Women 50+ Building Muscle/Cutting
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Thanks, Roxie. I’ll try the fan. Great idea!1
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Roxie,
Thankyou!!! for posting such great questions. I've been in menopause for about 2 years now and I'm only 46. The hot flashes are killer... really mess with quality sleep! I've also been trying to lose weight - walking, lifting, watching what I eat. I do 1g/lb of protein per day. Try to really watch my carbs... not sure what ratio of carb:protein:fat is appropriate for mid-age women in menopause. Nothing seems to work, I can't shed many pounds. My hubby had a heart attack 3 months ago and dumped most of his carbs/ started walking 6 miles a day and lost 49 pounds in 3 months!! - went from (268-219). I'm not kidding! He's doing great, and I try to follow him in diet and exercise and I have lost 8 pounds (160-168). I don't get it. If there's some answer connected to menopause and weight loss, I'd sure like to know.1 -
I'm going to try to not make this too long a tale of menopause woe, tho I have one. I can only hope and pray that someday I might be able to go more than one hour without being covered in sweat then freezing my kitten off 5 minutes later. I'd give a whole lot for a full night sleep, don't think I've had a night without 4 to 6 episodes which require me to get out of the bed that I've heated.
I'm eagerly watching this thread to see if anything occurs. (Dr's verdict is 'no HRT for you, so deal with it -- argh')
I can share a couple my coping mechanisms. Always have a hat nearby. When the freezing hits (because you are still drenched in sweat even tho the hot flash has passed) the hat is your best friend. (I see lots of layer advice, but none about the hat.) A collapsing hand fan can be a life saver. When I'm out in public and can't just disrobe, that hand fan has been the difference between passing out and being almost comfortable. 8 hour ice pack under the pillow I got the 8 hour injury ice pack from Walgreens, I think. I stow one under my pillow every night before bed. When I feel a hot flash hit, I turn the pillow over, and bliss for a few seconds, cool, cool pillow. And it starts to cool the overheated part. The cool lasts all night!
I've been serious about strength training since October. Cardio is spotty, I certainly get in enough walking (80,000 steps weekly average), but swimming has been curtailed due to continuing ear infections. I really won't do anything that will get me more sweaty with the sweat drenched hot flashes occurring every 30 minutes or so.
I get 1g protein to 1 lb weight most days. Weight loss came VERY hard and only really started to happen (about 6lb per month) when I almost completely gave up (except for very occasional treats - twice a month probably) all highly processed and complex carbs or grains (except for oats and potatoes which are a necessity for my satiety), I also moved to a weekly calorie count (a 5:2 IF, actually) in order to not feel hungry ALL the time on a small calorie allotment. Also, no eating back exercise calories unless it is exclusively one serving of protein (chicken breast, protein shake, etc.)
I'm now maintaining mostly. Same eating restrictions as above, but 1000 or so extra calories a week. (Maintenance is less than 1400 calories per day). I would like to lose another 5-8 pounds but not seriously persuing that loss because I find it too hard to eat much less than 9500 calories a week (< 1400 per day average) for long periods of time.
Menopause was a game changer for me, not in a good way. I'd love any ideas anyone has.
I am committed to not gaining back any weight, to strength training 5x per two weeks (my body really wants those two days off between strength work). I am also committed to any cardio I can do without making myself miserable or hurting myself (so excessive sweating is out and I don't swim with an ear infection).
Sorry to be a downer, but I would love any advice help to make this easier. Man, I'd kill for a good night sleep.
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Thanks for the heads up @AnnPT77.
I am trying to follow the thread as it interests me even though I am post menopausal by a long shot, but family is taking all my time at the moment.
During menopause it was definitely conditioning for me as I had never exercised, lifting came at about 60.
I'm sorry I really can't put more into the conversation right now.
Cheers, h.
Posting from Scotland!3 -
Good morning ladies, a brief update and I will come back and do a longer write up on some things I have been researching through the weekend and share with you all.
I am going on 4 days into my diet break. I lost 'weight' and have consistently been at that number, so thinking that fat loss was masked by water retention. What I did was take a 3 day exercise break, except a short run on Saturday, added the extra calories and adjusted my water/electrolyte intake.
If you ever read up on diet break/refeeds which is the link provided and also in Lyle's book a refeed can be beneficial as long as its two days or longer. I am continuing with my diet break and looking to just move into recomp and forgo the deficit. I feel better after the rest, more calories and adjustments to my electrolytes. My symptoms are more tolerable but definitely not gone.
My sleep is a little less disrupted.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10604863/of-refeeds-and-diet-breaks/p1
My goal for lifting today was to repeat weight on the bar from last week and that went well. Performance in the gym is a very large part of my goal, I will trend what is happening over the rest of the week.2 -
I've been trying to read The Women's Book this weekend. Man, it's dense. That, or I am.
