50+ and it's Menopause Madness!

chippywelsh

In the last 2 years even though I have a much more healthy diet, eat less, exercise more I have gained over 2 stone in weight, have the dreaded hot flushes and night sweats, I have pains/inflammation in my ankles, Achilles tendons and elbows. I have been reading every article out there on nutrition leading me to try all sorts of supplements including magnesium, boron, selenium, vitamin C, sage and more.
This week I finally plucked up courage to get blood tests and talk to a doctor. I should be very pleased, nothing abnormal other than raised B12 levels. Not a full thyroid but THS and antibodies tests which again all normal - I can't even blame my weight and pain on thyroid!
So, it's with renewed vigor that I am clean eating, intermittent fasting and increasing exercise. Even more green leafy vegetables, even less sugar and even cutting out alcohol (well mostly).
Today is a fasting day so broccoli and spinach soup, tonight lean homemade bolognaise with flaxseed for fibre content. Ive also just purchased Serenity Cream to see if it helps hot flushes - especially at night. Boiling all night then absolutely freezing early morning!
All suggestions, encouragement welcome!

tutoringforthespirit

Hi there 50+ I was hoping to find someone on here that's "older" I am trying so hard to maintain weight at 56. The weight comes off so slow. I work out maybe 3 to 4 days with yoga and walking. My hot flashes are pretty much gone now I had that a lot in my 30'sand 40's due to surgeries. I am doing less fat I like my cheese, avocados, mayo, ranch dressing! I was on another diet where we ate good fats but I think that got me into trouble! So here we are I have lost .6 in 8 days so I guess it's working! i would love to hear more about your soup! I eat so much broccoli I roast with onions spray olive oil and any protein. Hope you have a good day!

chippywelsh

Hi, I feel your pain! So many people, including my own very supportive partner are convinced we're in denial about how much we eat or how much exercise we do because if was true we'd be slim! It's such a battle and can be so depressing. My partner spent a fortnight eating exactly what I eat but bigger portions because he's much taller. He is already slim and he became practically skeletal! He went away without me for a week where he ate what he wanted - he always eats a healthy diet and is very active, when he came back he'd noticeably gained weight - and looked so much better for it by the way. He now accepts that my inability to be as slim as I was is not because I'm over-eating.
My favourite soup is onion, garlic, broccoli, cauliflower and add baby leaf spinach right at the end which gives it a fantastic bright green colour. I sweat the onion and garlic in a small amount of coconut oil then add the chopped up vegetables, lots of black pepper, some stock and water and simmer for around 20 mins. Whizz up and eat.
It sounds like we did similar things with fat - I switched to healthy fats - ditched anything processed such as low fat spread, low fat yoghurt, but I am now trying to cut down on fat (without resorting to processed low fat alternatives). I'm trying to use less of it and eat more vegetables and less meat.
I do lots of walking but I'm taking a break from yoga classes as it seemed to be making my tendons really sore. I was maybe overdoing the stretching etc.
Good luck with it!

pattiACSW63

OMG. I don't know what happened to the old me! Sooooo easy to gain and soooooHARD to lose

chippywelsh

When I said to the doctor about the weight gain she said it's your age and the menopause, you can do nothing other than try your best and accept it. Even more depressingly she said she had another patient who ate nothing but vegetables and was still putting on weight! :-(

CaronRose1

chippywelsh wrote: »

When I said to the doctor about the weight gain she said it's your age and the menopause, you can do nothing other than try your best and accept it. Even more depressingly she said she had another patient who ate nothing but vegetables and was still putting on weight! :-(

Hi, that doesn't sound right, chippy, I would change doctors!

Sabine_Stroehm

Join us here!

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/506-near-or-post-menopausal-group

and BOY do I feel your frustration.