By nancymk | Leave A Comment
Is “Middle Age Spread” a Joke or a Myth?
I have never had a problem with weight gain my entire life. In fact, I usually came home from the hospital wearing my non-maternity clothes each time! As a teenager, I was very thin and self conscious. I can remember going into GNC and purchasing “Super Gain Weight” pills and taking them every day with a milkshake with no effect on my weight.
Let’s face it, America as a whole is a country with many overweight people, starting with the youngest generation. Have you ever tried to purchase a bra lately? There seems to be hardly any in the small sizes! Nonetheless, my friends like me who have never had a weight problem are beginning to notice a change in their midsection. One of them laughed and said, “Oh, that’s just middle age spread, it’s normal”.
I wasn’t sure if that was a joke or a myth, so at my next check up with my family doctor I asked him about it. He said that it was neither. As the hormones start to change in our bodies, the same hormones that caused that area to grow and then “snap back” are no longer needed. What a cruel joke. Also at that time, our metabolism starts to change. Most of us lead fairly sedentary lives, but if you want to beat the battle of the bulge, the answer lies in changing that.
I know that there are many pills and weight loss programs out there, and I am not knocking any of them. What my doctor suggested was a very common sense approach. Add 30 minutes of exercise a day and keep a diary of what you are eating. That will allow you to see how many calories per day you are consuming and determine if you need to adjust it. The exercise doesn’t have to be drastic. I have a treadmill and stationary bike that I am using when the weather is bad outside. In good weather, I prefer to do both outdoors. (The days that I spend time with my granddaughters, I need not do either. They are 20 months and 4 yrs old)
So what do you think? I don’t claim to be a fitness expert. Has anyone else had a recent success in overcoming this problem without drastically changing your lifestyle?
ABOUT nancymk
Direct Sales Marketing Queen- over 23 years in business as a Mary Kay Sales Director. I have been ma{read more}
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Nancy,
Great topic! I am also like you, always needing to gain weight. Now I notice I have to watch what I eat because it seems to be sticking in places that I’m not placing it…hmmm. I guess that 30 minutes of exercise would not only be good to burn the calories, but it’s probably great for every thing else too. Thanks for reminding me to get going and do it!
I’m definitely having problems losing the baby weight in my midsection. And I gain weight very quickly if I don’t watch everything I eat.
I gotta get some exercise and get on the ball before I turn INTO a ball.
Kim Hays
Kinda depressing, but it makes sense.
*I* was unlucky enough to find my body shape changing in my mid-twenties, but I blame my health history (20yrs of CFS can do that to a body).
Life is all about change.
What I am hoping is that it works both ways. I have always struggled with my weight, then when I got pregnant everyone watched in anticipation of my certain weight explosion, but guess what, I just got skinnier every day and looked more fabulous pregnant than I had in years. After preganancy I was 10 kilo’s lighter than when i started and just kept looking fab…then oops, I think about 2 years later I woke up one morning to discover I had put it all back on and was back to my pre-pregnancy weight, which most seem to aspire to but not me. So here I am, turning the big 4 0 this year and my hormones are insane, does this mean I might get middle age shrinkage? lol.
I haven’t come up with a solution, but I do have the problem. I have to be honest, it started around age 28 or 29 & really took me by major surprise. I also never had a weight problem. I’ve always been under weight. My belly has gained some weight though, it actually pretty much brought me up to “normal” weight for my height. The problem though ~ it is literally all in my belly. I can’t stand it, ugh!