Science of weight loss and menopause
Ddsb11
Posts: 607 Member
Does anyone have a link to a thread that covers this really well? Or an article that dumbs it down and explains weight loss is still possible?
Thanks in advance!!
Thanks in advance!!
0
Replies
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you still have muscles, which require "feeding" - you burn calories 24 hours a day, whether you work out or not. it doesn't matter how old you are, what state of life you're in. the thing is, as one starts doing less, one has less muscle mass, so it can be slower to lose weight. there can be hormonal factors, as well, although in my case, i gained and lost weight at the same speed as before menopause, and i actually still build muscle pretty fast if i work out intensely and eat enough protein even at a not fit 63.
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/lose-weight-in-menopause#section1
here ya go.6 -
I am 56 and my periods have been stopped for getting on for 2 years - and I have lost 100 pounds in the last year.8
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Yup, I lost weight while going through menopause. The only bummer is you can't use your period as an excuse for weight gain.
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Any links of discussions from this board that goes over it extensively? Seems like I’ve seen talks like this a lot over the years but can’t find the threads.
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Well it is kind of common sense. Eat fewer calories than your body uses in a day and you lose weight.
I think for me the bigger problem was the moods and the lack of exercise. The moodiness I tend to "medicate" with carbs. Preferentially sugar or baked goods.
That will have a negative impact on weight, even while it temporarily lifts mood.
If you are struggling with other life management issues, that can be a challenge too. Traditionally women have teenagers in the house at about the same time as menopause starts. They also could have parents who are beginning to have health issues. There may be marriage strains. Add to that, this year we have Covid.
All those things can lead to using food as medication. That will end badly.
Log food. Stay within calories. Take a walk outdoors on most days.
I lost 80ish pounds at age 53. I'm still at maintenance weight 13 years later, that was after menopause and with hypothyroidism. Log food. Stay in calories. Exercise - ta da!
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I’m not in menopause, just trying to connect my coworker with information she requested. My CICO explanation isn’t translating well enough for her. And now multiple women have asked for something to read regarding the topic as they are currently dealing with menopause as well.2
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msalicia07 wrote: »I’m not in menopause, just trying to connect my coworker with information she requested. My CICO explanation isn’t translating well enough for her. And now multiple women have asked for something to read regarding the topic as they are currently dealing with menopause as well.
It's the same advice any time it comes up, though.
It's still about finding your own personal plan, eating fewer CALORIES and getting help with any emotional issues.
It's not a curse or something that makes weight loss impossible, lots of women lose weight at all stages of life.
Tell them to join this site and start logging food.
***
Click "Search" at the top of this thread, when the search text box appears, click the drop-down arrow. In the field where it says, "Title," type, "Menopause."
I got 100 pages of results from that search.6 -
I lost over 1/2 of my body weight at age 60. There are a lot of myths out there about weight loss. The fact is, anyone, at any age, can lose weight by eating less calories than your body burns, baring any medical conditions. You have to find what works best for you. You’ll find a lot of excellent advice on this site from people that have had success. There’s no magic pill, or one system that works for all. You have to find what works for you, often times through trial and error. You know yourself best, picking and choosing, what will work for you.0
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cmriverside wrote: »msalicia07 wrote: »I’m not in menopause, just trying to connect my coworker with information she requested. My CICO explanation isn’t translating well enough for her. And now multiple women have asked for something to read regarding the topic as they are currently dealing with menopause as well.
It's the same advice any time it comes up, though.
It's still about finding your own personal plan, eating fewer CALORIES and getting help with any emotional issues.
It's not a curse or something that makes weight loss impossible, lots of women lose weight at all stages of life.
Tell them to join this site and start logging food.
***
Click "Search" at the top of this thread, when the search text box appears, click the drop-down arrow. In the field where it says, "Title," type, "Menopause."
I got 100 pages of results from that search.
Perfect- I’ll search that and send them the link. I would love for them to join so I don’t have to be the middle person for info. Don’t know how I got roped into this.3 -
This!!! This is one I remember! Thank you. Game changer.2 -
missysippy930 wrote: »I lost over 1/2 of my body weight at age 60. There are a lot of myths out there about weight loss. The fact is, anyone, at any age, can lose weight by eating less calories than your body burns, baring any medical conditions. You have to find what works best for you. You’ll find a lot of excellent advice on this site from people that have had success. There’s no magic pill, or one system that works for all. You have to find what works for you, often times through trial and error. You know yourself best, picking and choosing, what will work for you.
