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Other than the fact that you hate looking at yourself in the mirror anymore, you are tired of wearing oversized t-shirts to cover your expanding butt, thighs and waistline and you have virtually given up fighting menopause... you are not alone! America is the leading nation in obesity and it has become a national epidemic. The annual health care costs in the US stemming from obesity is now approaching $240 billion, and on top of that, Americans are spending more than $33 billion annually on various weight-loss schemes and diet products. By far, heart disease is the leading cause of death in women; although, the good news is women seem to be able to reverse heart disease better than men, if that's any consolation. If you are overweight, then you are vulnerable to the following health conditions: diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, gall bladder disease and arthritis. Fact to know: Obesity has become such a national health problem that the IRS has now approved weight loss as a tax deductible item...go see your accountant for details! THE FATTENING OF AMERICA Living 'La Vida Loca' is exactly what American women are doing today as they stumble from one diet to another with little results. As the nations' obesity statistics keep rising, women are being bombarded by an overwhelming influx of TV commercials, billboards and magazine ads promoting a "fast food fix." No matter which way she turns she is faced with Taco Bell or the Golden Arches on every street corner. PORTION DISTORTION Today a hamburger and French fries has become the quintessential American meal thanks to the promotional efforts of the fast food chain. The typical American now consumes approximately 3 hamburgers and 4 orders of French fries every week. Today, commodity prices have fallen so low and portion sizes have increased in order to attract more customers. A taste for fat developed in childhood is difficult to lose as an adult. During the 50's the typical soft drink order contained only 8 ounces of soda. Today, a coke from McDonalds can come in 32 ounces...around 350 calories! Major fast food chains have apparently decided that it's much easier and much more profitable to increase the size and the fat content of their portions than to battle eating habits largely formed by years of their own mass marketing.
Many of us have tried every new diet that has hit the market. In fact, some women are professional dieters. Whether it is high protein/low carbohydrate diets or restrictive 800 calorie diets, cabbage soup diets or grapefruit diets, prescription drugs or laxatives, Herbalite or Metabolite, juice fasts or enemas, gastric by-passes or liposuction...you name it, we've probably "been there, done that!" or know a friend who has. Women have literally yo-yoed their way through life looking for that magic formula that will finally help them lose those stubborn pounds. Most of us have accepted our failures as a result of our own weakened will power, not realizing that with every diet we tried we were our own worst enemy. The more we diet the more efficient our fat cells become at holding onto fat. Due to the evolution of our human species, the moment our fat cells detect deprivation they begin to conserve fat stores for future energy. In fact, they get so good at it that as we age the more stubborn those fat cells get. No matter what you do it seems impossible to drop those pounds that keep piling on. TO DIET OR NOT TO DIET...THAT IS THE QUESTION! Ever noticed how many diets are invented by men? In fact, browse through any bookstore shelf and you will probably find 90% of all diet and weight loss books written by men. It isn't surprising that within one year 66% of women going on these diets have regained their weight back and within 5 years the statistic is an overwhelming 97% failure. So what's wrong? What these diet books fail to inform us is how to eat around our hormones. Let's look at a few examples of present day diets invented by a few diet doctors that we may have all experienced:
Amazingly, while many of these inventors of weight loss diets have jumped on the fast lane of fame and fortune with their diet revolutions, many women have only found themselves frustrated and fatter and jumping back on the drive-thru lane of McDonalds and Burger King. A woman's fat cells do not respond the same as a man's fat cells. Her daily life is under constant stress with her work, her children and running a household...and then of course, there are those hormonal days that men never quite grasp. We have all been there. When our body bloats like a ten-ton hippopotamus, we eat everything that is not tacked down to a table and we cry at the first sound of "Hi honey, I'm home..."
4 MAIN REASONS YOU MAY BE OVERWEIGHT: #1 Your body has more CALORIES coming in than CALORIES going out! The mathematic formula is quite simple: Energy in equals energy out, i.e. food intake equals activity expended. #2 Your body has a METABOLIC IMBALANCE This means that your homeostasis gauge is broken and your body isn't processing calories the way it needs to, i.e. Foods are not efficiently being broken down, absorbed, assimilated or eliminated by your body...see Nutrition for details. #3 Your body has a HORMONAL IMBALANCE Your hormonal system is out of balance and your fat storing hormone (insulin) is suppressing your fat burning hormone (glucagon) #4 You are a victim of inherited GENETICS Unfortunately, you have inherited your ancestors fat genes instead of a fat wallet. However, you needn't feel defeated; you can still discipline and manage your fat cells with the power of awareness. It just takes a little more effort! You cannot change your genes but you can change your eating and exercise habits!
