Menopause age dieter-NOT WORKING!

alaskangypsy

I'm 49 y/o, & am stuck in "menopause metabolic resistance." I'm doing Visalus 2x daily (lost 1 7lbs + 10.5 inches 3 years ago doing the same thing) but it's not working. I'm stuck & frustrated. Anyone else go thru this? How did you kick start the weight loss. Yes, I'm exercising and focusing on fruits & veggies. Eating like a bird. What am I doing wrong????

Freebird30

How many calories are you eating? I'm not losing either and was thinking maybe my calories are too low?

seska422

This flowchart has good troubleshooting suggestions:

alaskangypsy

Freebird30 wrote: »

How many calories are you eating? I'm not losing either and was thinking maybe my calories are too low?

I'm definitely eating too few calories too. But will that literally STOP weight loss?

alaskangypsy

I do have medical issues and take too many meds; mostly related to BP. Perhaps that's part of the problem. The only really new med I'm taking is Lithium, but I'm on the lowest dose possible. Being as Lithium is essentially salt, I wonder.....

seska422

alaskangypsy wrote: »

Freebird30 wrote: »

How many calories are you eating? I'm not losing either and was thinking maybe my calories are too low?

I'm definitely eating too few calories too. But will that literally STOP weight loss?

No. If it did, people wouldn't starve to death.

Weight loss is about energy balance. If you aren't losing weight, then you aren't consuming fewer calories than your body is using. You may think that you aren't eating enough calories but they are sneaking in somewhere and/or you aren't burning as many calories as you think you are.

alaskangypsy

I can't begin to imagine where! I have 2 90 Cal Visalus shakes daily, and one 2 cup salad in the afternoon which is comprised of lettuce, cabbage, onion, cauliflower & fat free dressing. I have a banana for a snack during the day, and I drink lots of water. There just aren't alot of calories there.

seska422

Did you read through the flowchart?

How long have you been at this? Are you weighing all solids with a food scale (including your shake powder) and measuring all liquids?

I have a lower-than-average BMR (there's a wide range over the population from what I've seen) so I don't lose as expected for the general population but I do lose based upon what I've calculated by tracking my personal numbers over time. You may need to carefully collect data for months to see where you are running into issues.

earlnabby

alaskangypsy wrote: »

I'm 49 y/o, & am stuck in "menopause metabolic resistance." I'm doing Visalus 2x daily (lost 1 7lbs + 10.5 inches 3 years ago doing the same thing) but it's not working. I'm stuck & frustrated. Anyone else go thru this? How did you kick start the weight loss. Yes, I'm exercising and focusing on fruits & veggies. Eating like a bird. What am I doing wrong????

What you are doing wrong is eating more calories than you burn. Are you weighing all solids and semi-solids and measuring liquids? Are you logging everything?

I found weigh loss to be much easier since menopause.

alaskangypsy

I'm counting the calories of every bite I eat. I'm averagin about 6-700 calories a day. This is not that I'm overeating by any stretch of the imagination.

Aurora_Lia

It defiantly took a solid month of exercising and also eating well before my scale budged a pound, which is not what used to happened before menopause I still keep at it, and try to have fun and enjoy the process... I know I am impatient! I have to remind myself that what I am after is a lifetime of vitality and awesome energy and health, not a number on the scale. That helps me.

cmriverside

alaskangypsy wrote: »

I'm counting the calories of every bite I eat. I'm averagin about 6-700 calories a day. This is not that I'm overeating by any stretch of the imagination.

Definitely eat more. 1200 is the minimum for nutrition for women.

Why try to live on supplement shakes? That sounds miserable.

cmriverside

Just to add...I lost my weight in menopause, eating between 1500-2300 calories every day. If you are actually eating 6-700 and not losing, get to the doctor, soon.

smcfar123

Hello fellow Alaskan.
Please look into intermittent fasting along with low sugar from fruit only , low carb, moderate protein and healthy fats diet.
For example, I will not eat bananas because it's a high glycemic index fruit. I eat apples for carbs and other low glycemic fruits. I eat zero processed foods with the exception of low salt chicken broth to make my daily soup. I count the calories of everything I put in the soup until I get to 500-550. I put green veggies and tomatoes in my soup and chicken or shrimp.Flavor with some soy sauce and other spices like black pepper.
I know that's all I can eat for the day with the exception of apple slices if I need to. If I'm hungry after that, go for eating green veggies or low sugar fruit or small piece of meat. No more than 700-750 calories a day if you want serious weight loss.
I don't eat before noon or after 7pm so that my body has the opportunity to lower insulin level in order for my body to become a fat burner and not a sugar burner. The more sugar you consume, the more insulin your body produces. Insulin blocks your body from burning fat for fuel and instead burns sugar so you will never lose weight.

try2again

Define "not working". What are your stats, how much weight are you trying to lose, how long have you been restricting calories, and what have been the results in that time? Hint: if it's been less than a month, you don't have enough data. How peri-menopause has affected me is that I have more extreme water weight fluctuations than I used to. These tend to mask my actual fat loss, so I can only see results over a month's time, if not longer.

Luna3386

The first step is using a food scale and logging accurately.

You *should* be able to eat more. Fill out mfp accurately and go with that. Keep detailed records. After a few months you could seek outside help.