Menopause horrors

sweep111

Anyone finding it harder to lose weight the older you get especially going through the menopause??
I used to be able to shift a stone in a few weeks...not anymore...
I'd be interested in everyone's stories

saggyandbaggy

It does get harder at this age - but it still works if you persevere! I have lost 105 lbs since July 2014 and it has been a bit sporadic depending on what my hormones were doing.... but the loss happened. I think it is a matter of not letting the menopause win!

miabunker

I seem to be going through the crazy struggle with trying to loose weight during menopause. I walk/run 2 1/2 miles each morning and eat right but just can't seem to shake the few extra pounds. I am going to start to track my calories and keep around 1200 to see if that will make a difference.

saggyandbaggy

Oh yes, you need to track every morsel that goes i your mouth! I have been on 1200 calories for months now.

PeachyCarol

For me it's a lot mentally easier than it ever was, and for me? That's the most important part.

I had a lot to lose and am still at the point where it's coming off at a fairly good clip. I'm meticulous about tracking, and exercise when I can.

I'm not near as frustrated or as impatient with the process as I used to be when I was younger.

vivmom2014

Like saggy said, don't let menopause win! I think that blaming menopause amounts to just more excuses (and I think the culture "feeds" that to women...the litany of how horribly menopause/aging sucks...which it does in a youth-glorifying culture...but that's another story.)

The weight does come off, and it's not a race. Looking at my beautiful 23 year old daughter, I know I will never have that flat stomach again, but that's life. I'm happy to be able to exercise without too much pain (oy!) and eat chocolate every day, while sticking to a deficit most of the time. Slow and steady, it suits me.

Liftng4Lis

Sigh...getting old sucks! For me it's way harder than even 10 years ago.

Sabine_Stroehm

Oh yeah. Definitely. Mid menopausal here.
Just trying to maintain!

Join us in the (peri-)menopause group.
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/506-near-or-post-menopausal-group

PeachyCarol

You know what I hate most about menopause? For some reason known only to my weird body, my skin is more prone to getting pimples now than it was when I was a teenager.

WHY????????????

ShapingTheLaw

The difference, for me, is that I have to track everything I eat and track my fat vs. Carbs and protein intake. When I was younger, even in my 30s, I could cheat on one day then work it off in the gym the next day. Now I can't do a cheat day or I will gain weight. Instead, I allow myself one cheat meal once a week (Friday night dinner) instead of a cheat day. I also do more cardio versus heavy lifting to keep the flab away. When I was younger, I was able to get by with only weight lifting to stay fit.

ythannah

My horror was not weight gain -- because I stayed the same weight -- it was seeing that once-firm areas had turned mushy and several bits had started shifting southward. Obviously, within a couple of years, I had lost significant muscle... with no change in diet or activity, merely hormones.

That scared me. I no longer take my muscle mass for granted and now I lift weights. I don't have to accept the physical changes as inevitable, I can fight them. "Change the things you can..." and all that.

ahoy_m8

I'm reading with interest but not there yet. I have maintained but at age 50 have to track every morsel to do so, and that wasn't always the case. To be candid, my activity is tons lower (no work travel) so I can't blame it on age per se.

LAWoman72

By going through, do you mean you're still getting a period but are irregular and have meno symptoms? If so, that's me. I'm not finding it harder to lose weight, though, as long as I continue to eat at a deficit. I will be 48 in August, for reference. I was DXd peri-meno five years ago due to failing ovaries as evidenced by LH and FSH readings (oh come on FAIL already, I am so over having a period) but only became irregular this past year. From that point onward it has been a rollercoaster ride - 16-day cycles, 52-day cycles, bloating bloating bloating. But the fat IS coming off. Stick with it! You can do this!

softblondechick

I seem to be starving all the time. And yes, I eat plenty of food! What is working well for me now, is a huge smoothie in the morning, chock full of spinach, water, ice, chia seeds, hemp hearts, oat bran fiber, protein powder, and an orange. That thing keeps me full.

tajteri

What do you suggest for daily percentage of carbs vs protein vs fat? When trying to loose.

tekkiechikk

mamapeach910 wrote: »

You know what I hate most about menopause? For some reason known only to my weird body, my skin is more prone to getting pimples now than it was when I was a teenager.

WHY????????????

Ditto. I wouldn't quite call it acne, but my skin is definitely more splotchy than it ever was and I get sporadic pimples.

But I am still thankfully losing weight on a regular basis, despite being post-menopausal for 2+ years now. Salty stuff brings on the hot flashes so I try to avoid them, which is also good for a variety of other reasons (water retention, blood pressure, etc.).

If there comes a day when the weight loss slows down or stops for a time, I'll continue to exercise and lift weights because the benefits are still there and my heart will thank me.

SwankyTomato

Oh yea. You have to be TIGHT with calories and need strength for your muscles so you do not look like jello.

pepper1173

I'm 41, but I'm starting to have symptoms, I found it so much easier to lose the weight before I turned 40.

shamcd

I'm 41 and perimenopausal, so I get the "best" of both worlds. Although I had my uterus removed, I still have ovaries, so I get still get the PMS symptoms, as well as now getting the mini hot flashes, hormone fluctuations, jacked up skin, and my weight loss attempts require more and more patience.