So frustrated. Any wisdom?

AnnPT77

musicfan68 wrote: »

KareninCanada wrote: »

1200 is too low unless you are tiny and inactive. But perimenopause and menopause do affect the metabolism a lot. Personally I am finding that about 1500 calories and ignoring exercise calories is my happy place, along with really paying attention to fiber and sugar intake. But I am not currently doing any weight training - when I was, I tried to also prioritize protein a little more.

I would play with the numbers a bit - try adding 100 calories a day, try taking away 100, try boosting fiber to 25-30g per day, cutting added sugar to under 20g per day, and make sure you are accurately measuring/weighing your food for a week or two so you have a good understanding of what portions look like.

Menopause/perimenopause does not affect metabolism! There are studies proving this is a myth. Your metabolism does not go down umtil at least 60 yes old and then it is only maybe a 5% decrease. It has everything to do with people just eat too many calories.

I agree with this, generally.

But some things menopause may do include reducing sleep quality/quantity (via hot flashes and such), accelerating loss of muscle mass, increasing chances of fatigue, and that sort of thing.

Issues on the sleep/fatigue side can spark appetite, which has two potential side effects: Eating subtly more (because food is energy and fatigue makes the body seek energy, loosely); and moving subtly less. If a person eats 100 calories over maintenance on average daily, or moves that much less, or a combination, we'd expect them to gain 10 pounds a year.

It's easy for portion creep to happen unnoticed, if not calorie counting (or not doing so meticulously). 100 calories is equivalent to a little extra full-fat ranch dressing on the salad, just as one example, but a person can also up their calorie average that much by eating some cheesy deep-fried appetizer or milkshake with add-ins once a week.

On the activity side, research has shown that a fidgety person can burn up to a couple of hundred more calories daily than an otherwise similar non-fidgety one, and I don't think most of us would notice if we were bouncing our knee less, changing positions at our desk less, and that sort of thing.

Muscle loss also has an impact on calorie needs. We tend to lose muscle loss with aging, unless we work pretty diligently and consistently to challenge our current strength, plus get overall good nutrition, especially adequate protein. Research suggests that most people don't do that kind of exercise, and that a large minority (if not a majority) don't get optimal protein as we age.

On top of that, there's evidence that at 50+ and beyond, we metabolize protein less effectively, so it becomes more important to spread it through the day for better absorption. A common eating pattern, though, is a carb-heavy breakfast, and focusing most of the day's protein on a nice piece of meat at dinner.

Muscle burns only a tiny bit more calories than fat (only about 6 calories per pound difference per day), so the metabolic impact is very small. But I suspect that gradually becoming less strong and fit contributes to habits of moving less, so burning materially fewer calories daily through movement, over time. These subtle habit changes are hard to notice!

I'm not saying all those things are true of any or all of people commenting with concerns on this thread, but they're common things, and worth some thought.

They're also things we can control nearly 100%: We can manage calorie intake, increase movement (exercise and/or daily life movement), get good nutrition (including protein), and do exercise that increases strength and muscle. Those won't necessarily yield instant results, but they add up to big differences over time (remembering that 100 calories per day = 10 pounds a year thing).

Just some thoughts.

Links for fellow geek/nerds:

Research suggesting metabolism is stable until around 60, then decline is slow: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8370708/
Research about protein and aging:
https://www.jamda.com/article/S1525-8610(13)00326-5/fulltext
Advice from fellow MFP-ers about strength training programs:
https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1
(Despite the title, it covers strength programs beyond lifting weights.)
Ideas from fellow MFP-ers about increasing daily life (non-exercise) movement:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1