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I don't know about you but I'm on a mission to reclaim my waistline. Somewhere in the middle of midlife it's all but disappeared -- the booby prize, I suppose, for making it through menopause without losing my mind. As if the hot flashes weren't bad enough.
Along the way to whittle down and lose a stubborn 10 pounds gained during the big "M", I've checked out exercise books, fitness programs, joined the "Y" and more. But I've had a lot of fits and starts in my exercise strategy.
Well I'm not alone, says Dr. Michelle Segar from the University of Michigan's Institute for Research on Women and Gender. I had a great dialog with Dr. Segar this week and she told me that according to her recent study on midlife women and physical activity, we "of a certain age" exercise for 5 reasons:
- Weight loss
- Health benefits
- Stress reduction
- Sense of well-being
- Maintaining weight/toning
Of the 156 women in the study, published in Women's Health Issues, 61% of them started exercising for health reasons or to lose weight, like me -- and maybe you too. But surprisingly what Dr. Segar found is that "women who exercised for these two reasons did the least amount of exercise". She explained that:
Women who exercised to lose weight were the least committed to maintain their physical activity goals. Getting stressed about losing weight undermines their success. And because most women want quick weight loss, their need for instant gratification shoots them in the foot, especially midlife women who juggle many roles and a lot of stress.
The next least committed women were those who exercised for health reasons -- the "should" factor, the socially acceptable reason. This was an unexpected finding. In contrast, women who wanted to enhance their well-being or reduce stress had the highest success in staying physically active. They tended to choose exercise that made them feel good in the moment.
So what's a woman in midlife to do? When I posed this question to Dr. Segar, she switched roles on me and became fitness coach Michelle. You see she doesn't just study midlife women, she actually helps them achieve their fitness goals through her Essential Steps program.
Michelle was initially inspired by her work with breast cancer survivors. She created her own major in college on the socialization of women and then got 2 masters at U of M -- the first in kinesiology and the second in health behavior and health education -- and her PhD in Motivational Psychology. Her focus has always been on why midlife women don't get involved in or sustain physical activity. And at 42, she says she's "always been excited about getting older".
Since it looks like the rules have changed on how to stay fit in midlife, I asked Michelle what's the new gameplan for someone trying to lose weight during or post menopause which is the hardest time to take weight off and keep it off. She thinks the problem lies with women trying to learn 2 behaviors at once -- exercise and nutrition. Michelle suggest that women start with exercise and make it a "self-care behavior" -- a wonder drug. Her advice:
- Start small -- walking even just 2-5 minutes a day. Do it for a month, put in on your calendar and leave yourself reminders.
- Find physical activities that make you feel good while you're doing them -- like a walk in nature, exercising with a friend or my favorite, great music on your iPod.
- Start with the end in mind -- how do you want to feel when you're 70 or so?
- Invest in yourself and decide that your continued well-being is worth learning how to create an exercise program you like and can stick with.
Next comes learning about nutrition, which Michelle says trumps exercise for weight loss. So off I went to optimal health coach, Wendy Battles from Healthy Endeavors for advice -- not on dieting but on good nutrition for midlife. Like Michelle, Wendy says "keep it simple".
Nothing prepares us for the change in our bodies in midlife. But you have to turn off the negative self-talk. Start with 1 or 2 small changes. Breakdown the steps and make permanent lifestyle changes. Then the weight will come off.
Wendy agreed to give me a little cheat-sheet to share with you. Take notes and then head off to a great market, like Trader Joe's -- my favorite.
- Eat more dark leafy green veggies which purify the blood, detox your system and give you lots of energy. Changing your eating habits to create more energy then gives you more energy for physical activity. Great greens include spinach, kale, collard greens, Swiss chard, arugula, beet greens and turnip greens. And don't forget great fruits like blueberries -- Wendy's all time favorite.
- Add in more whole
