel like we'll never, ever get there. Chop that up into pieces. Make your first goal 5 or 10 percent of your weight. Studies have shown that at 10%, there is a noticeable improvement in quality of health. In your case, that would be either 11 or 22.5 pounds. You can do that! And when you get there, then you just bite off another 5 percent. I find it much more realistic to think about this way.
We want you around for a long time, too. Please write back and let us know how you're doing. I promise I'll let you know the same.
July 14, 2009 - 9:55amThis Comment
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