Hi Everyone,
I’m 44 years old. I have been reading SO many discouraging things about attempting to lose weight during peri menopause. I wonder if anyone out there can share a story of success during this time? Thanks in advance and good luck to everyone!
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I know there are people on here older than me and who had already gone through menopause and lost a significant amount of weight, so hopefully they will chime in, too.
It’s simply calories in/calories out, and for me, a healthy dose of exercise.
I’ve learned there’s a choir of “you can’t”, where as “you can” is a solo act.
I lose a consistent 5lbs a month and have for 6 months. Which is about the rate I'd expect. Would it be easier younger? dunno, didn't try then, but I'm not having too much trouble now. It's slowing down but in an expected and typical way re: having less weight to lose.
Oh and I should say that that 30? I only really need to lose 39 to be a healthy BMI. So that impacted my rate of weight loss as much as, if not more, than my hormonal situation. Ie: I was technically obese but I still couldn't pull of many pounds a week/month. My weight just wasn't high enough for faster loss.
It's not age that's the problem with middle-aged women, or hormones, it's lack of activity and bad eating habits. Occasionally it's illness or certain medications that make it more difficult. A lot of middle age women have low thyroid and need medication, but once that is taken care of there is no reason you can't lose weight. With some auto-immune diseases it can be hard to exercise regularly or have a lot of energy, but losing weight can still be done.
I believe one of the main things that make it more challenging as we age is sleep deprivation. A reduction in sleep quality has a negative effect on hormones that influence hunger, satiety and impulse control as well as energy levels - so if you are not sleeping well then that will have an impact. And it's hard to sleep well when your hormones are all over the place, and you are having hot flashes and night sweats. Also lower estrogen affects fat distribution and muscle mass, so it is possible we stop burning as many calories.
I don't say this to discourage you, there are loads of success stories on here and it definitely is doable! I say it to remind you to be kind to yourself in the process. I heard over and over that menopause should have no effect on weight loss, and that it should be just as easy for me, I was making excuses etc, and at times it really made me wonder what was wrong with me that it wasn't "easy" for me.
I really think that getting good sleep and keeping stress low is key (sometimes it's easier said than done.)
Each of us chooses her focus. We can focus on why it's hard, or we can focus on how we can get around any *real* obstacles, and do it anyway. One of those is productive.
I can't speak to perimenopause. I didn't really have one: Chemotherapy put me in menopause pretty close to instantly at age 44, then I had to take anti-estrogen drugs for 7.5 years (creating a kind of hyper-menopause) to combat the fairly advanced stage cancer itself. Got diagnosed as hypothyroid after cancer treatment, also with arthritis, torn meniscus, other stuff too numerous to mention. Got really active athletically, stayed obese for another dozen years: Must have a slow metabolism, right?
Nah. Got serious at age 59, lost 50+ pounds in just less than a year (calorie counting), have stayed at a healthy weight for 5+ years since, now age 65.
Is it hard? Not as hard as I expected, for me. Made me kinda kick myself I hadn't done it many years before, because life is so much better as a healthy-weight, active woman. Easy every moment? What worthwhile thing is? Doable, for sure.
We only have so much emotional energy, as a currency to spend. Focus on why it's hard, maybe give up . . . or focus on how to do it, and commit to that. Those are the choices, pretty much.
If you look at some of the long-running threads over in the "Success Stories" area, you'll find many women who've lost weight, increased fitness, and more, either peri-menopausally, or post-menopause. It isn't doom, for sure.
I reached my goal weight a year ago, and then unintentionally lost more when lockdown happened because I was out walking more (got furloughed, so not at work) and because I wasn't in the office where there always used to be an endless supply of snacks to eat. It was easier this time round because I'd found MFP, was tracking what I ate and wasn't kidding myself about my food intake.
I've lost about 35 lbs in the last year and I don't really notice it being any different than when I lost weight in my 20s. I have been lifting weights for the past 2 months, and I do think thtat has helped immensely, and as somebody else posted above, I do notice that my weight fluctuates a LOT more than it did when I was younger. I can tell it's hormonal because my acne and my weight are on similar patterns. It goes back down. I weight and track pretty regularly (sometimes daily) and while i know that makes some people nuts, I have found it to be a helpful way to keep all of the spikes and ridiculous fluctionations in check. If I can see that the general "line" is trending downward, I feel free to disregard the crazy outliers.
I've mentioned this before in several threads so you may have already read it ... but ... my theory based on my myself & my perimenopausal friends is that we all eat more than what we think (pre-covid, a ton of eating out & lots of wine) and move less than we used to. None of us walk our kids to school anymore, chase after toddlers, play ball after school, etc etc. Instead of splashing at the pool with the kids, we sit & eat. Almost all of us have desk jobs.
I lost weight consistently once I honestly & accurately tracked my food AND my movement.
That being said, it wasn't easy (is it ever lol) & the monthly weight fluctuations can be crazy. I still use a daily weight tracker that helps keep me on track by smoothing out the crazies.
That's maybe backward for most but given how irregular things are right now, that's useful!