We will determine your complete body composition which establishes your fat %, your fat mass, water, and lean body tissue in your body. By knowing this we can adjust your diet accordingly to ensure you are losing body fat and not muscle and water which is quite prevalent with so many diet programs. Once we have individualized your customized weight loss As we guide you on our Better Body Weight Loss program we calculate how many calories you have to give up in order to lose body fat and how many calories you have to eat in order to develop muscle tissue which is your prime helper for burning calories. What you eat before, during and after your exercise program will have a dramatic effect on your weight loss goals. When losing body fat you will need to provide your body with quality fuel (healthy food). When you are dieting, your post-workout meal is your most important of the day. Cutting carbohydrates - because you think they make you fat - will be defeating your purpose. The need to replace your glycogen stores after your workout is crucial, otherwise your body will be forced to start breaking down your muscles for energy. It may all sound complicated, but it really isn't.
Changes in estrogen levels mean our body chemistry is in transition. Metabolic rates slow as we age, so it takes food longer to digest and more of it goes into storage. Women who never had a problem before suddenly find pounds are slowly piling on and that dietary habits that worked for them before throughout their life just don't work anymore. As we age we also begin to lose 1/2 lb of muscle each year and this muscle loss means less calories being burned. Just eating all the low fat or even no-fat foods available today doesn't seem to make a difference. Successful weight loss after 40 begins with 2 basic weight loss starting points:
At Better Body we believe we are ahead of the curve when it comes to educating women how to lose weight when experiencing menopause. See our section on Menopausal Weight Loss
PROTEIN when broken down in your body to form amino acids, is your body's primary material for building tissue. Amino Acids are key to such bodily functions as the production of cells and hormones, fighting infection and aiding neurotransmitter activity.
During anaerobic exercise like resistance training, the body relies mostly on
carbohydrates for fuel, and the amount you have stored in your body will affect
your stamina and endurance. Carbohydrates come in 2 forms, simple carbs and complex carbs. Simple sugars are best consumed post-exercise to quickly replace spent energy sources. Complex carbs are ideal for sustained energy throughout the day. Carbohydrates don't make you fat! Over-consumption of calories from carbohydrates will. FATS serve as a large concentrated energy depot, they protect your organs, insulate you to keep you warm, transport fat-soluble vitamins (A,D,E,K) and help synthesize hormones.
DETERMINE YOUR BODY MASS INDEX The National Institute of Health guidelines are based on Body Mass Index (BMI), which is a ratio between height and weight reflecting the proportion of fat to muscle and other tissues in the body. According to the guidelines, a BMI between 20 and 24.9 is normal, BMI's between 25 and 29.9 are defined as overweight, and BMI's of 30 and over are considered obese. DETERMINE YOUR WAIST-TO-HIP RATIO DETERMINE YOUR BODY TYPE Where you carry your weight also matters just as much as how much weight you are carrying. DETERMINE WHAT KIND OF EATER YOU ARE
ARE YOU AN APPLE OR A PEAR? Women who carry their weight around their waist have a greater risk for cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer as opposed to women who carry their weight around the hips and have a greater task at shedding their saddlebags. Ideally, women should have a waist-to-hip ratio of 0.8 or less. Upper body fat is much more harmful to your health than being a pear. Most of our health risks of being overweight are due to fat in our abdomen. If you have more abdominal fat than lower body fat you are an APPLE. YOUR HEART IS YOUR HEALTH METER Your heartbeat is an important gauge of the state of your health. Significant
variables are how fast it beats when you are doing nothing and when you are
exercising, and how quickly it returns to the resting state after you have
stopped. Your heart beat represents a contraction of the heart muscle as it
pumps out blood.
Many women who do not live in our local vicinity have called us long distance requesting the guidelines for our Better Body No-Nonsense Weight Loss program. Due to such a response we have decided to provide these guidelines to you online. What you will receive is a complete step-by-step guide to what you will expect each week of your 12 week program. Included in your Better Body E-Manual you will receive:
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In
this section:
A
few years back, the government reviewed all the different weight loss plans. The
results they found were that two-thirds of women gained back all the weight they
lost within ONE year and 97% gained it all back within 5 years.
Females
have 30 billion fat cells which are programmed with specific instructions 
When
you begin our Better Body 'No-Nonsense Weight Loss' program, we provide a plan
that is specifically designed for your individual biochemistry and personal
metabolism. We also provide you with a personality profile that will help you
understand your eating habits and mood triggers. This will provide you an
understanding of how you may be sabotaging your weight loss efforts. 
Women
entering menopause have so many fluctuating hormones accompanying this life
cycle transition that the majority of weight loss programs just don't work.
Waistlines expand and cravings for carbohydrates increase. With menopause, a
variety of moods and symptoms occur that are downright depressing. Hard to
differentiate what we are actually depressed about - our final goodbye to
fertility or our ever increasing weight problem!
CARBOHYDRATES
are your body's preferred fuel source - your muscles, your brain and other
tissues rely heavily on a continued source of carbohydrates to satisfy immediate
and long-term energy demands.