That’s exactly right. They have so many years of myths and belief systems in place I can’t begin to tackle it all. Which is why I’d prefer to give them some reading to do themselves. That’s how I learned too.1 -
Direct them to this thread, too. It can be done.
58 and lost 90 (About 40% of starting body weight.)
There’s some good threads over on Success Stories, too.3 -
I certainly will. Hopefully your stories will give them hope!3
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There may be some good menopause threads here. (I particularly endorse the idea of looking in "Success Stories", as stories and before/after photos sometimes have more persuasive push than a Pubmed cite, depending on the audience). However, there are also a lot of threads here that are more "woe is me" focused, unfortunately.
One thought that's not exactly reading matter:
Go to Sailrabbit (TDEE calculator). (https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/) This offers multiple research-based (science!!) formulas for estimating calorie needs. Run the numbers for yourself as if you were a younger age (premenopause) and an older one (postmenopause).
If I run it for myself (5'5", 129 pounds), my 40 year old self's BMR (basal metabolic rate, i.e., calorie needs before any activity at all) would be estimated at 1256-1333. At 60, BMR would be estimated at 1156-1239. (Presumably, at 40, most women would be pre-menopausal, but you could go younger; and most would be post-menopausal at 60.) So, maybe 100ish calories difference, for the average woman, from 20 years of aging, years that included menopause for most. I'd betcha that most of your friends think the difference in 'metabolism' pre & post is more than that "roughly one Tablespoon of peanut butter daily" kind of amount. 😉
I kinda think one tablespoon of peanut butter's worth of calories daily is going to sound like something most of us could control. Or pick some other persuasive equivalent in food, or exercise.
Now, here's where it gets fun: Remember when folks above said muscle mass declines were part of this story? Sailrabbit also offers formulas that use body fat percent (implicitly, they adjust for muscle mass).
Recompare the numbers, using 25% body fat (at random, though I'm probably not way far off that): At age 40, looking only at the formulas that consider body fat percent, BMR is estimated at 1316-1465. At age 60, it's estimated at . . . 1316-1465. Hmmm.
Between those things, and considered in light of the daily life activity decreases that tend to come with age (and are even more extreme with lower fitness), this starts to sound like things we can influence, doesn't it?
Bottom line, I'm arguing what several others are: Calorie needs for the average person decrease with age, if nothing is done to improve fitness and increase activity to counter that. Reseach-based statistics say the difference is surprisingly small. Weight loss post-menopause is still about getting calorie intake below calorie output . . . it can just be a little harder because the calorie number has (for many women) become a bit lower, plus we've grown used to (1) eating more and (2) being relatively more inactive - those are grooved in, long-term, subconscious habits.
.
Case history, in case it helps: Lost about 50 pounds in 2015, at age 59-60, and of course post-menopausal, after about 3 previous decades of obesity (just over the line into class 1 obese, usually mid-180s pounds or so at 5'5"). I've maintained a healthy weight mostly in the 120s/130s since then, to current age 64, at 128.4 pounds this morning. Did I mention that I'm also severely hypothyroid? (That's another common thing that some people say makes weight loss "impossible", that I personally found had little or no impact, for me, when properly medicated . . . but like menopause, it's a good excuse. 😉) Personally, I didn't even significantly change exercise routines to lose weight (but I was already quite active athletically, even while obese.)
Here's a thing I hate: Women feeling powerless, even over things where we have major influence, possibly even full control. It's too common. Recognizing that we've let common assumptions rob us of a sense of agency about our body weight and fitness level . . . it's kind of tragic, really. We get to make our own choices, and if someone doesn't choose to make changes to eating and activity, that's her choice, too. But the choices are still available, not wiped out by aging, or menopause.
I hope you can persuade them.7 -
There may be some good menopause threads here. (I particularly endorse the idea of looking in "Success Stories", as stories and before/after photos sometimes have more persuasive push than a Pubmed cite, depending on the audience). However, there are also a lot of threads here that are more "woe is me" focused, unfortunately.
One thought that's not exactly reading matter:
Go to Sailrabbit (TDEE calculator). (https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/) This offers multiple research-based (science!!) formulas for estimating calorie needs. Run the numbers for yourself as if you were a younger age (premenopause) and an older one (postmenopause).
