50 cortisol levels

tdewveall

so many questions. What worked 5 years ago should I go back? IMF and ketogenic. 3 years ago switched up for body comp and muscle mass. Now… nothing seems to work I just gain weight. I want strength & to lose body fat percentage. Muscle is around 69% & fat is 39%. I’m 5’6 210. 50 years old and post menopause

AnnPT77

Hello and welcome (back?)!

I'm 69F, 5'5". post-menopausal by a long way (24 years, brought on by chemotherapy), severely hypothyroid (medicated). I lift only sporadically, but have more than average muscle mass for my demographic because of other things I do. I joined MFP at 59, class 1 obese. In a little under a year, I lost around 50 pounds, down to a healthy weight, and have been at a healthy weight for nearly 10 years since. This morning, 128.8 pounds, and probably around 26% BF +/-, which is reasonably in line with my personal goals.

I'm a big believer in finding the personally easiest-to-follow tactics that gradually lead to a good weight, and along the way create the routine habits that help a person stay there. What that looks like will vary individually.

Body fat levels are directly about calorie balance. Eat fewer calories on average than we burn in total, we lose weight. There's ample scientific research supporting that conclusion. Also, that's true whether we choose to count the calories or not.

That doesn't necessarily mean that weight loss is just "calories in, calories out" as a practical matter, even though calories are the foundation for weight loss.

Other things matter for health (nutrition, exercise, etc.), and can make losing/maintaining weight harder or easier (eating schedule, food choices, social context and more). Those latter things can affect weight management indirectly, through factors like energy level and ability to stick with one's plan. It's nuanced and personal.

For me, food logging and calorie counting proved to be the perfect thing. I experimented with food choices and timing, but stuck with the same range of foods I'd been eating, mainly changing portion sizes, proportions on the plate, and frequencies of calorie-dense but nutrient-sparse foods. My inner data geek likes counting calories, and - unlike some - I don't find it too time-consuming, stressful or obsessive. YMMV.

Personally, I wouldn't IF because I'm a hedonist aging hippie who appreciate minimal rules and restrictions. But if it helps you, then do it. I also wouldn't do keto because I've been vegetarian for 51+ years and love my veggies/fruits too much to even go low carb. (I know there are keto vegetarians and vegans. If they find it helpful and beneficial, I'm all for it . . . for them. 😉) To be clear, I'm not urging others to be vegetarian, either: It isn't necessarily healthier, it doesn't inherently or necessarily lead to weight loss. It's just a thing I do, and like, don't want to change.

Like I implied, different things will work for different people. I'll share the way I went about it, as something to consider. It may or may not suit you.

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

If you feel up to it, I'd recommend diving into the Community here, reading threads, posting questions, learning, maybe joining in some motivation or challenge threads in those parts of the Community. I've found doing that super-helpful, and feel like I've learned a lot that helped me.

As far as strength/muscle goals, a good progressive strength training program faithfully performed, and good overall nutrition (especially but not exclusively ample protein) are the ideal path in my understanding.

I'm cheering for you to achieve success with your goals, and betting that's achievable, with some patience and persistence. Weight management isn't a quick project with an end date - at least not for someone like me with a tendency toward overweight. Instead, it's a forever endeavor, mostly about remodeling routine daily eating and activity habits in positive, manageable ways.

In my experience, the quality of life benefits from succeeding are more than worth the effort it takes to accomplish.

Best wishes!