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mom23mangos wrote: »quiksylver296 wrote: »Following. I'd like to learn as much as possible before peri- and/or menopause hit. I'm not that far away.
I suspect Lyle's new book "The Women's Book" would be a valuable resource. I haven't bought it yet.
https://store.bodyrecomposition.com/product/the-womens-book-vol1/
I downloaded this a while back but haven't read it yet. While I'm still in my early 40's, I've been peri for a while now. I have a feeling it's going to stretch on for a REALLY long time for me.
Its been 7 years for me, its worse towards the end for me... kinda ready to get off the roller coaster now.
Hang in there, at least there is an end to the madness.
Sounds like you're nearing the end. I am about 18 months post now. And things *have* settled.
I will say that I felt it was more challenging to control blood sugar in the later stages. There are a number of PubMed articles suggesting that peri/meno are a unique kind of insulin resistance. Given the little belly that grew just as I transitioned, and the blood sugar control issues, I'd say I believe them!1 -
I'm 3/4 of the way through Lyle's book, and loving it (worth every penny).
He highly advocates diet breaks, esp if you notice your workouts faltering.
Some of the eye-opening stuff I've read: (a lot about NEAT, which I am working on now)
1) When people of similar weight/build have TDEE differences, its almost entirely based on NEAT. (i.e. even people with thyroid issues etc, do not have lower RMRs more than 50-100 cal). But NEAT can cause a person's TDEE to differ from a similar build person, or the height/weight tables by as much as 500 calories!
2) If people workout during the day and burn about 500 calories, but then decrease their NEAT for the day of about 250 calories (I believe that I'm guilty of this), they have sabotaged their deficit.
3) People on prolonged cut cycles need to refeed for at least two days to restore hormonal balance, but also restore NEAT levels, which are almost certainly plummeting and causing weight stalls. i.e. their TDEE has plummeted, such that they are no longer in a deficit.
4) Men and women of similar weight and body fat percentage burn the same amount of calories, contrary to popular thinking. Men burn more calories on average, because the typically have lower body fat/ more muscle.
5) When people lose weight, the body adjusts hormones to try to recover the weight (metabolic adaption), increase appetite, decrease NEAT. This adaption can last several years, even forever....Vigilance on calorie counting and monitoring NEAT may be required for several years after weight/fat loss.
6) The body tries to recover not just the fat it lost, but also the muscle. Since muscle takes longer to recover than fat, a person who 'rebounds' their weight, inevitably end up at a higher weight with a higher body fat percentage.
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quiksylver296 wrote: »I've been trying to read The Women's Book this weekend. Man, it's dense. That, or I am.
You dense? Nah
I've spent about 8 hrs on it and barely reached the surface. I'm slow
But it is quite dense, the level of info he needed to get to to address all phases of peri, late, post, pcos, hrt, non hrt, etc.. I can see why he took forever to finally get this released.
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annaskiski wrote: »I'm 3/4 of the way through Lyle's book, and loving it (worth every penny).
He highly advocates diet breaks, esp if you notice your workouts faltering.
Some of the eye-opening stuff I've read: (a lot about NEAT, which I am working on now)
1) When people of similar weight/build have TDEE differences, its almost entirely based on NEAT. (i.e. even people with thyroid issues etc, do not have lower RMRs more than 50-100 cal). But NEAT can cause a person's TDEE to differ from a similar build person, or the height/weight tables by as much as 500 calories!
2) If people workout during the day and burn about 500 calories, but then decrease their NEAT for the day of about 250 calories (I believe that I'm guilty of this), they have sabotaged their deficit.
3) People on prolonged cut cycles need to refeed for at least two days to restore hormonal balance, but also restore NEAT levels, which are almost certainly plummeting and causing weight stalls. i.e. their TDEE has plummeted, such that they are no longer in a deficit.
4) Men and women of similar weight and body fat percentage burn the same amount of calories, contrary to popular thinking. Men burn more calories on average, because the typically have lower body fat/ more muscle.
5) When people lose weight, the body adjusts hormones to try to recover the weight (metabolic adaption), increase appetite, decrease NEAT. This adaption can last several years, even forever....Vigilance on calorie counting and monitoring NEAT may be required for several years after weight/fat loss.
6) The body tries to recover not just the fat it lost, but also the muscle. Since muscle takes longer to recover than fat, a person who 'rebounds' their weight, inevitably end up at a higher weight with a higher body fat percentage.
This is good stuff to let others be aware of. You may or may not have seen this thread, our very own @AnnPT77 created it, its fun and shares great info and and ideas.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1
So much truth about the NEAT, I workout early in the a.m. and I sit behind a keyboard and monitor the rest of the day for my job. I have to account less NEAT I may burn, or at least make it a variable in my intake. Consistency is key but not every day can be the same.
