Raw food snacks

Replace the cookies and potato chips The hardest part of my own weight loss journey was not snacking on bread, cookies or potato chips while watching TV or just sitting down reading a good book. In the past I would always have a cup of tea and a plate of sugary snacks in front of me, somehow watching a movie would not be the same without being able to reach for a nice morsel of food.
In came the healthy snacks

Here is a list of my favorites:

Carrot and celery sticks with a low fat yogurt and cucumber dip, add a touch or mint and a little garlic

Raw nuts with dried fruit, easy on this one as it packs the calories, I like to cut apple segments into it

A plate of fruit cut into bite sizes

A cup of frozen berries

Instead of a snack make a pot of freshly brewed green tea, green tea is full of antioxidants and it may well stop the urge to eat, very often we mistake thirst for hunger.

Middle aged spread

Every pound added to your weight before your 40s will generally spread evenly over your body after that, it settles around the belly and waist. This extra weight can sneak up on you, you may buy looser clothes, just an extra dress size... or two...or 3.

Shedding that weight becomes difficult due to changes in lifestyle:

* we are busier
* eat out more
* children are tiring us out,
* we have more stress
* we sleep less
* don't exercise enough
* consume sugar and/or alcohol

so at the same time that we are slowly gaining fat most of us are also slowly losing muscle.

How does this all contribute to middle aged spread?

Muscle tissue is more metabolically active than fat tissue, so it requires many more calories, even at rest. As you begin to lose muscle, even though your activity levels may remain about the same you will burn fewer calories for any given period of time. This may not make much of a difference over a few days or a few weeks or even a few months, but over the long haul it can have a dramatic effect on your weight as well as your overall body composition.

Excessive fat stored around the abdomen can lead to an increased risk for heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, breast cancer, and high cholesterol.

The only proven way to lose body fat is to burn up more calories than you consume.

The energy expended must greater than the energy consumed!

Science tells us that 1 pound of fat is equal to 3500 calories, so a daily calorie deficit of 500 calories should result in 1 pound per week fat loss.

When you create a calorie deficit , you will lose fat.

There is no better time to start but NOW

·Have a full health check up before you begin. This is important as the emphasis is on improving your health as well as losing weight.

# · Start moving more. Walk as much as possible, park your car just that little bit further and walk to the shops.

# · Avoid sugar

# · Write down what you eat, include all drinks and snacks. This way you can easily see where you need to cut back, begin a weight loss journal

# · Drink more water, eight glasses a day is recommended.

# · Cut back on bread, limit it to eating no more than 2 slices a day, preferably in the morning.

# · Drink green tea, it is full of antioxidants and curbs the appetite

# · Learn to cook using less fat, no more deep frying, instead try an oil spray.

# · Have a good breakfast of oatmeal, fruit and yogurt. This will give you energy and you will be less likely to reach for a quick sugar fix later on.

# · Get at least 20 minutes of sustained exercise daily.

# · Build a support network; enrol the help of family and friends.

# · Throw away all unhealthy and fatty snacks and get into nibbling on apples or celery sticks and carrots.

# · Have a hearty soup for dinner and avoid sitting in front of the TV while having your meal.

# · Move your body as much as possible; listen to your favourite CD and dance!

My weight loss journey

There is so much written about weight loss, yet we are still struggling [I know I am] to find the magic formula or the little golden pill that would just melt away all that nasty fat.

Middle aged spread creeps up and before you know it you added inches to your waistline. I gained 2 dress sizes in as many years and if this goes on I may have to pay for an extra seat next time I fly!
Dieting and exercise go hand in hand, it is not just a matter of fitting into a smaller size, my main aim is fitness and a healthy longer life, at 40 life is only beginning. The down side of 40 is loosing weight becomes a little harder.

