I am a doctoral level medical professional, and I have to warn women - if you are serious about losing the extra weight at midlife, do not do what this book says. It's okay if you need some help with your self-acceptance at this moment, and it's good for understanding what has happened at midlife, and how your body changes. However, if you want something to motivate you and teach you a successful strategy to decrease the weight and keep it off, this is NOT the book ! Very disappointing on that measure. You don't learn to outsmart or win this way.

The author explains how and why women going through perimenopause gain weight, specifically why we change from pear-shaped to apple-shaped, and most importantly - what to do about it!

I found this book to be very informative. It helped me understand what happens to the female body as we age from preteen to elderly and how to deal with it. I recommend reading this book! However, I think the whole book would be better as a magazine article because chapter after chapter was repeative. Read the book, but save your money and check it out at the library.

It gave me more understanding of what is going on with my fat cells.
I highly recommend it for women 35 years old (as I am right now) or even younder. It would be too late to read this book when I am 50-55.

I have read several on menopause and this book is the last. It really relaxes me on all the stresses that menopause can bring. I feel happy again knowing it is what is supposed to happen and I can make it better and easier by accepting my body and still contolling my weight. Now I can eat what ever I want( in moderation of course) and still feel and look good. No, I will never look 20 again but with this book's advice, I feel great about that. I plan on reading all the others Debra has written.

I have read several on menopause and this book is the last. It really relaxes me on all the stresses that menopause can bring. I feel happy again knowing it is what is supposed to happen and I can make it better and easier by accepting my body and still contolling my weight. Now I can eat what ever I want( in moderation of course) and still feel and look good. No, I will never look 20 again but with this book's advice, I feel great about that. I plan on reading all the others Debra has written.

That is the bottom line for this author. She spends way too much time telling us to "embrace" our new, thick waistlines, and too little time on any real information or help. Don't bother exercising. just give up and eat smaller amounts of whatever it is that made you fat in the first place, get 9 hours of sleep every night (good luck with that!) and eliminate all stress from your life. That's all you have to do, and then you'll only gain 10 pounds during menopause instead of 20 or 30. Save your money.

After reading the entire book in one afternoon, I promptly completed a 30-minute session on my elliptical trainer, then WALKED to the grocery store and stocked up on fresh fruit, veggies, skim milk, whole grain bread and cereal. I am thrilled to finally know the physiological reasons that I will be doomed to failure if I attempt to starve myself back into my 20-year-old shape - believe me, I HAVE done this! Armed with this newly-acquired knowledge, I'm excited to get into the best shape of my life, enjoy my food and not only accept my new curves, but EMBRACE them. Thank you, Debra, from the bottom of my newly-healthy heart!

In my own subconsciously arrogant way I used to believe that as long as I didn't overeat and exercised I would never gain excess weight. Well, this last year has been a very humbling experience. I am about to turn 40. ALMOST OVERNIGHT it seemed like everything was fitting more snugly than it used to, especially around my midsection (this was the one body part that never used to give me grief). I figured, cut back on my food a bit, and bump up the exercise. Still nothing... if anything I seemed to be getting bigger! I finally got on the dreaded scale and I had gained 10-15 lbs. in the last year. I'm now wearing 10s and 12s. Yikes!

So I see this book in the bookstore and know that I have to buy it. This has been one of the best purchases I have made this year. It thoroughly explains WHY I am gaining this weight and why it is going to my midsecion rather than its former favorite areas, my rear end and thighs.

It explains why dieting is the worst possible thing I could be doing. Why lunch should be my largest meal, and why 5-6 smaller meals make more sense than two or three, with starving sessions in-between.

It explains why exercise is the most beneficial thing I can do right now, and how combining daily exercise (an hour of aerobic activity a day) with small meals is the most efficient way to fight our midlife fat cells. We should also do strength training 3X/week to keep our metabolism raised.

But like anything else, we can't go overboard on exercising any more than we can go overboard on the dieting. During this time in our lives, our body is programmed to go into survival mode any time we deprive our body of food or we exercise too much. According to Debra, the more we have dieted in the past, the harder time we are going to have with weight gain during perimenopause/menopause. Apparently, women are going through the changes at a much earlier age than our older parents/grandparents because of this excess dieting. Their generation didn't diet as compulsively as ours does.

The book mentions the paradox of pregnancy during perimenopause. Because more women are delaying their pregnancies until their 30s and beyond, many are dealing with weight gain from this, along with perimenopause, therefore dealing with doubly resistant fat cells.

What I have the hardest time digesting, but I have to accept in order to keep my sanity during these next 10-15 years, is that my body is SUPPOSED to have this extra padding of fat in my midsection during perimenopause/menopause in order to protect my organs and promote longevity. Not an EXCESS of baggage in the middle, but more than we had when we were younger. Where we used to gain it more in the rear/thighs during our teens/20s for healthier childbearing, now this weight is going to our middle for a healthier menopause; thus, a longer life. No, I don't like it, but knowing that our body will be able to drop weight again more easily AFTER menopause provides a small comfort.

