Menopause Diet & Exercise Calculator

lotusloveproductions1

I think most menopausal women would LOVE to have more guidance on diet and exercise plans that can help with belly fat, weight loss, hot flashes and a whole host of other issues related to menopause. Everywhere you turn there's a program for "determine your hormone type and eat whatever you want and lose weight!" and other various things.

Would love to see some real, either app integration, or "step by step" instructions for working with your body type, stage (20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, etc.), and where our time is better focused for better results.

Thanks!

claireychn074

I hate to say it but I don’t think there is a magic wand for menopause weight loss. It’s exactly the same as when we’re in our 20s, 30s, 40s and beyond. Recent research has stated that metabolism doesn’t slow down until mid-60s, but what does change is activity (generally women appear more active when younger, probably running around after kids etc) so we need less calories. Sarcopaenia (Age related muscle mass) also causes us to need less calories. But both of those can be halted or reversed, increasing metabolism a bit. What works in menopause actually depends on your symptoms (and we know those vary from person to person, and in my personal case, month to blasted month). One month I will want to devour my weight in sugar, another I need to hit the caffeine as I can’t sleep, or I bloat and feel uncomfortable so don’t want to eat much fibre.

Ultimately I’m afraid it is still calories in and calories out, move a little more if you can, eat what you enjoy and be honest about tracking calories. Simple - but not necessarily easy!

cwolfman13

MFP and other calorie counting apps and sites are more or less, cookie cutter, "one size fits all" applications for tracking calories and nutrients. When you start delving into things like pregnancy, breastfeeding, menopause, "manopause", etc you start delving into medical issues that require certain medical expertise on a much more individual and personal level relative to that individual person and what's going on. These sites and apps use pretty simple algorithms based on large population statistics so I don't think applying very individual medical needs to wide population statistics would provide any particular benefit. You also have to consider that delving into medical types of recommendations would also leave the company open to much more liability than just having very generalized recommendations for how many calories someone should eat based on a huge population sample.

Jean

Thank you so much for sharing your suggestion! We will bring this back to the appropriate team for further review. We appreciate your help as we continue to improve the program!

AnnPT77

lotusloveproductions1 wrote: »

I think most menopausal women would LOVE to have more guidance on diet and exercise plans that can help with belly fat, weight loss, hot flashes and a whole host of other issues related to menopause. Everywhere you turn there's a program for "determine your hormone type and eat whatever you want and lose weight!" and other various things.

Would love to see some real, either app integration, or "step by step" instructions for working with your body type, stage (20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, etc.), and where our time is better focused for better results.

Thanks!

Honestly, I think most of what we see about those things is hype/marketing. Menopause, in particular lately, is a trendy way for marketers to convince us we need their very special secret program/diet/etc. in order to manage our weight. If we figure out that the basics are simple enough to do it ourselves, they make less money.

Weight loss isn't going to be easy every minute for anyone. Those of us who are in menopause (like me) can decide that's because of menopause, those who are hypothyroid (like me) can decide that's because of thyroid hormones, those who are older (I'm 67) can decide it's aging, etc., etc., and more.

At the root, finding the right personal mix of reasonable calorie level, the right food choices to stay full/happy at that calorie level, and the right activities (exercise and daily life) to burn a few more calories than before - that is going to work, and probably work better for most people than some much-hyped force-fit program that doesn't suit our individual preferences, strengths, limitations, lifestyle, etc. It's about experimentation and problem-solving, very individualized, to find what works for our unique selves.

I'm very much with @claireychn074 above about the implications of menopause and aging in this.

I could re-brand the plan below as "for menopause", because that's when I used it to lose from obese to a healthy weight (at age 59-60) and stay at a healthy weight since . . . but that would be disingenuous:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm/p1

In reality, it's just a suggested step-by-step way of figuring out how to gradually remodel your eating habits to improve body weight and nutrition, and it won't work for everyone, either. It's just one option.

Nissi51

I agree with claireychn074! I am in surgical menopause and I wouldn't believe what she said a year ago. The amount of marketing geared to us in menopause is compelling. I believed, even having previously lost 100+ pounds and maintained it, that there had to be something more than a caloric deficit at this stage of life. Turns out there is no special program needed, no special diet, no hormone balancing program required for weight loss. A calorie deficit is what's needed. Science still applies. What we may have navigate through are the symptoms from declining Estrogen and Testosterone that result in symptoms that may be unconsciously/consciously causing us to be less active and consume more. We tend to struggle with resistance training & consuming adequate protein as women in general, and in this stage of life the importance of nailing these two aspects of our health are even more impactful as we see our body shape changing. I think what is needed is more screaming from the roof top what claireycon074 said. We need to call out mis-information when we see it - it's everywhere!. We need to encourage & challenge women in menopause to be open to the possibility that the reason they are struggling with their weight is not due to Menopause per se, but what menopause has impacted: energy imbalance. We also need to understand acknowledge the symptoms of menopause (and in surgical meno they can be fierce!) and ways we can manage them - whether it be with HRT or non-HRT methods.