Dealing with the challenges of menopause? Help is on the way with The Menopause Makeover! This is more than just a book; it is a step-by-step planner designed to guide you through all things menopausal. Written by Staness Jonekos and Dr. Wendy Klein, The Menopause Makeover contains solid medical information and tools that identify where you can make changes in your life for the better. Step Three gives you the ultimate workout tips to get you in your best possible shape.

The Menopause Makeover Step Three Exercise it off!
In Step Two you learned about making the right food choices to keep unwanted weight off and stay healthy. Exercise is the key to turning 'flabulous' into fabulous! Cutting your calorie intake is a good start, but exercise is what tones you up and maintains your body’s health.

This is likely to be the point where you might want to give up on The Menopause Makeover, only now there is no turning back. Exercise requires commitment and every one of us can easily come up with reasons to shrug off exercise. Menopause leave many of us drained and we believe that we are too exhausted to exercise because we lack energy. Ironically, exercise is what gives you energy.

How will Step Three get me off the couch?
Because every woman can identify with the challenges of finding time to exercise, Jonekos has provided the facts you need to get motivated. Getting physically fit helps alleviate many menopause symptoms, promotes bone health to fight off osteoporosis and builds muscle tone. As you age, your muscle tone decreases. By increasing your muscle tone you not only firm up but end up burning more calories. A pound of muscle burns more calories, even when you are resting, than a pound of fat does.

You will be introduced to the benefits of exercise why it is so important to work out on a regular basis. Working out does not mean having to join a gym or having to invest in expensive classes or equipment. There are many types of exercises you can choose from. The more you enjoy your workout, the more you will stick with it until exercise becomes a natural part of your day.

Step Three asks that you check with your doctor before taking up any type of activity especially if you have been inactive for some time. In this section of The Menopause Makeover you learn how to find your target heart rate so you can determine how hard your workout should be. As you become more fit, your target heart rate will increase.

Also in Step Three, helpful charts list the many types of activities considered exercise and how many calories are burned for each. Even more useful are the tools designed to overcome the obstacles (some of which we create) that threaten to derail our efforts.

*Learn how to schedule exercise just like your other important daily tasks
*Read about how exercise promotes bone density and increases metabolism
*Find out what type of workout personality you have: are you a loner or do you prefer social activities?
*No more excuses! Discover ways to overcome lack of time, money, energy, and motivation
*You workout can be fun!

Challenges of Step Three Exercise it off!
No matter how much we hear about exercise being good for us, it is sometimes really difficult to push ourselves to get moving. The Menopause Makeover includes charts where you can write down your fitness goals and schedule your workouts to keep you on track. One of the worst feelings is that by missing a day you have wasted your efforts but this is not true. Sticking with exercise will require effort and some patience when waiting to see and feel the results. In the short term, working out can be frustrating but within a few weeks, if you are committed, you will reap the rewards.

Finding time to exercise is one of the biggest challenges (excuses!) for busy women during menopause or any other time for that matter. The Menopause Makeover shows how just a few minutes a day, about the length of a typical sitcom, can make a huge difference.

Another challenge is if you have been active but feel as though no matter what you do your body fails to respond. In The Menopause Makeover, you find ways to increase your intensity levels to get your workout working again.

During menopause the last thing you want to do is exercise. It is not easy to push ourselves to get active when we feel at our worst. The Menopause Makeover’s Step Three Exercise it off is one of the most challenging sections of the book but is also the most rewarding and the greatest gift you can give yourself.

Editor’s note: Even after years of being very active, it felt as though all that effort had been wasted. Working out left me drained and those nasty pounds seemed to come out of nowhere. Feeling discouraged it was easy to fall off the wagon and simply give up by saying what’s the use? The Menopause Makeover helped by providing tips for setting goals and helpful information to remember why exercise is important. Getting back out there is not always easy but the reluctance is soon replaced with feelings of satisfaction and accomplishment.

**Harlequin Enterprises Ltd. provided this review copy of The Menopause Makeover to me completely free of charge.**
The Menopause Makeover, Staness Jonekos with Wendy Klein, M.D., Harlequin Enterprises Ltd., New York, 2010, 302 pp.

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