Peri-menopausal women - need eating plan ideas

kshama2001

claireychn074 wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

I had difficulty at perimenopause due to uterine fibroids, which caused very heavy bleeding, which lead to anemia and crippling fatigue. But in general, weight loss when we're older can feel harder simply due to people (men and women) being less active than when we were in our 20s and 30s. We get used to eating a certain way, and don't adjust when our activity decreases.

I like Claire's advice about trying to increase maintenance calories. Our bodies were meant to move.

I also like the PP's advice about finding what macro splits are the most satisfying.

I almost liked @springlering62's advice about substitutions, but then she tried to replace my butter with margarine, which is unforgivable

But seriously, when baking, I can generally reduce the amount of sugar, and can often replace half the fat with an equal amount of apple sauce. I replace some of higher calorie salad dressing etc with cottage cheese. Etc.

Funnily enough my peri is mirroring yours with the fibroids and anaemia. And I’ve got to say that I hugely admire @springlering62 and usually agree with her but - MARGARINE?? No, just no.

I'd been trying to avoid a hysterectomy, having been assured that the fibroids would shrink at menopause, but at age 55, I'd needed to go to the ER twice for blood transfusions, and tried everything, including a 6 months course of Lupron. When this failed to work, my GYN was concerned about cancer, so I finally had the hysterectomy. No cancer. And no more torrential bleeding!

claireychn074

kshama2001 wrote: »

claireychn074 wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

I had difficulty at perimenopause due to uterine fibroids, which caused very heavy bleeding, which lead to anemia and crippling fatigue. But in general, weight loss when we're older can feel harder simply due to people (men and women) being less active than when we were in our 20s and 30s. We get used to eating a certain way, and don't adjust when our activity decreases.

I like Claire's advice about trying to increase maintenance calories. Our bodies were meant to move.

I also like the PP's advice about finding what macro splits are the most satisfying.

I almost liked @springlering62's advice about substitutions, but then she tried to replace my butter with margarine, which is unforgivable

But seriously, when baking, I can generally reduce the amount of sugar, and can often replace half the fat with an equal amount of apple sauce. I replace some of higher calorie salad dressing etc with cottage cheese. Etc.

Funnily enough my peri is mirroring yours with the fibroids and anaemia. And I’ve got to say that I hugely admire @springlering62 and usually agree with her but - MARGARINE?? No, just no.

I'd been trying to avoid a hysterectomy, having been assured that the fibroids would shrink at menopause, but at age 55, I'd needed to go to the ER twice for blood transfusions, and tried everything, including a 6 months course of Lupron. When this failed to work, my GYN was concerned about cancer, so I finally had the hysterectomy. No cancer. And no more torrential bleeding!

I suspect I’m heading that way. I’m trying HRT to see if that will help, but I am expecting to have surgery to remove an ovarian cyst in the next year. They’ve mentioned a hysterectomy at that point sigh. It’s been hard to get taken seriously but finally they’ve agreed it’s not “normal” and I’m just desperately hoping my bleeding is due to peri and not the fibroids. Only time will tell! It’s a real pain trying to train and compete, and it’s also a pain trying to explain what’s going on when you’re afraid to leave the house 🤷‍♂️

kshama2001

claireychn074 wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

claireychn074 wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

I had difficulty at perimenopause due to uterine fibroids, which caused very heavy bleeding, which lead to anemia and crippling fatigue. But in general, weight loss when we're older can feel harder simply due to people (men and women) being less active than when we were in our 20s and 30s. We get used to eating a certain way, and don't adjust when our activity decreases.

I like Claire's advice about trying to increase maintenance calories. Our bodies were meant to move.

I also like the PP's advice about finding what macro splits are the most satisfying.

I almost liked @springlering62's advice about substitutions, but then she tried to replace my butter with margarine, which is unforgivable

But seriously, when baking, I can generally reduce the amount of sugar, and can often replace half the fat with an equal amount of apple sauce. I replace some of higher calorie salad dressing etc with cottage cheese. Etc.

Funnily enough my peri is mirroring yours with the fibroids and anaemia. And I’ve got to say that I hugely admire @springlering62 and usually agree with her but - MARGARINE?? No, just no.

I'd been trying to avoid a hysterectomy, having been assured that the fibroids would shrink at menopause, but at age 55, I'd needed to go to the ER twice for blood transfusions, and tried everything, including a 6 months course of Lupron. When this failed to work, my GYN was concerned about cancer, so I finally had the hysterectomy. No cancer. And no more torrential bleeding!

I suspect I’m heading that way. I’m trying HRT to see if that will help, but I am expecting to have surgery to remove an ovarian cyst in the next year. They’ve mentioned a hysterectomy at that point sigh. It’s been hard to get taken seriously but finally they’ve agreed it’s not “normal” and I’m just desperately hoping my bleeding is due to peri and not the fibroids. Only time will tell! It’s a real pain trying to train and compete, and it’s also a pain trying to explain what’s going on when you’re afraid to leave the house 🤷‍♂️

Well, fibroids tend to increase at peri, so it's kind of both.

