Hi Everyone!

As I'm still finding my way around this excellent forum and meeting area, I've just been able to read some of the walking threads.

I am so excited to see people recovering and embracing this excellent exercise base.

It is an essential route to detoxification of the body (the movement of the lymph, particularly with regards to the activity of the calf muscle, the "heart" of the lymph).

The effects of walking on stress management are huge, too - it is an excellent way to offset the effects of stress hormones by circulating them OUT with the activity (see my "detox" notes above).

Also, walking allows for easy, rambling pleasure.

And another thing - regular walking keeps your body used to being an "active animal"...excellent advantage for longterm fitness.

I also see references to weight and walking. True, regular walking can have a weight managing effect; however, if there are more challenges with weight gain, there are two esstials to consider:

1) muscle mass decline contributes most to weight gain. We simply get less active (most of us) as we move through life, and it is the #1 challenge to body composition. To maintain that mass, you need some challenges to the musculature, especially the muscles through the core and the back. At the same time, the prime mover muscles (think of the big muscles on your extremities), will keep your metabolic fires burning, when they are kept dense.

There are lots of ways to do this. An excellent solution for women who want to keep inflammation down and protect their joints, while "working out" in a low-maintenance fashion (it doesn't take a whole lot of time because of its comprehensive nature) is the T-Tapp Wellness Workout. It has built in comprehensiveness and intervals, which are great for maintaining muscle density.

There are other avenues to muscle, the most obvious probably being weight training, though care must be taken with joint protection.

As for hormones - yes, menopause is a time when our bodies are doing their best to equalize the estrogens and we tend to deposit more fat around the belly at this time because this is the bodyfat that is an "estrogen factory".

I figure our bodies are always doing something for a reason - it is not out to frustrate us our make us wonder about our waist size! We can work with the body to move through these times.

When I went through menopause, I experienced a moderate weight gain that I allowed myself to move right through the middle of. It came on fast, so I knew it was hormonal, and at the same time knew I needed to be consistent and nurturing to my body to get out the other side of it unscathed. That meant a little less eat cheat, consistency of movement (without brutal workouts - that's a fitness byline!)...to give you an idea.

I'm happy to be a resource to everyone here - it is my specialty to work with midlife (I call it primetime, yes?) women who are desirous of moving their fitness - and their lives - forward, into through and beyond this time.

Warmly,
Lani