Live fully in midlife and beyond
I’m taking the discussion on your hormones a little further today.
There are three more hormones I want to talk about which can explain why you may overeat.
And I’m actually not starting not with these hormones…
I’m starting with sugar and flour.
Continue reading “Why you may be overeating”
As you probably already know, I’m a coach.
Specifically I’m a health and life coach working mostly with women who want to lose belly fat caused by the changing hormones of menopause.
And I know the power of coaching.
Because aside from being a coach, I’ve been coached at various times in my life.
Continue reading “Why get a coach?”
The act of moving literally changes your body.
When you move your body, you…
The list is endless and the research is overwhelming: Moving creates positive changes in your body.
And not only that.
Your body NEEDS to move to function.
Your blood flow depends on it, and that’s why you’ve got all those joints, and muscles, and ligaments.
So, when you DON’T move, your body can’t do what it needs to do, and that will cause things like…
And the thing is, you don’t need to do a lot of movement, you just need to do it daily.
I plan just 15 to 20 minutes of dedicated exercise a day.
And I see everything else I do as bonus.
Walking, climbing stairs, shoveling, gardening, …
But you may be wondering what are the best ways to move for fat loss?
If you want to have a leaner mid-section this is the best place to start.
Resistance exercise.
Resistance exercise is when you move against added weight, or elastic force, or gravity (using your own body weight.)
Resistance exercise builds lean muscle.
And building more muscle in your body increases your metabolism, because muscle is metabolically active – and fat isn’t.
In addition, when you build muscle, you also build stronger bones.
As you know, bone density decreases with age, and post-menopause many women are susceptible to osteoporosis…
So, resistance exercise can keep your bones healthy.
I’m not going to go into specific exercises here, but I am providing 10 exercises in my 10-day Belly Fit “Build-Up-to-Spring” Challenge – which you can still sign up for.
Here are some things I suggest:
Cardiovascular exercise is essential for burning fat, especially that stubborn fat that accumulates around the middle.
It includes anything from running, stair walking, jumping, jumping jacks, skipping, jump rope,…
Basically any exercise that increases your heart rate to where you can only talk in 2 or 3 word sentences.
Higher intensity cardio – meaning vigorous exercise for short bouts of time – will increase your testosterone and growth hormone which will help block the cortisol (stress hormone) and increase your ability to grow muscle.
And more muscle means higher metabolism. Yay!
Now, that’s not to say that lower intensity, moderate exercise like vigorous walking or distance running – which I love – isn’t good.
It’s great for bone density and heart health.
But higher intensity is best for the best fat burning.
So, here are some guidelines I suggest for cardio exercise to decrease belly fat:
As much as your body needs to move, it needs to rest in order to restore and regenerate the body and brain.
Calm movement like walking, yoga, and tai chi, are all known to decrease stress (lower cortisol) which is THE major contributor to belly fat.
In addition, meditation, breathing exercises, and getting good quality sleep are all powerful ways to reduce stress and keep you comfortable and feeling better through perimenopause.
I use the Headspace app for easy 5 to 10 minute meditations that I can do each morning when I wake up.
These activities don’t have to take much time, but you need to do one or a combination of them every day to get the best benefit.
What’s your favorite type of movement? Walking, running, weights, yoga?
Share it in the comments below, I’d love to know!
Keep moving forward my friend,
Debbie
So, two weeks ago I talked about your hormones.
Specifically, I explained the 4 HORMONES that every woman should know… Especially women going through perimenopause.
(If you missed that post, you can check it out here.)
And I mentioned that you DO have control – more than you think – over these hormones.
Continue reading “3 Simple Ways to Eat to Lose Belly Fat in Perimenopause”
What a crazy winter it’s been here in Montreal!
We’ve had it all… Snow, ice, rain, sun and cold.
So I think it’s time to put it behind us, and move forward… To spring!
But, in addition to moving to spring, I want you to move forward, towards balancing your hormones in perimenopause.
And regular exercise can be a huge part of making that balance happen.
So to celebrate spring’s arrival and get into a better hormonal balance, I’ve created a new – and free – 10-day build-up to spring challenge!
It starts Tuesday, March 12th, and it will get you into the habit of daily exercise.
And of course, the exercises are all about getting you Belly Fit…
That means that after 10 days, you’ll have an awesome workout that will help you lose belly fat, gain a stronger core, and feel a whole lot better through perimenopause.
Now, although this is a simple challenge, I promise it won’t be super easy!
The challenge is 10 days, 10 exercises.
Each day of the challenge, you’ll get a new exercise, and each day you’ll add that new exercise to the previous ones.
That’s the build-up part.
So on Day 1 – easy-peasy – you’ll just have one exercise to do.
But on Day 10, the first official day of spring, you’ll have 10 exercises. (And a great full-body workout that you can re-use whenever you want!)
Now, you don’t need any special equipment for this challenge.
Just a little space, some comfortable clothes that you can move in, and a good pair of athletic shoes.
