Beautiful woman

That woman sounds like my beautiful and elegant grandmother.

I should have better posture than I do because I was constantly nagged about slouching. From my own experience, there always seemed to be a fear in our elders that they would develop a hunch-back if they slouched. It was also not lady-like and considered a sign of inferiority and disrespect to others when we slouched. Actually though, it was probably impossible to slouch with a corset strung so tightly that a woman could barely take a full breath!
I know that I've lost an inch since menopause and I'm now 5'3 and a compressed spine only gets worse from slouching. If only I could do hand-stands I might be able to reverse my compression and my prolapse! My blubber also seems to have accumulated around my middle- especially in front which I know is making my prolapse worse. How can I lose this weight if I cannot do core exercises? I hate this, I feel so fat! Frustrating!

WWPosture is about pulling that spine straight and it takes time for the attached or supporting muscles to start to strengthen and kick in to help you keep that spine strong. Ergo the more you are in posture the stronger you will become, the easier it will become to be in posture. Just concentrate on those stretching exercises and posture. Work at it carefully, don't do damage but build.

A tried and tested, but gradual way to lose weight around the middle (and co-incidentally all over) is a simple act of not eating any sugar and limiting your fruit consumption to two pieces a day. This does not sound like much, especially if you don't eat much sugar, but you will be surprised once you start watching it how much in fact the average person does eat. It's in your tomato sauce, in your low-fat yoghurt, in your morning cereal, your asian take away and so on. Start reading labels and don't buy the sugar one, or at least buy the brand with less sugar. Just don't eat sugar. It works.

Hey Chickaboom welcome back. Hope you find your beautiful friend on here.

Fab, I know from past experience that eliminating sugar can make a HUGE difference. I lost 40 lbs in a very short time by not drinking soda or eating junk but then menopause hit and within two months I was rapidly gaining weight in my mid section and arms and sugar cravings began. I gave in to a Hostess cupcake one day at work 3 years ago and it's been downhill from there even though I do try to control my refined sugar and carb intake. I'm going to heed your advice with greater reverence once again and hopefully, happy results will abound. Then I won't have anything to wear! hahahha

I think there is some truth in the idea of getting sugar completely out of our diet. It is everywhere in processed and pre-prepared foods. If the most sweet foods you eat taste 50% less sweet, then 50% sweet becomes the new relatively 100% sweet. Sweetness, like everything else, is relative. If the sweetest things you eat are ripe pieces of fruit, then at least you are getting the fibre, vitamins, minerals and energy along with the sweetness. Just remember to eat your veg and greens, and not pig out on only fruit every day. Moderation in everything.

Yes, our tolerance for sweets and salty foods tend to be relative to our daily diet. Although as we age, our taste buds for salts and sweets become less responsive. ( requiring more)..BUMMER! For awhile I was buying fat free half and half.......when I finally looked at the label, I almost died. All those low fat foods are laden with sugar. Don' t you just love it when a bag of jelly beans says " Fat free food" as if that's better for us? It's actually better just to eat whole natural foods and then we tend to eat less anyway ( like butter and whole milk). I'm not really all that fond of sugar and it makes me feel lazy and foggy so maybe I'll be able to give up more sweets without noticing. My real challenge will be the refined carbs. They are as or more abundant in our foods than sugar.

No way, just don't eat anything that comes out of a packet. Only eat real foods, preferably those that you eat straight out of the ground, rather than off the shelf a week or more later, unless they are frozen, canned, dried or fermented, or some other way that bad fats and sugars are not added.

Grind your own grains. Bake your own bread. Eat only unprocessed or minimally processed foods, eg it is OK to buy sunflower seeds already hulled. Brown rice, rather than white.

I'm a whole food eater 90 percent of the time and I do can and freeze my veggies out of my garden. Lately though I haven't been as proactive as I should be about planning and preparing healthy meals every day mainly because of affordability and because I haven't been feeling well due to this prolapse. Too many potatoes and pasta! But, I'm so determined to lose this belly fat! I'm planning my healthy and easy menu for the week and hopefully, I'll begin to notice an improvement in my physical and mental energy as well as drop a pound or two in the coming weeks. Last night I had garbanzo beans, red peppers, kale and butternut squash stew over brown rice ( instead of couscous). Very tasty!

I think you are doing very well indeed. Falling off the wagon is easy. Getting back on and stable again is the hard bit. Realistically there will always be the odd bump in the road to throw us off again. So the better we can do when we are going well, the more we can forgive ourselves when we hit the dirt ... again.

:-)

I resisted my favorite " Walkers Shortbread Cookies"! I'm in detox mode now ;( so if I seem grumpy in the coming days please forgive me!
Thanks for your support and wisdom. ;D

While I don't want to pour cold water on your de-tox program, it is alarming the pull that a little biscuit can have. If our brain regards sweet foods as treats, and we resist their pull, we are denying ourselves the pleasure of eating them. Make sure that you find other ways to give yourself pleasure instead of eating these biscuits. I would go so far as to suggest making shortbread yourself, but making it with freshly milled flour and much less sugar. Also, make them bite sized. You can tell the difference between one biscuit and two. You could make the pact with yourself to allow yourself one, rather than two, and maybe every second day, rather than every day.

I find that a treat is far more rewarding the less I have of it, but to deny meaningful pleasure completely is very, very, sad indeed.

Next job for you is to sit down and make a list of alternative ways of receiving pleasure, and make sure that you do them.

Louise