Hour Glass Body - Menopause Message Board

armadillo pie · 03-28-2005, 10:51 AM

It has been interesting watching my body change in the last year or so. I have always been on the very slim side , more boyish in shape. But now I developing what is called the hour glass shape. My breasts are larger and my hips are more curvaous. My waist is slim but not as slim as it was lat year, and my stomach seems to have this bulge ( which if I hold it in can go flat- but who wants to walk around sucking their stomach in all the times). My hips are rounder and my lthighs and legs are not so tone or thin as they were a year ago. Weight is not my issue, since on the scale I do not weight that much more , but it is like I have a whole new body. A lot of people say I look more womanly now, other say I am still trim, and some ask if I gained weight. I have some clevage, something I have never had and can now wear some sexy tops. I only wear low cuts pants since high cut are uncomfortable. But I notice some flesh on the sides. And all those little summer tops are a no no right now unless I do not mind bearing the belly that is not so cute anymore.
So part of me is embracing this and the other part is saying get up and start working out again. But it is interesting to see the changes perimenopause brings. It seems the more I get closer to menopause and the more my hormones rule, the more my body is changing.

kittenlover · 03-28-2005, 05:07 PM

Hormones are a pain, aren't they

I had always had a near perfect shape (god how I wish now I would have appreciated my youthful body more instead of complaining about it

) .
I always had more bust than I wished I had and my hips were smaller with a nice sized waist. It seems that my waist is thickening...as I have read that can happen in peri (I was just in denial that it would happen to me

--just like the wrinkles

).
I also know of what you speak when you say the "extra" stuff when you wear a shirt...I never imagined my BACK could SAG

!
Funny though...I used to exercise to get/keep a great shape, and now, no matter how much time I spend exercising, the best I hope for is good health from it. Still, better than nothing.

Kanai · 03-29-2005, 02:13 PM

OMG - I am just like you both. I was off/on The Pill for many years, and noticed the last time I got back on it my shape "rounded" a bit. Boobs bigger (yipee!

) but back bra sag. I see my mothers' shape in me now.

I don't know if I'm peri or not - only signs I have are I toss and turn a lot at night, and sometimes I wake up drenched.

Where can I go to find out more about symptoms? Any good websites?

Hopefully · 03-29-2005, 06:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by kittenlover

Hormones are a pain, aren't they

I had always had a near perfect shape (god how I wish now I would have appreciated my youthful body more instead of complaining about it

) .
I always had more bust than I wished I had and my hips were smaller with a nice sized waist. It seems that my waist is thickening...as I have read that can happen in peri (I was just in denial that it would happen to me

--just like the wrinkles

).
I also know of what you speak when you say the "extra" stuff when you wear a shirt...I never imagined my BACK could SAG

!
Funny though...I used to exercise to get/keep a great shape, and now, no matter how much time I spend exercising, the best I hope for is good health from it. Still, better than nothing.

I just had to laugh when I read about your sagging back because I quickly visualized "my own" sagging back reflection in my bathroom mirror. The first time I noted all those "rolls" on my back I was shocked...I lie not when I say they seem to have appeared overnight. Sigh...but I refuse to allow these hormones, or lack of them to dictate my life, figure, or health. I'm still fighting and kicking...when I can get off the sofa

. Some days are easier than others. I see other women, in the real world not the t.v. celebraties and their plastic surgeons, who are post menopausal and have wonderful shapes. One day I will also be those numbers.

kittenlover · 03-30-2005, 11:59 AM

I hear you!! I am exercising, eating right, blah, blah in hopes of keeping things at bay. I hope my post did not come off as we should not try to maintain our bodies. I simply meant, for me anyway, that I have come to accept that some change is inevitable and I should not get upset or depressed with myself for it.
I may never have my 24" waist again, but 26" isn't bad either

and just because I can't get it to 24 does not mean I should let it go to 50, LOL !
I guess I just meant that I'm trying to have more perspective rather than be as goal oriented as I once was