I had my yearly checkup at the GYN yesterday.
Yes ladies, I can sense your sympathies oozing through cyberspace!
The good news is, I came home with a clean bill of health (gynecologically speaking.)
The bad news is, the doctor informed me there is no "magic pill" available to reverse these mid-life weight gaining issues.
I told him I'd packed on about fifteen pounds since last summer and he nodded,then confirmed that fifteen pounds was about what would be expected. He said the average reported weight gain for my "age" is around one-two lbs per month!
And there's very little I can do about it.
Grrrr!
OK, so there is actually something I can do. I can eat less AND increase my exercise.
Excuse me? I don't eat much as it is. Typically, I lose weight in the summer because I often "forget" to eat and I am generally more active.
Yet, this summer has been the exception to the rule. I've done all the above, in addition to placing more emphasis on diet and I continue to gain.
I asked the doc if the "gaining one-two pounds a month" would go on for the rest of my life, and he assured me it should "plateau" at some point. So, depending on when/if it plateaus, I could weigh fifteen more pounds by next summer!
I just don't want to think about it. This was suppose to be my summer of liberation...the year I turn fifty, not the year I gain fifty!
Mother Nature is a cruel prankster for sure. Just about the time I was getting comfortable in my own skin and not worrying about my figure being less than super-model perfect, she throws me this curve ball. I am now filling out the aforementioned skin, stretching it to it's limits like never before.
Who knew midlife would be such a challenge?
Who ever suspected it would strike such a blow to my ego?
Certainly not this die-hard optimist!
I suppose I'll adjust ... eventually. I realize a little weight gain is nothing compared to the more serious issues I could be facing right now. I am healthy and for that I am very thankful!
My celebration of Summer 2010 shall continue despite the ever increasing size of my mid-section. Thank goodness empire waistlines and tunic tops are in this year! Happy 50th Birthday to me!
Becky Taylor
June 25, 2010
Bold New Day! LLC
Personal Development Coaching for Women
http://www.boldnewday.com
http://www.beckyjtaylor.com
Showing posts with label hormones. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hormones. Show all posts
Friday, June 25, 2010
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Mid-life Cry-sis
I've been really, really, really good about watching what I've been eating for a week now. That might not seem like such a big deal to you, but to me is is huge! HUGE like the size of my midsection these days. They don't call it the "middle age spread" for nothing, folks!
As I was saying, I decided a couple weeks ago that I would start eating better and trying to lose weight as soon as we got back from the family reunion and our trip to Savannah. I even cut my Diet Pepsi down to almost nothing because I heard the aspartame was bad for me.
Sure enough, I lost two pounds almost immediately.
Unfortunately, they were the same two pounds I'd picked up during our four days away, so I doubt it was "real" weight to begin with. Most likely it was only water.
Since then, I've stayed steady at about fifteen pounds over what I would weigh in a more perfect world. Ten pounds over the weight I'd almost kill for right now.
Meanwhile, I am hungry for the food I use to be able to eat without worrying about increasing my girth. I've never had horrible eating habits and I've never had to worry much about my weight.
Call me naive but I somehow thought the mid-life rules would not apply to me. I've always believed I'd welcome these years with outstretched arms. It's suppose to be liberating, right?
Excuse me while I double over in laughter at my own innocence.
It turns out that mid-life is a cruel prankster.
Too bad for me, I hate pranks ... and I'm hating mid-life so far.
Not only do I hate the extra weight that has firmly attached itself to my belly, I also hate the wrinkles on my face and neck. I hate the flab that waves in the breezes from the underside of my upper arms. I hate the sleepless nights.
I hate looking my age for the first time in my life!
If this is what being fifty is all about, I've changed my mind! I demand a re-count, or better yet a do-over! Back me up about three years and leave me there, happy and oblivious at 47. Is that too much to ask? It isn't like I am demanding to be twenty one all over again, I just want to be like I use to be a few short years ago.
