Exercise
Plenty of women gave up organised exercise with sighs
of relief when they left school. Others who did enjoy it found that starting
a family meant that they had no time to keep up their chosen activity.
Private transport tends to reduce the amount we walk
or carry shopping. All of this means that most of us do not take enough
regular exercise to keep us healthy. See, for a summary, Active for Life,
published by the Health Development Agency.
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Yet exercise, if you can find something
that suits you, does have a lot of advantages for menopausal women: |
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- It is a good stress-buster; most people feel
more relaxed after some kind of rhythmic, modestly energetic activity,
and there is good evidence to show it benefits people who are depressed.
(Biddle, et al, Glenister,
Riddoch et al)
- It is
good for preventing osteoporosis, a risk which increases for women
after menopause; see the National
Osteoporosis Society website. For an exercise programme aimed at
osteoporosis prevention, see the website StrongWomen.
This is also available in book form (Nelson
and Wernick).
- Exercise should at least tone you up and will probably help
keep weight gain under control, both of which are good for the self-image!
Find something you enjoy and go for it. Try going for a walk while
you think about it. You can also experiment with using lifts less
and getting
off buses a stop earlier.Consider teaming up with a friend so you
can support one another in finding the time and keeping going; or
treat
your exercise time as time on your own, when you can think your
own thoughts
as well as look after your body. Try the BBC
women’s health website for inspiration. |
