What I discovered about metabolism shocked me. As a 55-year-old woman who has never experienced dieting in her life, when I discovered that once you hit menopause and say goodbye to more than that monthly female annoyance, your metabolism quickly stops. It literally closes. Zipper. Zero. Any. Everything is gone!

It doesn’t matter if you don’t eat more than 750 calories a day, you will STILL gain 10 pounds a year. It is not food that is the problem for a woman over 50, it is metabolism. And what happens after menopause is that you start storing that fat exactly where men do: in the abdomen. It’s called visceral fat and it can be life-threatening. It wraps around your organs and is incredibly uncomfortable to wear too!

The best thing you can do to get back on track is:

1. Eat foods that speed up your metabolism.
2. Start an exercise regimen.
3. Try not to spend a lot of time sitting. Even standing burns calories.
4. Join a gym or start a swimming program.
5. Try a natural estrogen supplement daily.
6. Walk for twenty minutes every day (not as part of an exercise program).

Additionally, they have found that muscle that builds up in youth turns into fat as you age. Unless you are Ms. Super Athlete or Wonder Woman, you will need to adjust your diet and lifestyle to accommodate this change.

You can do this as follows:

o Eat a healthy, low-fat, high-fiber diet (helps those irritable bowels)
o Regular exercise: 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day.
o Maintain your strength and muscle mass by using light weights for your arms and biking or walking for your legs.

And of course, check with your doctor before starting any exercise regimen if you have any medical conditions or are out of shape.