Hi, CT -

I'm 49 and peri-menopausal. In the last 5 years I've gone from an almost 300lb, somewhat outdoorsy but never really fit body to a low 200's, VERY fit and still changing body. What did it for me - forgetting about scale and calories. I don't weigh myself, even at the the doc's (they're totally cool with the plan and love the results.) I focus on fitness goals and healthy eating (I keep a food journal to help with self-discipline) and judge my improvements by my riding, heart rate #'s, body measurements, and annual blood test #s. After a life of yo-yo dieting starting in elementary school, this works for me. When I first started posting on TE, I rode 3 miles on my hybrid. Now I've signed up for the cross-USA 2010 Womantours ride. The godsends were a holistic physician who said, "focus on how you feel, not on how you look" and a trainer who counseled me that I will always be a curvy woman but that that placed no limit on my ability to become healthy and fit - and later, as my ambitions grew - an athlete.
One last thing - weightlifting has been an important part of my program, and the middle-age & senior women I see at the gym who look and move best are all weight training. I didn't think I would ever love weight training, but I find it a GREAT stress reliever.
One last-last thing - give your body lots of love and tell how well she is serving you. It seems that the more I do that, the more I change for the better! Hang in there! Lynda Gene