So, stop the ride, I want to get off.
I don't want to be FIFTY!
I don't want to be old, tired, fat, moody and sweaty. Those things are just soooo NOT me. Give me my life back please.
Oh ... and you might want to give it back NOW, so nobody gets hurt!
Becky J. Taylor
Bold New Day! LLC
Personal Development Coaching for Women
http://www.beckyjtaylor.com
As I was saying, I decided a couple weeks ago that I would start eating better and trying to lose weight as soon as we got back from the family reunion and our trip to Savannah. I even cut my Diet Pepsi down to almost nothing because I heard the aspartame was bad for me.
Sure enough, I lost two pounds almost immediately.
Unfortunately, they were the same two pounds I'd picked up during our four days away, so I doubt it was "real" weight to begin with. Most likely it was only water.
Since then, I've stayed steady at about fifteen pounds over what I would weigh in a more perfect world. Ten pounds over the weight I'd almost kill for right now.
Meanwhile, I am hungry for the food I use to be able to eat without worrying about increasing my girth. I've never had horrible eating habits and I've never had to worry much about my weight.
Call me naive but I somehow thought the mid-life rules would not apply to me. I've always believed I'd welcome these years with outstretched arms. It's suppose to be liberating, right?
Excuse me while I double over in laughter at my own innocence.
It turns out that mid-life is a cruel prankster.
Too bad for me, I hate pranks ... and I'm hating mid-life so far.
Not only do I hate the extra weight that has firmly attached itself to my belly, I also hate the wrinkles on my face and neck. I hate the flab that waves in the breezes from the underside of my upper arms. I hate the sleepless nights.
I hate looking my age for the first time in my life!
If this is what being fifty is all about, I've changed my mind! I demand a re-count, or better yet a do-over! Back me up about three years and leave me there, happy and oblivious at 47. Is that too much to ask? It isn't like I am demanding to be twenty one all over again, I just want to be like I use to be a few short years ago.
So, stop the ride, I want to get off.
I don't want to be FIFTY!
I don't want to be old, tired, fat, moody and sweaty. Those things are just soooo NOT me. Give me my life back please.
Oh ... and you might want to give it back NOW, so nobody gets hurt!
Becky J. Taylor
Bold New Day! LLC
Personal Development Coaching for Women
http://www.beckyjtaylor.com
Friday, May 8, 2009
Mental Pause
My wonderful husband, Walter and I were having dinner a couple weeks ago when our conversation turned to the subject of sleep. I mentioned how relieved I was that I'd been sleeping like a baby since we'd returned from Savannah several days before. This was a much welcomed development, since I hadn't slept through the night for a number of months preceding.
After listening to me for a few seconds, Walt shrugged his shoulders and said quite innocently, "You must be going through menopause."
What?
The atmosphere suddenly became a little less than romantic.
I couldn't help but wonder where in the world Walt had been for the last few months.
In the time that has passed since shortly after last Thanksgiving I have:
1.Been forbidden to have any part in the lives of three of my precious grandchildren.
2.Watched my youngest daughter nearly die of pregnancy related complications.
3.Suffered through my fourteen year old son's emotional breakdown (to the point I had to remove him from school and put him in therapy)
4.Experienced an 80% loss in our electrical contracting business (and subsequent income).
5.Sat by the same daughter's bedside as the surgeon forcefully removed her pre-mature baby at 24 weeks 4 days gestation (that's a 5 month pregnancy if you do the math). Knowing it was the only possible chance for saving both of their lives was little consolation.
6.Helplessly stood by as the pre-mature baby died two weeks thereafter.
7.Grieved accordingly.
Need I go on?
Because those are just some of the reasons my brain had been too full to sleep!
Suffice to say I was a bit taken back by my husband's rather pat answer to the issue.
If I'd truly been "hormonal" I would have sprang across the table and strangled him on the spot. Don't tell ME about hormonal!
