Youngsters playing are enjoying themselves tremendously. Their fun increases when they move their bodies even more. As we become older the fun seems to be associated less and less with exercise. Going into a gym or doing any kind of exercise is hard for many women over 40- so it's getting harder and harder to lose weight permanently.

There are many reasons for this. First of all, women over 40 lead busy lives and going to the gym takes out additional time from their daily schedule. Second, many do not want to be seen at a gym- they feel self-conscious because they carry around some extra pounds and feel like looking out of place around slim and trained people.

But this doesn't have to be that way. If you're exercising regularly, you'll feel better. If you exercise regularly, you'll be more efficient, feel more productive and your mood will be much more stable.

This emotional side to exercise is commonly underrated. Even for patients with depressions exercise helps to brighten the mood- so it will certainly help you as well.

New research released in the Archives of Internal Medicine looked into the results of exercise on the quality of life of menopausal women. All women were overweight or obese and had a desk-bound lifestyle. They received 3 different exercise programs, with different level of intensity. As always in these studies, a control group had no exercise at all.

The results are essential. Some women did not lose any weight; despite of being on an exercise program- they obviously increased their calorie consumption. But nevertheless, their quality of life improved. The more exercise, the better the well-being- the higher the intensity of the exercise, the higher the quality of life.

And: Even the exercise program with the lowest intensity had a beneficial impression on the sense of well-being.

When you're starting out with an exercise program, it's actually better to start slowly and increase the intensity while you are getting stronger. It doesn't make sense to be an overachiever in these things- better aim for an exercise program you can really do.

Once you are getting the health benefits from regular exercise, you'll automatically want to increase the length and the intensity of your exercise program.

As you know, if you want to lose weight permanently over 40 you have to include exercise in your day-to-day life. But you shouldn't do it only because you want to lose weight. You will feel better and enjoy your life even more- particularly if you are over 40.

Over 40 the muscles mass reduces automatically, what means you need to counterbalance this effect by exercising. Regular strength training will help you to keep your muscle mass at the right level. Don't fear you'll bulk up- you're only aiming at keeping what is there (and maybe replacing what you've lost since your twenties).

Include some gentle stretching, and you're on your way to a perfect, balanced body. You'll not only feel more youthful, your appearance will be much more energetic, making you attractive over 40.