I thought I was doing something wrong or something was wrong with me... but now I understand!

STILL...What about these women in their 40s and 50s who are still thin as rails? How have they managed to avoid the bigger midsection? (these women are definitely in the minority) Have they all had a tummy tuck? Or are they better at hiding it? As helpful as this book is, I still have to wonder if there is still a secret that hasn't been discovered by most of us?

In my own subconsciously arrogant way I used to believe that as long as I didn't overeat and exercised I would never gain excess weight. Well, this last year has been a very humbling experience. I am about to turn 40. ALMOST OVERNIGHT it seemed like everything was fitting more snugly than it used to, especially around my midsection (this was the one body part that never used to give me grief). I figured, cut back on my food a bit, and bump up the exercise. Still nothing... if anything I seemed to be getting bigger! I finally got on the dreaded scale and I had gained 10-15 lbs. in the last year. I'm now wearing 10s and 12s. Yikes!

So I see this book in the bookstore and know that I have to buy it. This has been one of the best purchases I have made this year. It thoroughly explains WHY I am gaining this weight and why it is going to my midsecion rather than its former favorite areas, my rear end and thighs.

It explains why dieting is the worst possible thing I could be doing. Why lunch should be my largest meal, and why 5-6 smaller meals make more sense than two or three, with starving sessions in-between.

It explains why exercise is the most beneficial thing I can do right now, and how combining daily exercise (an hour of aerobic activity a day) with small meals is the most efficient way to fight our midlife fat cells. We should also do strength training 3X/week to keep our metabolism raised.

But like anything else, we can't go overboard on exercising any more than we can go overboard on the dieting. During this time in our lives, our body is programmed to go into survival mode any time we deprive our body of food or we exercise too much. According to Debra, the more we have dieted in the past, the harder time we are going to have with weight gain during perimenopause/menopause. Apparently, women are going through the changes at a much earlier age than our older parents/grandparents because of this excess dieting. Their generation didn't diet as compulsively as ours does.

The book mentions the paradox of pregnancy during perimenopause. Because more women are delaying their pregnancies until their 30s and beyond, many are dealing with weight gain from this, along with perimenopause, therefore dealing with doubly resistant fat cells.

What I have the hardest time digesting, but I have to accept in order to keep my sanity during these next 10-15 years, is that my body is SUPPOSED to have this extra padding of fat in my midsection during perimenopause/menopause in order to protect my organs and promote longevity. Not an EXCESS of baggage in the middle, but more than we had when we were younger. Where we used to gain it more in the rear/thighs during our teens/20s for healthier childbearing, now this weight is going to our middle for a healthier menopause; thus, a longer life. No, I don't like it, but knowing that our body will be able to drop weight again more easily AFTER menopause provides a small comfort.

I thought I was doing something wrong or something was wrong with me... but now I understand!

STILL...What about these women in their 40s and 50s who are still thin as rails? How have they managed to avoid the bigger midsection? (these women are definitely in the minority) Have they all had a tummy tuck? Or are they better at hiding it? As helpful as this book is, I still have to wonder if there is still a secret that hasn't been discovered by most of us?

I enjoyed this author's other "Outsmarting" book better, the one NOT about menopause. This book comes across as whiney at times with a "woe-is-me" approach to midlife, despite her efforts to appear positive. She condones eating things like French fries, potato chips, full-fat products, daily chocolate and has a minimum-necessary approach to fitness. She clearly isn't a fitness fanatic. She even mentions that larger women can have a commanding presence and lists Aretha Franklin as an example! Hello, that woman epitomizes over-indulgence. Also, if you are very active, you will have to get more food into you than she says. I tried to only eat the smallest meals only when I was hungry, and probably because I am fit and exercise regularly, I needed quite a few more calories than she suggested. I suggest women look to a life full of activity as an antidote to depression and aging, and I would not suggest, as the author does, that the fat we need in our diet come from junk foods like potato chips. There are so many more ways to get fat into your diet that don't involve saturated fats. Avoiding bad foods does not qualify as a "diet." It's good sense.

I have always been thin, at times skinny, and without exercising at all. Whenever I put on some weight, just a mere couple of weeks away from carbohydrates always did the trick.
Until 6 months ago I was proud of my abs and I used to wear short T-shirts and low rise pants.
Then I turned 40. All of a sudden, at least it appeared so, I raised from size 0 to 6, not to mention what happen to my waistline!
I took every possible blood test in search of some odd disease. Everything was fine.
So I started dieting, but I was gaining weight instead of losing it. It simply didn't work as it used to. That's when I decided to read every published book on weight management after 40.
This book is by far the most interesting I have read so far. It just makes sense.
Being 40 plus s* really, but Debra Waterhouse was able to make me laugh and gave me the direction to work on. I recommended the book to all my friends.

