Camille, methinks that worse fates could befall a man than to become your personal trainer. However, we will have to discuss the fringe benefits package in private. I prefer to "inspire" a lady to perform her best, if you know what I mean. I consider myself to be too much of a gentleman to ever "beat" or "whip" a lady in any form or fashion. As for dumbbells, they definitely can be a humbling experience. They force you to separately balance two dumbbells with arms that are of unequal strength and motor coordination. Like everything else in exercise, however, patience and consistency will be rewarded eventually.
That age-related decline in metabolism is sneaky and subtle. London, if I remember correctly, you said that the photo of your posterior is one actually taken of you, as opposed to one representative of you. If that is the case, I must say that I think you are being too hard on yourself.
Your derriere looks positively magnificent from my perspective and, as a recreational bodybuilder, I consider myself to possess a connoisseur's eye when it comes to critiquing the female physique.
London, are you following the original Atkins diet or a more modified version, such as the South Beach diet? In my opinion, Atkins got a big part of the weight loss equation correct in his emphasis on controlling blood sugar and, hence, insulin levels. However, I would argue that, for women, who have less muscle mass and thus a lower resting metabolic rate to begin with, not to mention a less favorable hormonal profile for building muscle, the process is much more complicated.
Keep training hard with the weights; it will give you a longer and higher post-training metabolic boost than aerobic exercise. I don't know how frequently you currently eat, but 5-6, even 7, strategically timed but small meals per day is a sounder nutritional strategy for optimizing body composition. You never become overly famished nor do you feel truly stuffed. It is easier to regulate your blood sugar this way and the human body is more efficient in processing a small caloric load and, therefore, less likely to store that energy as fat.
Given your lower caloric requirements, it is particularly important for women to adopt nutrient density as their mantra; a high-quality whey protein supplement or a meal replacement powder specifically forumlated to women's nutritional needs (yes, they do exist) is worth incorporating for this reason, not to mention they are convenient to use. Continue to emphasize lean protein as you are already are. You may not know this, but proten has a much higher thermic load than carbs or fats. In other words, the human body literally will burn far more calories digesting and assimilating protein than any other macronutrient. Low-glycemic index carbs which are high in fiber should also be emphasized in conjunction with beneficial fats, such as the omega-3s found in cold water fish and flaxseed, as well as almonds, avocados and olive oil. Fish oil supplements can be a particularly effective means of getting these critically important nutrients into your system with a minimal caloric investment.
One final point with respect to dumbbells that would be particularly convenient for you ladies who tour via automobile: take a look at
http://www.powerblock.com/ . These selectorized, plate-loaded dumbbells are expensive but they are of extremely high quality and have all the adjustability of a plate-loaded machine, such as Nautilus. Furthermore, the number of exercises you can perform with them is virtually unlimited.
Camille, you may have hit on something. Being a personal trainer, even via e-mail, to ladies such as yourself could become a nice little ancillary revenue stream.
And, of course, a gentleman simply couldn't find more pleasurable company.
It's been a while since we had a girls totty thread. One may be due...
Viggo is top of my list still. YUM!! On that note, I'm off to watch "Eastern Promises." Again. And maybe again after that.