Diet and exercise may not be the only answer, our MIND may have a lot to do with it, I would even venture to say that it plays the biggest part.
The way we see ourselves and feel about our bodies is often the result of years of negative conditioning and contrary messages from the people around us and the media. Open any magazine and you will see stick thin actresses and then a caption mentioning their cellulite!!
Excuse me but what is the message here? We should all look sick and undernourished?
I don't know about you, I do feel better when I loose a bit of weight but only because my fitness and health improve too.

If you have any weight loss ideas that have worked for you, please leave a comment.

Is There Life After Menopause?

When I started menopause I was devastated, at 45 I was far too young I thought to be declared a non woman. Thank goodness I found out really fast that to be free of monthly periods, and all the associated cramps and days of clutching a hot water bottle was a blessing.

At 50 we are middle aged, this means that technically we still are only in the middle of our life, there is nothing that I cannot do now that I used to do when I was 25, alright I party a lot less, but that is only because I watch my health more. I intend to stay fit, I want to walk the Annapurna ,and possibly the Camino as well.

Life is more fun, I am under a lot less pressure to perform and I don't worry so much anymore about what others may think of me.

As baby boomers we had a good run, growing up in the sixties and seventies was just great, we did have the best music, cigarettes were considered cool and not cancer sticks as they are now, and there was all the free love one could want. Generation X and Y have a puritanical existence in comparison, they have to battle with the fear of sexually transmitted diseases, AIDS, global warming, killer swine flu etc..

Life is good now, we have more money, the kids may have left home and we are free to do as we please. Many of us are still working and may be in senior positions, therefore our earning capacity is greater than a 25 year old, and there is still plenty of time for a change in career if so desired.

To be 50 and single is not the panacea lot of people make it out to be, sex now can be a lot less complicated once the crazy urges of youth are dampened. A more mellow approach to sex and relationships has developed, mixed in with a bit of wisdom, we have the right mix to be a contented sexual being well into our old age.

There are many great women out there who are way past their 50Th birthday having wonder full fulfilling lives, Oprah springs to mind, at 56 she still is passionate about her TV career and contributes immensely to society.

If you have any doubts about life after menopause, take a good look around and you will notice that all the greatest women are over 50!

I write about health and personal development and growing as a human being regardless of age and background. We are all intuitive and have amazing abilities if only we let ourselves be.

Warning! A poem by Jenny Joseph

When I am an old woman I shall wear purple
With a red hat which doesn't go, and doesn't suit me.
And I shall spend my pension on brandy and summer gloves
And satin sandals, and say we've no money for butter.
I shall sit down on the pavement when I'm tired
And gobble up samples in shops and press alarm bells
And run my stick along the public railings
And make up for the sobriety of my youth.
I shall go out in my slippers in the rain
And pick the flowers in other peoples gardens
And learn to spit.

You can wear terrible shirts and grow more fat
And eat three pounds of sausages at a go
Or only bread and pickle for a week
And hoard pens and pencils and beermats and things in boxes.

But now we must have clothes that keep us dry
And pay our rent and not swear in the street
And set a good example for the children.
We must have friends to dinner and read the papers.

But maybe I ought to practice a little now?
So people who know me are not too shocked and surprised
When suddenly I am old, and start to wear purple.

Jenny Joseph

Baby boomers: menopause is not a disease

Many people fear the process because it seems to be the benchmark for aging, as soon as you reach 50 or thereabouts and are starting menopause you acquire the title: "middle aged". I must say that I didn't relish being described as such, middle aged somehow has quite a few negatives attached to it: old, frumpish, overweight, grumpy, passed it...
Have you heard the saying: women age and men become distinguished? and like me does it make you a little angry?
The best way to approach this would be to look at this time in life and realize all the advantages of being older, wiser, wealthier and and less inclined to conform to peer pressure as we did in our younger days when it all seemed so very important.
Menopause need not be the beginning of the end but it is the beginning of the second half of your life.As 50 to 60 year old baby boomers, most of us still have a good 35+ years to enjoy, it is up to each individual to make the most of it.
Let us not forget, we all get older, it is an unavoidable fact, I just want to make sure that generations X and Y are aware of that fact.