Here is a synopsis of the book so you may spend your money elsewhere:
1) Don't diet
2) Get used to your "new" menopausal figure--ie. learn to love it.
3) Exercise 4 times a week for at least an hour so you feel better--but don't expect miracles in the weight-loss department.
Well. duh! I really felt the book rambled on about the obvious and in the end, I just ended up feeling depressed. What the book did manage to do was to thoroughly explain the biological process of why your body is changing. That, I already knew!

I'm still working my way through this book, but so far it's given me a great deal of reassurance that I'm not alone in suddenly developing a "spare tire" at the age of 40, and it has also done much to help me understand that the same old exercise and eating routine I've followed for ages isn't cutting it anymore.

The few problems I have with the book include the author's irritating tendency to periodically stress that women "need" chocolate. It's almost as if she's projecting her own cravings onto all women - going so far as to write a book on this very topic; thus further perpetuating this ancient stereotype (the book sounds too absurd to even look into).

As she's taken pains to publish a work explaining women's biological midlife changes, drawing on (and greatly simplifying) scientific research to support her claims, this baseless, repetitive nonsense about chocolate has no place here. It's as scientific as stating "all women love shoes". I've found in my own experience that giving up all types of processed, packaged baked goods and sweets years ago has resulting in losing my taste for it. And, like many women, chocolate causes me to suffer from terrible migraines and flareups of rosacea. I neither love it or need it and haven't thought about in two decades. She would have done better to simply say that we tend to crave sugar more at this time, which is probably closer to the truth.

Moving on..I also noticed while flipping through the book another glaring factual error - one concerning vegetarian protein sources. The author states that it is necessary "to combine your beans and rice" to get a complete protein source. For years before this book was printed (1998) modern science acknowledged that this isn't true. As long as we get all of the amino acids we need in a day, food combining is totally unecessary. It's unfortunate that she didn't double check her facts before printing this misinformation. Frances Lappe Moore made this assumption initially in 1970, and her subsequent book some years later corrected the error.

Finally, since the book is directed at 35-55 year olds, and many of the women who buy it may fall into the lower end of that age range, the continual reference to being "menopausal" (I didn't enjoy thinking of myself that way, mainly because I'm nowhere near menopause) can be quite grating. Even though she does explain the difference between perimenopausal and menopausal phases of life, the "perimenopausal" references tend to drop by the wayside as the book progresses.

All things considered, I would still recommend it for anyone struggling with an otherwise inexplicable weight gain and other signs of midlife change.

Finally a book I can relate to!!! I finished reading yesterday and already finding myself re-reading it!!! I put my scale away and continue to exercise but now do not worry about wrong food vs. right foods. I eat 5-6 small meals a day and after one week I can actually feel and see a change!!! What a relief to know that fad diets, stressing about what to eat and what not to eat and crying over the numbers on a scale no longer have to be a part of my life!!!! Thank you Debra Waterhouse!!!

This is a truly enlightening explanation of what occurs in these bodies of ours and, more importantly, what to do about it! I'm going to buy a copy of this for all of my friends who are in the same situation I've been in - watching my waistline getting bigger when the rest of me isn't, and grasping at all the possible "diets" except the CORRECT one!

There was some interesting information in the book, but there was also a LOT of repetition used to drive home a point. While it did explain menopause weight gain, it didn't offer me any new solutions to loosing weight like the title suggests. It could have been condensed into a brochure!!

When I came across this book I was in the middle of another "Lose 15 lbs. in 2 weeks!" type diet. I was tired of starving, feeling guilty, and ready to give up. While reading this book it was like a light bulb came on. What she writes makes perfect sense. Eat when you're hungry; eat smaller more frequent meals; stop when you're filled, but not full; exercise moderately. These were foreign concepts to someone who has lived either on or off a diet for half of her life. So, I immediately stopped starving myself, and began listening to my hunger signals. It has been a life-changing experience for me. Now I'll never live in semi-starvation or binge-mode again! Goodbye counting calories, carbs, fat grams, eating on schedules, etc. Hello life! Bottom line: If you're addicted to dieting, are a yo-yo dieter, and can't seem to lose the weight or keep it off, give this book a try. It's working for me!

After having read only half way through the book so far, I felt that I needed to write a review because what Debra Waterhouse says makes so much sense! She has answered the question to my problems. I have experienced the hysterectomy, the dieting, the weight gain, stress, hair thinning, hot flashes, etc. I have seen doctors who can't seem to tell me tell me much. One doctor even insinuated that it was all in my head! I couldn't figure out why I gained so much weight when I hardly eat. The way I run around at work with the combination of the high stress, you would think that I would be as thin as a stick. It didn't make sense until now. I am so thankful for Debra's book, because I was really feeling like my body was falling apart. Every woman should read this book. I highly recommend it!

A decent book, with some interesting information about fat cells, but in general, nothing new. She, like most other experts these days reccommends five small meals, water, and lots of exercise. A friend had raved about it, but I wasn't all that impressed.