Makes no sense: uneven eating, magic bike???

[shootingstar]

Shooting star - My mother has magic asian genes. She's had 5 kids and maybe weighs 100 lbs. You may also just have magic asian genes.

You can take her to a buffet and she'll happily polish off 5 huge plates of food - but she doesn't ever gain weight.

She walks a couple miles a day. She owns a shop where her customers are mostly old ladies who bring in cake or donuts whenever they come in, so she snacks on that with them.

She is a busy person who doesn't sit still - but she does eat her dinner in bed every night watching tv.

Much to my regret, I didn't inherit those magic asian genes.

I have a great-aunt at age 80 who is something like your mother. She had 7 children. But she might be eating more carefully now and doing stuff with friends makes her just abit more active at her age.

Unlike yours, mother had 6 kids but she gained over 30 lbs. and it has stuck around. She has had high blood pressure for past 2 decades which she does take medication. I noticed after child #4, weight did not slide off that easily and probably due to alot of stress and not setting aside time for herself. Each woman is different.

For many older women, and it's been discussed in a different TE topic thread a few months ago, that to "look" weight-healthy now requires me to engage in 4x amount of vigorous exercise (compared to my 20's when I didn't even cycle at all. I just walked because I didn't drive. That was the only exercise at that time.) and severely curtail white rice and white bread consumption. My metabolism has slowed down. I do gain weight after nearly every winter...usually 5-6 lbs. which is not much but still requires annual spring, etc. work. Like raking piles of sludgy old autumn leaves in spring, that one forgot earlier.

Catriona, I bet your mother has a sort of excitable, nervous energy about her...but then I don't know her. That also can burn abit more energy in general. Has she given up riding a bike?..you mentioned this several months ago.