Recent claims about the acai berry have been pretty amazing. While there is some scientific proof that has been tested on this fruit, it has still been advertised as one of the best nutritional finds ever and it has been advertised as a miracle cure for everything from obesity to cancer.
Talking to most women 40 years of age to over 50 you will quickly find that menopause and weight gain are linked in their experience. It is very common to put on weight at this time and while some of this may be due to lifestyle changes, that does not explain why suddenly we develop a tendency to put on weight at different parts of the body, especially the abdomen, while any weight gained when we were younger tended to be centered on the hips.
Menopausal Weight Gain is Different than Regular Weight Gain
The truth is that hormonal changes do have a part to play in this, although the process is not completely understood. At menopause a woman stops ovulating, her monthly menstruation periods end, and her body produces much lower levels of the female hormone estrogen which is responsible for the ovulation process. Low estrogen has been shown to cause weight gain in animals and it almost certainly is the reason why our bodies change shape. While women of childbearing age store fat in the lower body, after the menopause they store it on the abdomen instead, like men. This leads to a greater risk of heart disease.
At the same time, both men and women tend to find muscle turning to fat as they grow older, and the metabolism slows down. This means that if you do not adjust your eating habits you will probably find that your weight increases. A person of 60 just does not need as many calories as a person of 40.
Hormone therapy with estrogen is sometimes prescribed to control menopausal symptoms. Many women will be surprised to hear that studies have shown that hormone therapy does not cause weight gain. Some women experience bloating and water retention in the early stages of hormone therapy but this is usually temporary and they have not gained any fat. Hormone therapy can reduce the risk of heart disease by preventing the changes in storage of body fat around the abdomen and lowering cholesterol. However, hormone therapy has been linked to an increased risk of breast cancer in some studies.
If you find that you are gaining weight around the menopause, there are several things you can do.
- Eat a healthy, low fat diet with plenty of fiber, avoiding sugar.
- Take regular exercise. As people get older their physical activity levels naturally drop. Work often becomes less physically demanding, there are no kids to run around after, we take less active holidays and do things more slowly. 30 minutes of moderate physical activity every day will help to balance out the effect of this.
- Maintain your muscle strength and mass. Use weights for arm muscles and walking or cycling for legs.
- Accept the changes to the shape of your body. If you are not overweight, but simply have a thicker waist and slimmer legs, that is fine.
Consult with your holistic doctor before starting any exercise program if you have any medical conditions or your fitness levels are low. Your holisitic doctor can also help with symptoms of the menopause and weight gain with herbs and supplements.
tags: menopause and weight gain, weight gain over 50, weight gain for older women, women’s weight gain, diet plans for menopause, diet plans for women over 50, weight gain diets for women, diet, healthy diets, superhealthy diets, healty diet.
Winter weight gain is a common complaint of many people. It seems that every winter we add a few pounds, and come summer we don’t lose them all again either. A few of them always stick around, making us a little heavier every year. They seem to be very hard to lose extra pounds! Why does this happen and what can we do?
There are many contributing factors. First, it seems likely that we have a genetic disposition to store more fat as winter approaches. Many animals do this and it was probably vital to survival for our ancestors. Extra layers of fat on the body protect us against the cold and then can be used as fuel in the late winter and early spring when food stocks would historically be very low. We probably have a tendency to eat more in the fall, when food is plentiful after harvest time, to help this process along. We may also unconsciously choose foods that are higher in fat content at this time.
Hormone levels can also influence our weight gain. The interaction of hormones and other chemicals in the brain can bring about variations in appetite and cravings. Some neurotransmitters can also influence the way we eat. People who are overweight often have low levels of these neurotransmitters and the results can include excessive appetite, depression and sleep disorders. At the same time, the lack of daylight caused by the shortening days during late fall and winter can bring on seasonally affected disorder or winter depression. One of the quickest ways to give a boost to the energy levels and emotions is to eat high carbohydrate foods including sugar treats, chips and cereals that give us a fast blood sugar ‘fix’. So people who feel low in the winter will tend to overeat or eat the wrong foods, leading to weight gain, more depression and a vicious cycle that is hard to break.
So altogether there are many reasons why we eat more high carbohydrate foods such as cookies, pies and chocolate in the winter, and of course most of these foods also contain high levels of fats. The best way to handle this is generally to substitute other foods that are also high in carbohydrate so that we get what our body craves, but which have low fat content and plenty of fiber. This means potatoes, wholegrain bread without butter, wholegrain rice, cereals, and fresh whole fruit.
It is also important to take more exercise. Often our physical activity levels drop in the winter and we have a tendency to want to stay home and rest. This is natural when it is cold outside. But we are not cavemen! We have heating in our homes and can be sure that there will still be plenty of food in the stores come February. We do not need to stow fat the way that they did. Sign up with a gym or get a stationary bicycle for the den. Transform those carbs into energy now instead of keeping it on the waistline until spring. Winter weight gain is easily avoidable this way.
