Ease Symptoms of Aging  Learn how you can prevent weight gain,
hot flashes and more   woman pinching overweight stomach Back
Next Stockbyte/Getty Images  Get a spare tire around my middle?
It can be pretty hard not to gain weight starting in your 40s,
and you can blame the drop in estrogen (again!) and the slowdown
in your metabolism that happens as you head toward menopause.
Even worse, the extra fat tends to land in your tummy. But it's
definitely not inevitable, says Paul Williams, PhD, staff
scientist at University of California's Lawrence Berkeley
National Laboratory.  PREVENT IT: Daily exercise will go a long
way toward nipping those extra pounds in the bud, says Dr.
Williams. "In our research, women whose moms are overweight or
obese are 36% less likely to wind up with their mom's current
Body Mass Index [BMI, a measure of body fat based on height and
weight] if they walk 3K [a little less than 2 miles] per day."
Add two to three 20-minute sessions of strength training, doing
exercises like push-ups i