“Middle age spread”.  It sounds like a butter substitute.  It’s like our body is toast and we are using a big ol’ butter knife to cover our bodies with middle age spread.  Why not add some big belly jam, or some thunder thighs preserves, or some bodacious booty marmalade? As we get older, it looks like we are laying the spread on pretty thick!

I have learned to hate the phrase middle age spread.  It means that, as we get older (btw, it is on my bucket list to not get older), we take on more weight.  I hate the phrase because it seems to imply that I can do nothing about it.  I am stuck with this fact of life, like death (another item on my bucket list is to live forever) and taxes.

But it seems that there is some science to the middle age spread.  The good folks up in Minnesota at the Mayo Clinic wrote an article targeting women and menopause.  In the pre-menopausal stage of our life is where we can have the most weight gain.  What?!?!?!  I have to get ready to go through menopause by GAINING WEIGHT?

Middle Age Spread? Oh No!!!!

The ideas behind some of this weight gain are not new.  We tend to exercise less as we get older.  Living the life of great food and excellent wine might cause you to think you’ll exercise tomorrow, and then weeks go by before you get back in the gym.

I personally like to run and I hate running on the treadmill.  Now I will be the first to admit, I like looking good in my workout clothes and showing off at the gym can be nice for the ego, but when I am running I want to see the scenery change as my feet hit the pavement.  I want a sense of accomplishment, of getting from point A to point B.  But living in Houston, Texas, where it is summer nine months out of the year, it is difficult to get motivated to run outside.  So it becomes easy to say I will do it tomorrow morning…and then put it off another day…and then put it off once more…

When we get older, we also start to lose muscle mass and, if we don’t exercise, we won’t keep the muscle, so our body replaces the muscle with fat.  What doesn’t help is that this can come about because we are content with where we are and who we are, so we stop working out.  Completely unfair!  We have worked hard to get where we are in life and can finally be happy with who we are, and then our body starts changing, so we stop looking like who we are.

And men, don’t think you are out of this conversation.  This is not just limited to women and our hormones.  Berkeley did a study of almost five thousand runners.  The article is called “Middle-Age Weight Gain: Men Unlikely To Outrun It” (http://www.lbl.gov/Science-Articles/Archive/spare-tire.html).  Even the link to the article has a little humor in it.  Did you notice the last portion of the URL is “spare tire”?

In the article it said that even the committed runner found it more and more difficult to stay thin.  The article says that “Aside from the sagging egos that are associated with bulging beltlines, there are also serious health consequences.” When the belly fat increases, there is evidence that this fat is linked to such things as high cholesterol, diabetes, and heart disease.

Sure, we have to take some responsibility.  We all know we have to step up – we have to exercise (even in this blasted Houston heat!). We have to watch what we eat.  Not stop eating all the good food, but how much.  And, as much as I hate to say it, limit all the tasty wine.  Learn to enjoy what we are eating and drinking, not focus on the fact that we are not eating and drinking so much of it.

But even with all this, which I have done, the articles admit that it is more and more difficult to keep our middle age bodies from getting the spreads.  Dr. David Carpenter knows all about this.  For years, he has seen many of us come in with the same issues.  We are working hard and just want a little help.  Laser liposuction is a procedure that is easy (local anesthetic) and so much better than regular liposuction.

Back in the early 80s, my cute little boy, Daryl Hall of Hall & Oates, sang

I can’t go for that, no, no can do

I agree.  I can’t go for that, no can do!  Let the friendly folks at Lipo and Laser help you in your fight against the middle age spread.  Laser liposuction is a perfect solution and Lipo and Laser are the best in Houston!

Until next time,

Dee