Some years back, I did get some relief from Tranexamic acid, which you can take with progesterone. (You don't want to take estrogen when you are dealing with fibroids.) I took progesterone from ovulation until my period started. When I went from light to moderate bleeding, I started Tranexamic acid.

I moved in with family, and that turned into a disaster. One member is mentally ill, and started being verbally abusive to me, and eventually physically abusive towards my partner. Another was emotionally abusive.

During this time, the Tranexamic acid was no longer enough, and I started the 6 months course of Lupron. Normally, this shrinks fibroids 50%. Mine grew. My GYN and GYN oncologist thought this was due to cancer. After the hysterectomy, the lab found no cancer, and my doctors had no other explanation. I am firmly convinced that the emotional trauma I was experiencing during this time contributed to the lack of success of the Lupron. So I would still recommend it (and as a prior measure, Tranexamic acid) to people not in my situation.

Lupron is a GnRH analogue that can only be used short term. It's generally used to shrink fibroids prior to surgery. Our hope was that it would put me into menopause, and that since I was 55, I would stay there, and which point the fibroids would stay reduced due to the decreased estrogen levels of menopause. Lupron shots are very expensive. I'm a veteran, and did not have to pay for it, but I had to jump through many hoops in order to get it authorized. I wish I'd been insistent about getting Focused Ultra Sound when my fibroids were still small enough for this to be an option

A few years ago, I tried reducing fat and saturated fat and increasing fiber based on this and a few other articles: https://doctormurray.com/health-conditions/uterine-fibroids/ (I was already taking the fish oil and black cohosh the article also recommends.) "Reducing" for me meant staying under MFP's default of 50% for fat and under whatever the default for sat fat is. I think I was also taking the Tranexamic acid and progesterone. This did help reduce my bleeding, but when I started getting ready to sell my house and move the stress of this led me to slack off. And then I was in even more stress due to the toxic family situation

AnnPT77

LKArgh wrote: »

One last question:
I have figured out that I am always hungry in the evening, regardless of what I have eaten for lunch, while I rarely feel the same way at lunch time. I have never tried skipping meals consciously (I mean, it has happened because I was too busy, but not planned) and I am wondering if it is worth giving it a try, having breakfast, something very light for lunch, like fruit and then dinner (of course still counting calories).
Can anyone think of a reason why this might be a bad idea? I also have the fibroids with perimenopause and I supplement with iron, so I think it might not really be a problem nutrient-wise, right? In my last check-up, there were no other deficiencies.

Any experiment is worth a try. Different people find different routines more helpful.

That said: I found that eating a big breakfast (with plenty of protein), then protein at other meals (including lunch), was part of my formula for minimizing night cravings. The routine you're suggesting would make things worse for me, but it may indeed improve things for you.

If the routine you've outlined doesn't seem to be working over a few days to a week or so . . . maybe try something else. It can help to notice if there are days when you're a little more or less crave-y than other days, and look at possible reasons. Going for weight loss rate that's too aggressive is one obvious thing that can cause that, and so is increasing exercise (frequency, duration, intensity or type) more suddenly than optimal.

Also, keep in mind that a feature of evening is that we've had a long day and bedtime is approaching . . . implying that we're more likely to be fatigued in the evening. Fatigue makes the body seek energy, and food is energy . . . voila, cravings.

Sub-ideal sleep quantity or quality (or high stress) can therefore be a factor. So, sometimes better sleep/sleep hygiene or stress management techniques can help reduce cravings, too, by attacking a root cause.

Best wishes!

LisaW2021

Hi! You're looking for eating plans. Can I shift the discussion. Welcome to the Peri years. You are at a wonderful time in your life but no doubt along with this time comes a lot of stress, health issues, work stress and our bodies making a major shift. A little about me. I had a baby in my peri years. She was born and three months later my died passed away and three months later I lost my mom. After I finished breast feeding I went into a hard stop menopause. FYI - I never had weight issues until I entered this part of my life. Take a look at your stress levels. Cortisol is a beast. Take walks in beautiful places. It is not just about cardio but feeling peaceful and well. As far as meal plans go, pick one that you can stick with and cut back on how much you eat. I agree with journaling. Eat clean & don't use artificial sweeteners. All my best on your journey!

springlering62

You do you.

For years, obese me poo-poo’d the idea of artificial sweeteners. Give me cancer, they would. Too unhealthy, too risky. So I carried on scarfing down at least a couple pounds a day of the real stuff.

Nowadays I thank my lucky stars a sweet freak like me lives in a world that has developed them.

Minimal risk of anything from artificial sweeteners versus the grinding damage obesity was doing to my health?

Pardon me while I partake of my artificially sweetened, very low cal, high protein fresh homemade banana pudding ice cream after dinner treat.