Reflections on a Swimsuit. . .

Well ladies, it's that dreaded time of year when we resurrect our old swimsuits or go shopping for a new one. Instead of feeling bad about my changing body, I decided to take a trip down memory lane and pulled out the scrapbooks.

One of the first swimsuit pictures I found of myself was an old black and white, circa 1965. Even though I can't see the color on the photo, I know it was a bright red two-piece suit with shiny brass button adornments. In the photo, my curly hair is wild and blowing in the breeze, my left knee is skinned up and by the looks of my chin, I've just finished an ice cream cone. The look on my face says it all - "I don't have a care in the world".

Next swimsuit pic is from my 16th birthday. I've just developed breasts, my posture is atrocious, my hair is hanging in my face and my body language screams, "INSECURITY".  Fast forward to the mid 70's and I'm in college laying out on the patio with all my girlfriends. We're wearing itty-bitty bikinis and we all look fabulous as we salute the camera with cans of cheap beer.

Other swimsuit photos from vacations emerge and I just have to laugh as the swimsuits get larger and the coverage grows considerably. I guess it doesn't matter after all what size we are or what swimsuit we're wearing, we are all beautiful women inside and out. Every stretch mark and every bit of cellulite is well earned. This year I'm not going to stress about the swimming suit, I'm going to celebrate being a woman!

Dealing with Menopudge

Menopudge. . . you know what I'm talking about. That little extra weight that begins to creep on pound by pound and before you know it, it's a full-blown muffin top! Or in my case, a muffin top and a side of thigh bags.

For someone who has been thin almost their entire life, this has been a rude awakening. I used to be able to eat just about anything and never put on a pound. Now I eat half as much, exercise twice as much, and if I'm lucky I can keep my weight gain down to about a pound every other month - what's up with that!

Here are some of the tips I have implemented. If you have any others, please comment.

• To calm my crazy, ravenous sweet tooth, I eat a small piece of Dove dark chocolate. This has eased the binging on 1/2 pound bags of M & M's.
• When I start feeling really crazy and need to satisfy my hormonal imbalance with food, I simply yell.  Not an ordinary yell, but something in terms of primal screaming. This seems to satisfy me for a while and also make me laugh. It also works great at keeping your family out of your way.
• Since I HATE to exercise, I just start running around the house. I go from the basement up to the second floor 5 or 6 times in a row and it gets my heart pumping. It makes me forget how pudgy I've become, when I can barely breathe.

These are just a few of my handy tips. I promise to add others as time goes by.

Desperately Seeking Sweatpants!

How hard can it be to find a pair of black sweatpants? My son needs a pair for the school play. I have searched every store from Target to Sears, Sam's Club to Wal-Mart, and even went to a few thrift stores. I'm told they don't make the old-fashioned sweat pants anymore. Now it's just the fancy schmancy "athletic" pants. That would be fine, except that every pair of those has some kind of stripe or other adornment.

Don't tell him, but I'm bringing him a pair of my black yoga pants in hopes he won't know the difference. After all, what's a mom to do?

Welcome to Menopause Warriors!

This blog is dedicated to all the women out there that have become Menopause Warriors. I plan to use this forum to share the ups and downs of surviving menopause. If I can share a story, dispense some useful information or just make you laugh, then it will all be worthwhile. As I was writing this, I felt the fires of hell starting to make their appearance. I vow today to slay the Hot Flash Beast. Who's with me?