If I run it for myself (5'5", 129 pounds), my 40 year old self's BMR (basal metabolic rate, i.e., calorie needs before any activity at all) would be estimated at 1256-1333. At 60, BMR would be estimated at 1156-1239. (Presumably, at 40, most women would be pre-menopausal, but you could go younger; and most would be post-menopausal at 60.) So, maybe 100ish calories difference, for the average woman, from 20 years of aging, years that included menopause for most. I'd betcha that most of your friends think the difference in 'metabolism' pre & post is more than that "roughly one Tablespoon of peanut butter daily" kind of amount. 😉
I kinda think one tablespoon of peanut butter's worth of calories daily is going to sound like something most of us could control. Or pick some other persuasive equivalent in food, or exercise.
Now, here's where it gets fun: Remember when folks above said muscle mass declines were part of this story? Sailrabbit also offers formulas that use body fat percent (implicitly, they adjust for muscle mass).
Recompare the numbers, using 25% body fat (at random, though I'm probably not way far off that): At age 40, looking only at the formulas that consider body fat percent, BMR is estimated at 1316-1465. At age 60, it's estimated at . . . 1316-1465. Hmmm.
Between those things, and considered in light of the daily life activity decreases that tend to come with age (and are even more extreme with lower fitness), this starts to sound like things we can influence, doesn't it?
Bottom line, I'm arguing what several others are: Calorie needs for the average person decrease with age, if nothing is done to improve fitness and increase activity to counter that. Reseach-based statistics say the difference is surprisingly small. Weight loss post-menopause is still about getting calorie intake below calorie output . . . it can just be a little harder because the calorie number has (for many women) become a bit lower, plus we've grown used to (1) eating more and (2) being relatively more inactive - those are grooved in, long-term, subconscious habits.
.
Case history, in case it helps: Lost about 50 pounds in 2015, at age 59-60, and of course post-menopausal, after about 3 previous decades of obesity (just over the line into class 1 obese, usually mid-180s pounds or so at 5'5"). I've maintained a healthy weight mostly in the 120s/130s since then, to current age 64, at 128.4 pounds this morning. Did I mention that I'm also severely hypothyroid? (That's another common thing that some people say makes weight loss "impossible", that I personally found had little or no impact, for me, when properly medicated . . . but like menopause, it's a good excuse. 😉) Personally, I didn't even significantly change exercise routines to lose weight (but I was already quite active athletically, even while obese.)
Here's a thing I hate: Women feeling powerless, even over things where we have major influence, possibly even full control. It's too common. Recognizing that we've let common assumptions rob us of a sense of agency about our body weight and fitness level . . . it's kind of tragic, really. We get to make our own choices, and if someone doesn't choose to make changes to eating and activity, that's her choice, too. But the choices are still available, not wiped out by aging, or menopause.
I hope you can persuade them.
I completely forgot about sailrabbit. I have to admit, I used to geek out over different ways to play with numbers when I was fasting years ago. I no longer fast so it kind of fell off my radar. But there’s so much data and information, it’s a perfect example to share with them so thank you.
“Here's a thing I hate: Women feeling powerless”
I suppose that’s how I got roped into this- seeing how they felt they had little to no control over their bodies when that is far from the truth. Knowledge is the only thing I believe can turn that around. Nothing I can say or do will influence them for long. Not that I intended to influence them, but since they asked, I feel the least I can do is share your words of wisdom, experiences, and the data that validates they DO have more control than they think.1 -
msalicia07 wrote: »There may be some good menopause threads here. (I particularly endorse the idea of looking in "Success Stories", as stories and before/after photos sometimes have more persuasive push than a Pubmed cite, depending on the audience). However, there are also a lot of threads here that are more "woe is me" focused, unfortunately.
One thought that's not exactly reading matter:
Go to Sailrabbit (TDEE calculator). (https://www.sailrabbit.com/bmr/) This offers multiple research-based (science!!) formulas for estimating calorie needs. Run the numbers for yourself as if you were a younger age (premenopause) and an older one (postmenopause).
If I run it for myself (5'5", 129 pounds), my 40 year old self's BMR (basal metabolic rate, i.e., calorie needs before any activity at all) would be estimated at 1256-1333. At 60, BMR would be estimated at 1156-1239. (Presumably, at 40, most women would be pre-menopausal, but you could go younger; and most would be post-menopausal at 60.) So, maybe 100ish calories difference, for the average woman, from 20 years of aging, years that included menopause for most. I'd betcha that most of your friends think the difference in 'metabolism' pre & post is more than that "roughly one Tablespoon of peanut butter daily" kind of amount. 😉
I kinda think one tablespoon of peanut butter's worth of calories daily is going to sound like something most of us could control. Or pick some other persuasive equivalent in food, or exercise.
