What do you do when you're overweight AND menopausal?
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Should you diet? Which one? Atkins? South Beach? Weight Watchers?


Marie 2 weeks free v2

"Calcium definitely does seem to have 
a negative effect on fat storage and in 
fact a diet high in calcium is associated 
with weight loss especially around the 
torso. Numerous studies have shown that 
people with low calcium intake have more 
weight gain, less weight loss and bigger, 
fatter fat cells." from  Vicki Koenig, MS, 
RD, CDN, Nutritionist at Stonyfield Farm.

Stress is linked to heart disease, high blood pressure and an increased risk of cancer. New research suggests that it can also make you fat. For women, stressing out over unpaid bills, problems at work, strained family relationships and feeling limited by life's circumstances can lead to weight gain......Dr. Andrew Weil

Dee's Low Carb Adventure!

Back in 2002 I went on the Atkins Diet and lost a total of 55 lbs. I have to say that even though it's not for everyone, it definitely worked for me because I liked the food I was allowed to eat, I lost quickly enough to stay motivated and I started feeling better than I had for years! (read my initial story here)   I stuck with it for about 2 years and then slowly started adding the "bad stuff" back into my diet and put about 20 lbs back on. THEN I quit smoking and the weight situation went out the window!. Now I'm looking at low glycemic foods, trying to drink more water and pushing myself to walk more regularly. I'm also reading a lot more of Dr. Andrew Weil's advice, not only about food, but our general health during menopause. My biggest goal now is to reduce the size of my OMENTUM!! See how (from Dr. Oz) below!

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Bits and Pieces -
AHA! “With menopause and advancing age, women lose muscle mass,” says Cynthia K. Sites, an associate professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Vermont in Burlington. “Muscle is metabolically active tissue and burns more calories at rest than does fat, so when muscle is lost, metabolism slows.”
Read Article Here


From the Oprah Show with Dr. Oz:

One of the many health problems caused by this ugly organ (the omentum) is heart disease and heart attacks.  The reason being- as the omentum grows; it creates an inflammatory process, which can irritate the arteries, putting you at greater risk for blocked arteries. When we talk about obesity being a risk factor for heart disease, we're actually wrong," says Dr. Oz. "It's not all obesity, because fat thighs don't give you a bad heart. [The omentum] does."

The omentum is also to blame for beer bellies. Some people tend to store their fat around their waists—giving them a beer belly or an "apple-like" shape. While others store fat around their hips, making them "pear"-shaped. Apple-shaped people are more at risk for heart disease than pear-shaped people.

Numbers to remember:

For women, your waist size should be about 32” (measuring at the belly button). For men, it should be about 35”

According to Dr. Oz, "If your waist size is more than 35 inches and you're a woman—or 40 inches for men—you have a major risk factor for heart attacks because this [omentum], instead of being an inch thick, is now five inches thick, and you don't even see it."
Below is a list of 5 ingredients to avoid. By avoiding these ingredients, you will not only greatly improve your weight loss success, but will shrink your omentum down to a normal size as well.

Always look for these ingredients before buying any pre-packaged foods…especially snack foods.

Dr. Roizen (from Oprah) says the only white ingredients you should have in your fridge are egg whites, cauliflower and fish.

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Minnie Pauz Fans are LowCarbing!
I've lost 26 pounds since last July, slowly, carefully and with no sweets cravings! I can look at chocolate and not drool anymore!  And I look great at 62! I can have almost everything I like and even watching my cholesterol, this way of eating is not burdensome! Good for you, good for me, and good for all of us who've been trying to lose weight forever!............ Paula Riezenman
 

I'm still on Atkins diet and lost over 20 pounds.  Bloodtests showed I had lower cholesterol and triglycerides. Thanks for your encouragement..Benita
 

From The Menopause Diet by Dr. Larrian Gillespie
"This book is about my own personal journey through the process called menopause and how I lost the dangerous abdominal weight ALL women are prone to gain during this stage of life. In these chapters, I will reveal why women gain and lose weight differently than men, supported by the latest scientific research, and what you can do to avoid it. I will show you why women have been inadvertently fed the wrong information about diet during menopause and I will present to you explanations for the very symptoms and changes that are natural and what you can do about them. I will also share with you my perspective on current medical literature so that you can make your own intelligent choices about diet, exercise and hormone replacement therapy."

From an article on lowcarbeating.net:
When carbohydrates enter your body, those carbohydrates are metabolized into glucose in your bloodstream, raising your blood sugar levels. The job of insulin is to move in and bring the blood sugar levels down. Under normal circumstances, this is a good thing. Insulin performs a vital function in your body. It works to keep blood sugar under control. But when your blood sugar rises to excessive levels, the insulin has to find a place to put the glucose that your body doesn't need. Simply put, insulin shoves the excess glucose into your fat cells. In other words, too much insulin causes us to gain weight. Excessive amounts of any carbohydrate or even small amounts of the wrong ones can cause you to have excess insulin.
 

"It's important to understand that your metabolic tendencies are never cured. The fat you sent to kingdom come by doing the Atkins Nutritional Approach™ was one symptom of a chronic metabolic condition. You do and always will have a metabolic tendency to be overweight. Any blood-sugar imbalance you have will not go away permanently because you have taken a nutritional path that circumvents it. All you have to do is go back to eating the way you once did, or even partially so, and you will arouse the sleeping demon. In very short order, your pancreas will once again secrete large quantities of insulin, and you'll suffer the symptoms of unstable blood sugar—jitters, brain fog, afternoon fatigue and the like. Then your insulin resistance will lead inevitably to the production of more insulin and that, in turn, to weight gain if your carb intake exceeds your tolerance. Clearly, you don't want to go there." --Atkins
 
 

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Body mass index (BMI) is measure of body fat based on height and weight that applies to both adult men and women. Here's a quick way to find your BMI



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"....lack of sleep changes blood-sugar levels and metabolism. It also affects impulse control, and it's harder for people to pass on food they know they shouldn't be eating." MORE
 

Articles:
I'm FAT by Susan Sparks

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Lowfat is Dead:
Fat Makes Comeback...
 

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