TAGS: Avoid winter weight gain, gaining weight in winter, winter diets, healthy diets, diet plans, seasonal weight gain.
There are some advantages as to why you should consider online weight control programs. • First, they are operated online.
Meaning, your time is your own and there is no pressure and stress associated when going back and forth to the gym places, or when undergoing locally-operated weight loss programs. If you are quite a busy person, online programs are simply perfect for you.
• Second, you have many options.
You can take your time in visiting websites offering these programs. Take more time in comparing and assessing which one brings out the best program layout or presentation. Add more time to check their features, which should perfectly suit your needs.
But, the problem is, there are just so many online weight control programs that sometimes it becomes difficult to pick one that’s just suitable for your needs, right? If you are one of those who want to control or lose weight, you may also possibly be one of them who are in the confusion as to what best weight control program you should enroll in.
If you have never been enrolled to any online weight control program before, it may take quite some time before you can come up with a decision over picking the best program. After all, you are going to spend some of your hard-earned money, so you need to be very careful with the coming up of the right decision.
So, what are you supposed to consider when choosing the right online weight control program?
Here, take a look below to find some tips:
• Look at the features.
Since you are going to pay for your membership for your chosen online weight control program, be sure to examine the site’s features. Definitely, these are going to include the benefits. Check if your needs are met. Are you planning to lose 100 pounds? Or only 10 pounds? Or are you just going to ensure you maintain your current weight? The features of the program you’ve chosen must be clear about the exact benefits it is going to give you. Otherwise, think about if it is going to be worth your money. If you are not sure it could serve your needs, then, look for others.
When features are being talked about, you might want to look examine the website for the following:
* Membership benefits and perks
– do you find what you are looking for an online weight control program?
* Exercise program
– does it include demonstration videos, charts for outlined calories burned, etc.?
* Community section or online message forums/boards
– are these available and accessible, where you can post your concern/inquiries?
* Guaranteed results
– does the program outlines clear, guaranteed results?
* Free trial programs
– does the program offer these trial periods free of charge?
• The cost. Is the cost worth the program? Does monthly/yearly cost fit your budget? This one must be examined as well, as you are the one who’s going to pay. You don’t want to end up broke because of exaggerated price that you cannot afford. On the other hand, you don’t want to end up stuck in a program that costs little but does not give what you need, with as far as effectiveness of the program is concerned.
If the above mentioned tips are answered, you can go on and join your chosen online weight control program as you can be sure that what you are going to spend is worth every cent of your money.
Low carb dieting has become fashionable in recent years especially with the publication of the Atkins diet. Losing weight is a goal for so many people and everybody is looking for the quick and easy way to lose weight. Some people do not need to lose weight at all but still get stressed over a couple of pounds. Others need to lose for medical reasons and may have one hundred pounds or more that they want to shed.
There are many different diets out there including low carbohydrate diets and the truth is that most of them will achieve weight loss if they are followed correctly. This does not mean always doing what the diet says every moment of every day. What is more important is how you deal with the inevitable occasion when you eat too much or feast on foods that are not on the plan. If you can write this off and return to the plan without giving yourself a hard time, you are likely to succeed. Everybody has those days – the important thing is to let them go and accept them as just another step on the road to permanent weight loss.
It is also important to find a diet that you can easily follow. Low carb diets suit many people because the rules are quite simple. As the name suggests, the diet consists of avoiding or limiting foods that are high in carbohydrates. These include bread, pasta, potatoes, rice and other grains. Sugar is also a carbohydrate. Once you understand what these foods are, it is a simple matter to choose dishes that avoid them.
Most criticism of low carbohydrate dieting is based on the fact that the dieters will get most of their daily calories from meat, dairy and other high fat products. This can lead to high cholesterol and other problems related to a high intake of saturated fats. Medical advice is advised before starting this type of diet. Sometimes weight loss is good in the early stages but people cannot handle the restrictions in the longer term and start to deviate from the diet.
One of the problems that many people have with low carb dieting is the elimination of bread and pasta. No more toast, spaghetti or pizza! Many of the foods that are quickest to prepare are based around carbohydrates – burgers in their buns, fries, sandwiches, pasta and sauce. Beer and other alcoholic drinks are high in carbs too. It is true that alcohol is generally restricted on any diet, because it is high in calories and very low in nutritional value, but low carb diets put particular emphasis on this.
Still there are many foods that can be enjoyed on a low carb diet. If you are fond of meat you will relish the opportunity to consume beef, chicken and other animal products. The popularity of these diets is clear from the length of time that they stay on the bestseller lists. It is just a matter of what suits you. Low carb dieting works for many people.
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