Weight Loss on Weight Watchers at Menopause.

Are you between 40 and 60 and finding it hard to shed unwanted pounds? You are not alone! I’ve fought through every fad diet and yo yoing eating plan out there, I think. NOTHING kept the weight off. I might lose 20 lbs but it all came back once the diet was over. I had learned nothing except how to deprive myself.

I joined WW (Weight Watchers) 2020 and am super happy with the plan and my results so far. This is an eating plan based on a points system. WAIT! Don’t let me lose you because of that. It’s easy! Not much to learn. AND there are hundreds of zero-point foods like chicken, veggies, fish, fruit, and eggs. 

I can sustain this lifestyle change from now on, too! If you are interested in my videos concerning being a newbie on WW or what restaurants are WW friendly, go to Lea James  It’s a newer channel and has some fun tips. I’ll be posting every week between Sunday and Wednesday sometime.

Join me, and let’s have some fun together on this plan. You’ll not regret being a part of it. OR just watch the videos for info on weight loss at menopause and yummy new products I’ve tried.

Love you guys!

Lea

The Sofa, My Best Friend

Since turning 55, I not only feel mentally challenged but I am definitely physically challenged, as well. The mental part is having to deal with being halfway to 60! I can hardly believe that. I also deal with Bipolar but I’m medicated and it’s not much of a problem until something in life goes wrong. Then, I go from “normal” to deep depression in about sixty seconds.

The sofa became my best friend a few months ago when I began feeling marked fatigue and apathy because of it. I take meds for the Bipolar and for blood pressure and for insomnia. I take vitamins and iron (I’ve been anemic, too). It’s getting old.

It’s like turning 55 turned my health upside down in a way. I have “female issues” to deal with that will likely have me in the doctor’s office often over the next few months. Again, It’s getting old.

My sofa is soft and leather. It’s a comforting dark brown and sinks when I lay in it. It’s a place I can hang out in without being in bed. I know my poor husband is tired of seeing me like this but it’s “supposed” to be over soon. We’ll see. I doubt anything that promises happiness these days. I can’t quite achieve that level of mood.

I write this not to bring my readers down but to show you that you are very blessed if you are healthy. My husband has things worse than I do. He fights MS every day. Pain, aches, burning nerve endings, fatigue, and he takes lots of meds.

I really do need to stop griping and get my behind off of this sofa and into a project – like de-cluttering the office. But, as I type, I’m on my tummy on my sofa – my best friend. The one who cradles me and tells me I can take refuge in him for this short while in my life.

I think when I finish blogging, I’ll mosey into the office and see about donating some of my many books to a thrift store.

I wish you all blessings of health and happiness! I’d appreciate your prayers, too.

Perimenopause!

Yes, I’m turning 49 again this year. I’ve never turned the same number twice so it’s new for me. Allow it.

I can’t mentally wrap my head around the number I’m supposed to quote to everyone when they ask which birthday this is. How dare they ask anyway; as a best friend of mine says, “It’s all about the event, not the number!” (Thanks, Les)

I have the standard symptoms, minus a few. No night sweats, thank god. That sounds awful. Here are a few you can expect if you haven’t already gone through this time in your life, ladies:

Ain’t it beautiful? 

I’ve had all of these dwarfs. Nasty little things they are. So, how are we to deal with perimenopause?

 

I love that the exercise says “moderate levels.” It sound like something I can actually DO. I eat too much sugar. That’s another of my shortcomings. Need to change that one NOW. My mom didn’t take hormone replacement therapy and now wishes she had. I think I’ll give it a try. I’m tired of having periods that last two weeks and foul moods that even make my cats stay away.

Ladies, I hope we come out on the other side with smiles on our faces and few wrinkles on them. XO!

Forgetfulness, Hormones, and Pinball

I exist in this body as a game of pinball. Pull back the spring and let the hammer go. The heavy, silvery ball flies into banded, stationary targets. Back and forth between them – fueled by rubbery bands, the ball bounces and rolls. Ding, ding, ding . . . the sounds, blinking lights, and music try to distract me from my goal of guarding “the scoring hole” with not-long-enough paddles.

This is how my brain works at present (perimenopause). Hormones fuel my emotions and cause a mixture of lights and noises which distract my brain from its basic purposes. Examples follow: sense of balance, memory, up and down emotions, and learning new things. Last night, I took a tumble onto the pavement because I absent-mindedly fell off of a seven inch step (which has always been there and which I had been aware of for two years). My hip is bruised, as well as the back of one arm. Go figure. I feel like a toddler again.

I forget facts, appointments, and my Walmart list. I went to the store to pick up a prescription. While I was there, I needed shampoo and conditioner and Drano. I left the list of these four items in my vehicle, so I had to remember four things. Well, I recalled three. I completely forgot my prescription, the reason I was there in the first place!

There goes the wild pinball. It is diverted and sent hurling into yet another diversion. Ding, ding! I change my mind more often than  Tyra Banks changes outfits.

Before I forget, I need to get my Jeep brake pads and roters replaced. I also need to purchase a college history book. It is likely that I’ll buy the brake pads and forget the roters. It’s also likely that I’ll make three trips for these three items. Ugh . . .

Why Isn’t Anyone Else Sweating?!

If you’ve read my blog at any length, you know I’m 47 and going through perimenopause. I don’t hide that fact. It justifies my irrationality, forgetfulness, and moodiness.

At my psychiatrist’s visit today, I informed her that my hormones and depression are on the same rollercoaster track. She called my “hormone doc” and arranged an appointment for me tomorrow. I love doctor-to-doctor appointment-making. I get in SO quickly.

I have been feeling old, fat, and ugly lately. Oh, wait, I AM fricking old, fat, and ugly. I can fix the fat and ugly, just not the old part. Since my foot (and tetanus shot site) is pretty well healed from my stepping on a rusty nail a couple of weeks ago, I can get back on the treadmill.

In spite of my self-esteem being in a dumpster, a man hit on me today. (Then I had a hot flash! No joke!) He was a restaurant manager at a nice place. He had a handsome face and clean appearance. He asked me questions about myself and told me about his interests. He arranged drink cup lids and Splenda packets while he kept me in conversation. It was flattering. It also boosted my crappy self-esteem.

I sat at my small table, laptop plugged into the wall, people everywhere, and I was flashing hot! Perspiring and red-faced, I kept my gaze down. Sweat puddled in the creases of my elbow bends, along the entire back of my neck and upper back, and face. Someone HAD to notice. I nonchalantly raised my tea glass to my overheated neck. Felt sooo good.

It passed. I then wondered if I smelled. Deoderant has NO respect for the hot flash. I use men’s gel sticks. No more Secret or other female-appropriate antiperspirants. Now I smell like a man’s spicy under arms! Yuck! Eh, beats the alternative, I guess.

So, I’m off to refill my iced tea – a squeeze of lemon, lots of ice, and a bit of sweetner.

Hopefully, I will stride slowly and not meet up with the friendly manager.