Food
Many women – perhaps even most women – have
a complicated relationship with food. It can represent love and nurturing,
but also self-indulgence (‘naughty but nice’). So we may eat
when we are not hungry, eat foods which we want with our heads but not
with our bodies, or deprive ourselves as a form of self-discipline. Food
can also be about weight, and weight gain – an instant guilt trip
for many women. Some women live in areas, and on incomes, where it is
difficult to buy food that is good for them. There can be a big gap between
all of this and advice on healthy eating.
Weight and health
We are used to being bombarded with images of ‘the
ideal woman’ from advertisements, television and the newspapers.
We may recognise that these images are not ‘real’ –
the models are chosen because they are unusually thin, and the pictures
are a skilled creation, not a snapshot from normal life. However, the
proliferation of these images can make it difficult to be sensible about
weight. Health professionals calculate the Body Mass Index (BMI) which
summarises the relationship between an individual’s weight and height,
and use this to see whether they are at greater than average risk of various
diseases. You can work out your own BMI using the formula and tables in
Do you really have a weight problem?.
 Once you know your current BMI, you have to decide whether
or not you want to change it. UK Department
of Health advice, developed in relation to the risks of coronary heart
disease and stroke, is to aim for a BMI between 20 and 25. However, coronary
heart disease is not the only risk for menopausal women. Osteoporosis
(brittle bone disease) is also a potential problem. Reviews of the research
on osteoporosis (Wynn and Wynn, Cauley
and Lucas) indicate that the risks increase as BMI drops below 25.
This is reflected in US government advice for BMI to increase with age,
and for men and women over 65 to aim for a BMI between 24 and 29. Women
with BMIs around 25 tend to look cuddly rather than pencil slim!
Women who start to exercise regularly may find they look
trimmer and fitter, but their weight (and BMI) stays much the same. This
is because they lose flab and develop muscle, which weighs more than the
same volume of fat.
Eating for health
Look for healthy eating for life – something you can stick to
- Smaller helpings are a good idea
- Cut down on fat and sweet things, which put on weight rather than
filling you up. By contrast, starches like bread, potatoes, pasta and
rice are OK
- Current recommendations for good health are five portions of fruit
or vegetables a day; see the information sheet on portions produced by the British Dietetic Association.
- Try snacking on fruit rather than crisps or sweets.
- Allow yourself occasional treats rather than swearing to give up
chocolate for life.
If you’re think you’re too heavy, don’t
crash diet – your body will adapt to starvation and use food more
efficiently, so you won’t lose weight for long. Crash diets are
also hard to maintain, and thus guilt promoting when you give in.
See the BBC women’s health website for more information:
You can also try web-sites linked to commercial organisations:
- Weightwatchers and Slimming
World, which run classes.
- Weight Loss Resources,
which provides online support for a fee, but with a free trial period
so you can see whether or not it would
suit you.
Eating for the menopause
Some women find that they can manage menopausal symptoms
through changing what they eat. To explore this with a professional, you
could consult:
- a nutritionist; see the Women’s
Nutritional Advisory Service
- a herbalist; see the National Institute of Medical Herbalists
One candidate for inclusion in the menopausal diet is soya, which,
it is suggested, eases menopausal symptoms; for a general review, see
the Channel4
website.
Commercial firms have experimented with adding soya to bread and cake.
The cake recipe developed by Linda
Kearns is available in her book, or you can buy her cakes from Wellfoods
Ltd.
Weight and looks
If you’ve decided your weight is good for your
health, but you still wish you looked different, there are two ways to
tackle this.
· You can exercise to tone up – this
is likely to improve your posture as well as your muscle tone, and will
probably make you feel better in general.
· You can rethink the way you dress, to emphasise your good
points. For example, many  women
find their waists thicken around menopause; dieting will not correct
this and exercise will make only a limited
difference. An alternative approach is to choose clothes in colours
that really suit you at this stage in your life, but do not have a
sharp
contrast or a tight band at the waist. Some women use colour and image
consultancy to help them rethink the way they dress. National networks
include the Federation
of Image Consultants
and the company Color Me Beautiful.
Exercise
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