For those women over 40, a question, please...

[April]

I've been wanting to talk about this for a few months now, but never knew how to put this into a coherent question.

Enough with the disclaimer. Onward.

Ever since I've turned 40 (3 years ago now), I've noticed that even though my weight is the same, my dimensions are not, and that really irks the crap outta me.

It's as if gravity has taken over and my stomach and hips have a few more inches than before I was 40.

The question is, is it gravity and everything's shifting? Or is this just part of middle age spread or WHAT???

ARRRGGGHHHH!!!!

What can I DO about it? I had to buy a pair of jeans the other day in a size bigger just so I could be comfy in them. I mean, the old ones still fit, but are kinda tight. Will more exercise trim me back down to my former dimensions, or do I simply accept this as part of growing old?

[MaryKay]

I swear I read somewhere that one of the side effects of perimenopause was thickening of the middle. due to the lowered estrogen and higher testosterone.

But I can't find any of it now - so I may have just made it up. Heck if I know. anyone else know?

[Maggie]

April,

I feel your pain (plus 10 yrs or so).

I remember seeing a wonderful series on human development. There were outlines of the human form from birth to old age. We (male and female) start out at the same shape and, generally, end up at about the same shape. Women start to put more on around the middle, men start to add fat to the breast area. Fat deposition starts to return us to our toddler shape. ... and Mary Kay is right about the hormonal component.

I get the impression that only by even greater efforts at overall loss of body fat AND, simultaneously working to develop increased muscle mass in the other areas, can we hope to maintain some distinctive differences in the shapes of the sexes after a certain age.

However, to paraphrase Charski's signature line: Aging ... what's the alternative?

[April]

Yeah, when I see thin, old women standing in the grocery store examining toilet paper one inch from their glaucomic eyes, I see their abdomens are bulging and think: "She musta had a lot of pregnancies or something." Then again, I see the same thing on my rail-thin mother-in-law who's only had two children. She's 78 and the bulge is there. I've had 5 pregnancies.

I am in the throes of menopause (we go through it very early in our family). I never really thought that hormone levels would have anything to do with it.

Hmmm.

Well, I'm not going to just give in. I'll just continue to work harder at it.

Jeeze. For some reason, I feel really sad all of a sudden. *sigh*

[MaryKay]

it's also a matter of muscles relaxing over the years. I've seriously thought about getting one of those 6-second ab machine thingies to use while watching TV.
Tapes are cool, but then I have to give up my shows This is something I could do from my couch-tatoe position.