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annaskiski wrote: »I'm 3/4 of the way through Lyle's book, and loving it (worth every penny).
He highly advocates diet breaks, esp if you notice your workouts faltering.
Some of the eye-opening stuff I've read: (a lot about NEAT, which I am working on now)
1) When people of similar weight/build have TDEE differences, its almost entirely based on NEAT. (i.e. even people with thyroid issues etc, do not have lower RMRs more than 50-100 cal). But NEAT can cause a person's TDEE to differ from a similar build person, or the height/weight tables by as much as 500 calories!
2) If people workout during the day and burn about 500 calories, but then decrease their NEAT for the day of about 250 calories (I believe that I'm guilty of this), they have sabotaged their deficit.
3) People on prolonged cut cycles need to refeed for at least two days to restore hormonal balance, but also restore NEAT levels, which are almost certainly plummeting and causing weight stalls. i.e. their TDEE has plummeted, such that they are no longer in a deficit.
4) Men and women of similar weight and body fat percentage burn the same amount of calories, contrary to popular thinking. Men burn more calories on average, because the typically have lower body fat/ more muscle.
5) When people lose weight, the body adjusts hormones to try to recover the weight (metabolic adaption), increase appetite, decrease NEAT. This adaption can last several years, even forever....Vigilance on calorie counting and monitoring NEAT may be required for several years after weight/fat loss.
6) The body tries to recover not just the fat it lost, but also the muscle. Since muscle takes longer to recover than fat, a person who 'rebounds' their weight, inevitably end up at a higher weight with a higher body fat percentage.
This is good stuff to let others be aware of. You may or may not have seen this thread, our very own @AnnPT77 created it, its fun and shares great info and and ideas.
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1
So much truth about the NEAT, I workout early in the a.m. and I sit behind a keyboard and monitor the rest of the day for my job. I have to account less NEAT I may burn, or at least make it a variable in my intake. Consistency is key but not every day can be the same.
Nice! Thanks! I will follow.
Yes, I also work a desk job. I typically try and use the first floor bathroom (office on third floor) and do some counter pushups/jumping jacks every time. This usually flags if I run at lunch though.
(Work in high tech, so not a lot of women, and the first floor bathroom I use is actually the women's locker room, which only sees traffic at lunch)2 -
Thanks for posting this. It was a good listen. He ballparks a bit with the facts of menopause, but nice to hear how much of the research he's familiar with, including the insulin resistance/menopause work. I've been pretty interested in that connection for a while now.Following! I almost posted something similar last year but things returned to normal. I know that peri is just around the corner for me...or maybe few years around the corner!
This may be worth listening to:
https://player.fm/series/jps-health-fitness-2166069/podcast-38-interview-with-lyle-mcdonald-part-22 -
I'm glad I found my way over here. I'm 51, new to fitness and lifting and didn't even consider menopause.1
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I’m bumping this thread. I don’t have anything useful to add other than I’m 46 peri menopausal and have been recomping for 3 years at about 135 to 140 pounds at 5 ft 8.5. Thinking about bulking as my recomp progress has slowed somewhat. Interested to hear from other women lifters about their cutting and bulking experiences at this age.1
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Great thread, I'm 45 and not in my menopause yet but good to read some experiences. I'm not a heavy lifter but I'm doing strength training 3 times a week and doing cardio 2 times. .
Maybe I can learn before hitting menopause 🙈0 -
cupcakesandproteinshakes wrote: »I’m bumping this thread. I don’t have anything useful to add other than I’m 46 peri menopausal and have been recomping for 3 years at about 135 to 140 pounds at 5 ft 8.5. Thinking about bulking as my recomp progress has slowed somewhat. Interested to hear from other women lifters about their cutting and bulking experiences at this age.
56 and maybe post menopausal. Can't tell for sure as I had a partial hysterectomy at age 33 so absence of menstruation isn't available as a guideline, and I sort of go in and out of menopause symptoms periodically. Also very much a "hard gainer". It takes me a looooong time to add muscle.
Recomp has been the most successful for me, I've been at it for roughly 4 years now. I did try a bit of a bulk a couple times when my strength progress slowed down and it never resulted in any appreciable gains. I seem to respond better to volume rather than load so I'll add reps or a set before I increase weights.
I also have a bad tendency to undereat during periods of prolonged stress, and of course the first thing that I lose is muscle, so I undid an awful lot of progress last year when my father was hospitalized for an extended period.
We'll call that an unintentional overly aggressive cut. And I'm just back to squatting and deadlifting recently after a two-month ban by my physiotherapist while I was rehabbing a mysterious hip injury. 0
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