Now, here's where it gets fun: Remember when folks above said muscle mass declines were part of this story? Sailrabbit also offers formulas that use body fat percent (implicitly, they adjust for muscle mass).
Recompare the numbers, using 25% body fat (at random, though I'm probably not way far off that): At age 40, looking only at the formulas that consider body fat percent, BMR is estimated at 1316-1465. At age 60, it's estimated at . . . 1316-1465. Hmmm.
Between those things, and considered in light of the daily life activity decreases that tend to come with age (and are even more extreme with lower fitness), this starts to sound like things we can influence, doesn't it?
Bottom line, I'm arguing what several others are: Calorie needs for the average person decrease with age, if nothing is done to improve fitness and increase activity to counter that. Reseach-based statistics say the difference is surprisingly small. Weight loss post-menopause is still about getting calorie intake below calorie output . . . it can just be a little harder because the calorie number has (for many women) become a bit lower, plus we've grown used to (1) eating more and (2) being relatively more inactive - those are grooved in, long-term, subconscious habits.
.
Case history, in case it helps: Lost about 50 pounds in 2015, at age 59-60, and of course post-menopausal, after about 3 previous decades of obesity (just over the line into class 1 obese, usually mid-180s pounds or so at 5'5"). I've maintained a healthy weight mostly in the 120s/130s since then, to current age 64, at 128.4 pounds this morning. Did I mention that I'm also severely hypothyroid? (That's another common thing that some people say makes weight loss "impossible", that I personally found had little or no impact, for me, when properly medicated . . . but like menopause, it's a good excuse. 😉) Personally, I didn't even significantly change exercise routines to lose weight (but I was already quite active athletically, even while obese.)
Here's a thing I hate: Women feeling powerless, even over things where we have major influence, possibly even full control. It's too common. Recognizing that we've let common assumptions rob us of a sense of agency about our body weight and fitness level . . . it's kind of tragic, really. We get to make our own choices, and if someone doesn't choose to make changes to eating and activity, that's her choice, too. But the choices are still available, not wiped out by aging, or menopause.
I hope you can persuade them.
I completely forgot about sailrabbit. I have to admit, I used to geek out over different ways to play with numbers when I was fasting years ago. I no longer fast so it kind of fell off my radar. But there’s so much data and information, it’s a perfect example to share with them so thank you.
“Here's a thing I hate: Women feeling powerless”
I suppose that’s how I got roped into this- seeing how they felt they had little to no control over their bodies when that is far from the truth. Knowledge is the only thing I believe can turn that around. Nothing I can say or do will influence them for long. Not that I intended to influence them, but since they asked, I feel the least I can do is share your words of wisdom, experiences, and the data that validates they DO have more control than they think.
Throw some real people before'n'afters at them, too, I'd suggest, with the personal stories. (There's a reason traditional "women's magazines" always explain factual material with cutsie personalized stories.😉)
I know for sure that @springlering62, who posted on this thread, has a corker of a story with photos somewhere around here . . . maybe we could persuade her to overcome her tasteful modesty about it, and give you a link? I'm not sure about others in the thread, maybe they have some links for you, too?
I haven't done a thread myself, but if it would help there's a post on this thread, here, with photos from a couple of years back. (Weight's about there now, too - 128.4 this morning, at age 64, in year 4+ of maintenance.)
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/comment/40778519#Comment_40778519
That's from a good thread you could mine for other stories. It's here: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10047153/55-65-year-old-womens-success
One side comment: I think it's great what you're trying to do, to empower others. I hope you won't become so invested that you'll feel badly if it doesn't work. You can lead a horse to water, and all that sort of thing, y'know? But you're wonderful to be making the attempt!
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my own n= 1.
Lost weight in 2013, then aged 50 and still getting periods.
Have been in maintenance since end of 2013- over that 7 year time span I completed menopause and now aged 57, have not had a period for 3 years (last one at 54)
My lifestyle - as in work, activity level, way of eating etc - has not really changed -and surprise surprise! - I am maintaining on same number of net calories
any differences in calorie requirements post menopause, all other things (activity level etc) being equal - is so small that it has made no difference at all to me.
