A stone is a lot of weight to lose…

We’re supposed not to gain more than a stone over our first adult weight… So, at two stone higher than the weight I was up to the age of 35, I now have a stone to lose…

Having gained two stone in the last talkamongstyourselves years is not that surprising when you look at what Dr Jane Johnston has to say on the subject. On Menopause Matters, she points out that past the age of 40 we typically gain a pound a year if we don’t change our current eating and exercise pattern. Then, once we hit menopause, things get even more depressing – with the body trying to store fat the way it stored puppy fat at puberty.

She gives the very demoralising example that, should we eat 1000 calories prior to menopause, we will burn 700 of them and store 300… But past menopause the process reverses, and we store 700 and burn only 300!

I’m hoping this is just an example and that we are not expected to gain weight on a 1000 calories a day regime, or we’re all b***ered. The question is – how do we lose it?

I am persevering with the 2-Day Diet – but have to confess to already overdoing the cheese, forgetting to trim fat off meat, and failing to weigh anything except myself.