Within a New York minute of Walt's comment (and without the aid of strangulation) I believe I'd effectively set him straight on the matter. Never-the-less, the question remains ...why do men always seem to think that every negative emotional reaction we women experience is somehow related to our hormones?
Any one of the aforementioned situations would have merited a few sleepless nights, with or without hormonal interference. And yet Walt saw none of those things as significant in their own right?
Noooooooo .... the source of my insomniatic state had to be narrowed down to that one thing, and that one thing alone.
Hormones.
It's an age old question and I have no reason to believe that I will be the one to come up with an answer.
Maybe he was right. Maybe what I was experiencing was not a "natural" reaction to the truckload of unusually stressful situations that hit me without warning. If only I'd realized that possibility! Had it not been for my hormonal state of being, I probably would have been able to skip obliviously and happily through the entire ordeal!
Perhaps there is no such thing as "stress" aside from hormonal influence after all! Wow! What a revelation!
Of course, it would have to be a MAN who would come up with such a simple answer. We women are way too hormonal to ever think of such a thing.
Ladies, I think you will agree ... sometimes we just have to wonder what men are thinking and why they happen to be thinking it! My best guess is that their minds are over-saturated with testosterone thus rendering them incapable of grasping a true-er and more complex explanation.
I've come to this conclusion. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!
Just blame it on the hormones!
After listening to me for a few seconds, Walt shrugged his shoulders and said quite innocently, "You must be going through menopause."
What?
The atmosphere suddenly became a little less than romantic.
I couldn't help but wonder where in the world Walt had been for the last few months.
In the time that has passed since shortly after last Thanksgiving I have:
1.Been forbidden to have any part in the lives of three of my precious grandchildren.
2.Watched my youngest daughter nearly die of pregnancy related complications.
3.Suffered through my fourteen year old son's emotional breakdown (to the point I had to remove him from school and put him in therapy)
4.Experienced an 80% loss in our electrical contracting business (and subsequent income).
5.Sat by the same daughter's bedside as the surgeon forcefully removed her pre-mature baby at 24 weeks 4 days gestation (that's a 5 month pregnancy if you do the math). Knowing it was the only possible chance for saving both of their lives was little consolation.
6.Helplessly stood by as the pre-mature baby died two weeks thereafter.
7.Grieved accordingly.
Need I go on?
Because those are just some of the reasons my brain had been too full to sleep!
Suffice to say I was a bit taken back by my husband's rather pat answer to the issue.
If I'd truly been "hormonal" I would have sprang across the table and strangled him on the spot. Don't tell ME about hormonal!
Within a New York minute of Walt's comment (and without the aid of strangulation) I believe I'd effectively set him straight on the matter. Never-the-less, the question remains ...why do men always seem to think that every negative emotional reaction we women experience is somehow related to our hormones?
Any one of the aforementioned situations would have merited a few sleepless nights, with or without hormonal interference. And yet Walt saw none of those things as significant in their own right?
Noooooooo .... the source of my insomniatic state had to be narrowed down to that one thing, and that one thing alone.
Hormones.
It's an age old question and I have no reason to believe that I will be the one to come up with an answer.
Maybe he was right. Maybe what I was experiencing was not a "natural" reaction to the truckload of unusually stressful situations that hit me without warning. If only I'd realized that possibility! Had it not been for my hormonal state of being, I probably would have been able to skip obliviously and happily through the entire ordeal!
Perhaps there is no such thing as "stress" aside from hormonal influence after all! Wow! What a revelation!
Of course, it would have to be a MAN who would come up with such a simple answer. We women are way too hormonal to ever think of such a thing.
Ladies, I think you will agree ... sometimes we just have to wonder what men are thinking and why they happen to be thinking it! My best guess is that their minds are over-saturated with testosterone thus rendering them incapable of grasping a true-er and more complex explanation.
I've come to this conclusion. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em!
Just blame it on the hormones!
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