All my friends, except for 1 over the past 25-30 years, who are around the same age as I, either are healthy slim or if they've gained weight it's been under 5-10 lbs. with effort to do something about it over the years.

It's not that I choose friends like that..just life works out that way sometimes. Each woman has found something to help herself: walking, organized yoga/pilates classes, weights, cycling, volleyball and x-country skiing. More proof that it does require some mindful habits and healthy diet.

Note: I actually haven't engaged much in any of these physical activities with each friend...except maybe for walking which we end up talking/catching up on news. So I haven't selected friends initially based on a type of exercise....there's other things that hold our friendship together. We actually don't have time when we see each other, to undertake some sort of physical exercise together.