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Just wanted to thank everyone for their responses. To my shock they downloaded MFP and are reading the stickies. *hi ladies*
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I'm in peri and have definitely noticed it is slightly tougher to manage the weight. But not impossibly so. One thing I have recently read that may be of interest is that we typically maintain a lower body temperature after menopause. That requires a tad less fuel to maintain. The article linked below mentions around 65 calories per day. But that is nevertheless meaningful if you are not factoring it in. Added to dwindling muscle mass if you have not addressed that issue and you can see how the little things can add up to a really rather tiresome whole.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5242227/1 -
It made no difference for me. I lost 50 lbs (and later regained) at 25 and then at 35. Hit menopause at 48, had an ovary removed due to a tumor a year later, lost 125 lbs, weight still off 3 years later. Literally no difference in how easy it was to lose weight before and after menopause. Female hormones change the way weight is distributed on the body, but even that has a lot to do with exercise.
You know what does prevent weight loss? Excuses for not attempting weight loss because it’s impossible due to age or medical conditions. It is absolutely impossible if you aren’t even willing to try it. Or if you do it half of the time for two weeks and then say, “See, I tried and it’s impossible for me! I must be a medical exception, my metabolism is broken!”7 -
Here's a thing I hate: Women feeling powerless, even over things where we have major influence, possibly even full control. It's too common. Recognizing that we've let common assumptions rob us of a sense of agency about our body weight and fitness level . . . it's kind of tragic, really. We get to make our own choices, and if someone doesn't choose to make changes to eating and activity, that's her choice, too. But the choices are still available, not wiped out by aging, or menopause.
OMG....THIS!!!!!!!!!!
Every time I hear someone on MFP saying I can’t do this because I’m old /post menopausal/pre menopausal/on meds/thyroid/ PCOS/ OCD/too fat to exercise/no self esteem, I want to grab them, shake them, hug them, cry with them, preach at them, scream at them: don’t give up your power because someone else says you can’t do this.
Well said, Ann, well said.
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springlering62 wrote: »
Here's a thing I hate: Women feeling powerless, even over things where we have major influence, possibly even full control. It's too common. Recognizing that we've let common assumptions rob us of a sense of agency about our body weight and fitness level . . . it's kind of tragic, really. We get to make our own choices, and if someone doesn't choose to make changes to eating and activity, that's her choice, too. But the choices are still available, not wiped out by aging, or menopause.
OMG....THIS!!!!!!!!!!
Every time I hear someone on MFP saying I can’t do this because I’m old /post menopausal/pre menopausal/on meds/thyroid/ PCOS/ OCD/too fat to exercise/no self esteem, I want to grab them, shake them, hug them, cry with them, preach at them, scream at them: don’t give up your power because someone else says you can’t do this.
Well said, Ann, well said.
Thank you. 🙂
Unfortunately, I believe @rheddmobile's post is also exactly on point. "You know what does prevent weight loss? Excuses for not attempting weight loss because it’s impossible due to age or medical conditions. It is absolutely impossible if you aren’t even willing to try it."
There are people in my personal circle who truly have been disempowered by truly believing they're in unconquerable circumstances. (I'm excluding those with genuine severe challenges when I say this.) There are others in my personal circle who are, sad to say, essentially what I'd consider wannabes. They would like to be thinner, but are not willing to change much of anything about their pleasant lifestyle to accomplish that, and these popular myths become convenient excuses. These two scenarios are both sad to me, but in different ways.
I have no objections to people who choose to stay fat. People can freely prefer whatever lifestyle they like, and the consequences that come along with it. I wish they'd be honest with themselves about it, but that's really not my problem. (As a side note, while I was staying obese, I was pretty clear in my own mind that I was making a choice to stay fat, and said so, in the rare case where it came up in conversation.)
As another aside, I'm P.O,-ed at the diet-myth industry that makes out that we need to suffer to lose our fat, let alone keep it off. The women who don't want to change their pleasant obesity-sustaining routines have typically been through various past cycles of miserable, dispiriting fad diets, and what are to them unpleasant intense exercise routines alongside. As a consequence, I think some visualize weight loss and maintenance as a permanent path of misery. Viscerally, they can't get past that, after all these years and all those failed attempts. They will never know, as you and I now do, that there's an extremely enjoyable, pleasure-filled lifestyle on the other side of weight loss (a better one, IMO and IME) . . . and that the path to get there need not be as punitive as they imagine.
Final snarky aside: You can recognize them, sometimes, by their theme song, "How Do You Stay So Thin Then You Eat *That*?!?!", subtitled "It's All That Exercise You Do, Isn't It?!?". Heh. 😉4
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