And, as usual, this challenge is free.
But I do have one ask of you.
Once you sign up, please send this email to at least one more person you’d like to do this challenge with.
Not only is it more fun with a friend, it’s usually a lot more successful when you’ve got an accountability buddy.
All you need to do to be part of this challenge, is click on the flower below and sign up.
Go ahead…
Within minutes of signing up, you’ll get a short email from me, welcoming you and explaining the challenge.
Then on Tuesday the 12th of March, you’ll get your first exercise.
So, are you ready to jump start your fitness, feel and get moving?
Then let’s do this together!
See you on the 12th,
Debbie
If you’re a woman who’s over 40, and noticing a change in your shape (namely extra folds in your mid-section), then you need to know about four particular hormones.
These hormones work great together together when everything’s in balance.
But when you head into perimenopause and through menopause, and things become unbalanced, these four hormones will play a big role in how and where you gain fat.
Continue reading “The Four Hormones Every Woman Should Know About”
There’s a lot of talk about the importance of having a strong core, especially as we age.
And maybe that’s a little worrying as you may not currently be the proud owner of a well chiseled 6-pack.
Luckily, you don’t need that kind of definition to have a strong core.
And, in fact, your core goes a lot deeper (and wider) than those superficial bumps.
I have a client that wants to lose 10 inches around her waist.
She not only wants to lose it, she’s PLANNING on losing it.
And she’ll get there, I know she will.
Because she’s got a PLAN around food that she created, and that she knows she can stick to.
She’s planned out the answers to questions she knows will inevitably come up like:
Continue reading “How simple PLANNING can reduce your waistline”
If you’re going through menopause, there’s a very good chance that you’re experiencing hot flashes.
Or night sweats – the night-time version.
About 75% of women going through menopause will experience hot flashes and/or night sweats, over a few months or several years.
It’s the most common issue during menopause.
But the good news is there’s a lot you can do to keep your cool and turn down the heat naturally.
Continue reading “How to cool your hot flashes”
Happy New Year!
It’s the beginning of 2019, and with that you may be determined to everything right this year.
You will FINALLY eat healthy and eat less.
But how are you going to get this done?
Let me suggest how NOT to get it done: WILLPOWER.
We’ve all tried willpower to help us change our habits, and it might work at first, but most of the time it wears out.
Because WILLPOWER takes a tremendous amount of ENERGY.
Every time you say “no” to something you really want, or eat something “healthy” while everyone else is having something that you’d rather be eating, you’re RESISTING.
When you resist something, you’re using willpower.
And, in this case, it’s not actually the food you’re resisting; it’s the thought “I really, really want to eat that!” that you’re resisting.
Because food is just food; it just IS.
It’s what you think about the food that makes the difference.
For example, you may LOVE chocolate, but your neighbor two doors down might be completely indifferent to it. Same food, two different thoughts.
So, you’re not fighting the food, you’re fighting your THOUGHTS about the food.
Make sense?
When you use willpower, it’s as if you’re running away from a monster that’s chasing you (in this case it’s the thought that “I really, really want it!” that’s the monster.)
Eventually you’ll get tired of running, because no one can run forever.
And that’s when the thought will get you, and you’ll eat the food, almost against your own will.
As you can see, WILLPOWER IS EXHAUSTING.
Now, consider a feather.
A feather is soft, weightless, and moves seemingly effortlessly.
Imagine that instead of running away from your thought about a food you’re trying to resist, you instead approach it with a feather.
Yes, a feather.
Approaching the thought shows that you’re not afraid of it, because you know it can’t hurt you; it’s just a thought.
When you get up close, you’ll see that it’s just a bubble containing a few words strung together forming a sentence. It’s harmless.
Then you can gently tap the thought bubble with your beautiful, delicate feather and watch it disappear.
In this way, you’re not FIGHTING the thought, WRESTLING with “should I, or shouldn’t I?”, or RUNNING in the opposite direction.
You’re just ALLOWING the thought, BECOMING AWARE that it has no power, and then LETTING IT GO.
Poof!
Sounds lovely, doesn’t it?
But you may be thinking you can’t possibly do that; it can’t be that easy.
And I’m telling you it can be.
If you’re really willing to see that food is not out to get you, that your thoughts about food are not evil, and that you’ve had those ruby slippers all along, everything can change.
Your only difficulty will be picking the most beautiful feather.
When have you tried willpower? Did it work for you?
I’ve definitely used it in the past, especially when I first tried giving up sugar, and also when I became vegetarian.
Now I’ve learned that I can’t power my way through change over the long haul.
Gentle awareness is the only thing I know that works, especially when you do mess up (and we all do.)
With willpower as your fuel, you’ll likely throw in the towel…
But with gentle awareness you’ll have the energy and understanding to pick yourself up and try again.
Keep moving forward,
Debbie
P.S. Boot Camp and Yoga classes are starting up this week in Rosemere! January 7th and January 10th… Get more details or sign up on my CLASSES page. Hope to see you there!
