Near or post menopausal group

debs6

Do we currently have a sub group or thread for women who are peri menopausal or beyond? If not - perhaps it would be great to start one. We all know how hormones impact on our body weight and the ability to lose that weight- perhaps we can help each other out with tips and support.
Debbie

vizamy

Peri-menopausal. That's me!

Janny2011

Me too - & I agree that we do have our particular weight loss challenge

vizamy

I don't know what it is yet, as I have some more broad ranging health stuff to deal with. I suppose it just works in there with the rest of it. So I'd be interested to find out what is menopause and what might be other things.

vizamy

BTW debs your little dog is delightful. Westie?

eggmcg

i'm in !

debs6

Thanks Visamy - he is delightful- albeit scruffy and badly in need of a trim. He is my first ever Westie - indeed my first ever little white dog- but I have forgiven him for that. He is such a character- I love him to bits
Debbie

vizamy

He has that inquisitive terrier face. "Wassup?"

vizamy

Soooo, what do people find are their challenges at this time?

reneelee

bump

gmomlyn

Hi ladies!
I'm 55 and went though menopause at 46 1/2. Just before my last period ever, I had gone to the doctor for my yearly physical just weeks before and she did blood work and told me I was years away from menopause. Obviously not. Anyway, I have been lucky because I never experienced the mood swings, hot flashes, etc, that so many women get. What I have experienced is the weight gain......in particular, weight gain in the belly. Yuck! Luckily, I have no health issues yet either.

Prior to menopause, my weight was in the high 140's to low 150's most of my adult life. I was 5' 7 1/4 inches too....but at my last physical the doctor told me I'm 5"6.5" now. Yeah, I guess shrinking is another sign of getting older, lol. Anyway, by the time I went through menopause, my weight had gone up to 170. Not good, but I felt good and tried not to pay too much attention to the extra weight. Then when I hit my 50th birthday, I weighed myself cause my clothes were either extremely tight or I couldn't fit into most of them anymore. Holy moley...200! So, I put myself on a 1200 calorie diet and began doing WATP videos every day. Within 3 1/2 months I was down to 160, but then I stopped counting calories and exercising. It took about 2 years, but the weight came slowly back on and I found myself at 200 again. So....1200 calorie diet again and back to WATP everyday. I lost 40 pounds again. But once again I didn't keep it off because I stopped counting calories and exercising. On 8/31/11, I weighed myself and I was 202.4. Yikes. Here I go again. This time I found MFP, and I'm again sticking to 1200 calories a day and doing WATP everyday. I'm 17 days into this diet, and I'm down 10 pounds already. What I have to do this time around though is not stop when I reach my goal. I have to learn how to maintain. When I was younger, I was fairly active and could eat anything I wanted and not gain. Obviously not so anymore. So.....I'm going to have to work doubly hard this time....to lose the weight and then keep it off for good.

BTW... I'm married (34+years), I have 3 grown children (1 boy and 2 girls) and I'm a grandmother of 10 (3 girls, 7 boys). Also, I was a preschool teacher, but "retired" at 50 to stay home and help my own children out by watching their children for them.
I'm a GS leader for 3 troops....that keeps me busy besides watching grandchildren.

Oh...and I also have a little white dog.....a Bichon. She's a sweetie too, but is in much need of a haircut....and keeping her white is near to impossible, especially with all the rain we have been getting here in NJ during the past 2 months.

Good luck on your weight loss journey everyone!

vizamy

Thanks for sharing.

I've been getting the hot flashes thing but not too drastically, not enough to really disconcert me.

I've been overweight since I had my son who is ten, and I put on more when I had major health issues several years ago. So I don't know if I'm finding it harder since being peri menopausal.

What I was doing before was raising my exercise but I wasn't tracking what I was eating. What I found when I got here was that I was simply eating too much. On the whole I was eating healthy food but just too much of it.

So far I'm down 6kg and much fitter. It's a bit of a struggle ATM as I have a vestibular disorder so I'm trying to get over that.

napanda69

I'm way post-menopause. I had a full hysterectomy 6 years ago. It affects my body shape, energy levels, and my difficulty losing weight...I'm in!

RagtimeLady

Oh, boy, I'm in, too!!! Read my profile for the whole story. Meno is bad enough, but I'm sure many of us also suffer other insults to our metabolism - antidepressants (biggie!), pain killers , arthritis, bad backs, all that stuff. It' horrible! I swear, those who have not experienced it have NO IDEA of how hard it is to lose weight!

What's finally working for me is 1 to 1.5 hours of SERIOUS CARDIO. I'm out every day I can riding a bike, kayaking, hiking, "wogging" (not ready for real jogging yet), and when I can't get out I either go to the gym or work out on my own elliptical. I have a heart rate monitor. I've had my metabolism tested, so I know exactly how many calories I burn at different heart rate zones. I think I should have that done again - I can tell that things are changing.

But it took me so long to see any progress - it was quite disheartening. I've been at it now for more than 2 months. I can tell my metabolism is cranking up because I'm getting hot flashes again... :-/

We old broads just gotta work harder!

sandrawmorris

I am 51 and menopause blind-sided me about 2 years ago. Have never had a problem with weight until this past year. I can't lose it! It's driving me crazy. I'd like to be in!

mkaluzny

I am 54 years old (55 in October). I experienced my last period over 10 years ago. Yea, I did the night sweats thing and I guess the hot flashes. I really didn't know what to expect; so I ignored it all. Nothing seemed too bad. I must have been awful sweaty at night because my husband, a physician, brought home some hormone concoction for me to take. I ignored that too.

When I first started menopause my weight jumped about 7-10 pounds. I was in the 140s range. I dropped down to 130-135 after about a year. I am only 5' 4". This past year, I blossomed to 137. That was it. I started MFP in June and am currently at 120lb.

I do have a gut and extra fat around my hips that I seems to not want to leave. As far as energy levels, I am a morning person and anything done before 2:00 PM I can hit full speed. After that I give it the lazy woman's effort. I still run or walk 3-5 miles a day. I take calcium supplements with vitamin D, per my physician. My blood pressure is 106/70 or so.

My biggest problem is that after 5 pregnancies, I do not have the bladder control of a younger me. Jumping, running, sneezing, laughing, even walking at times causes me to drip. Disgusting, I know. I keep thinking of the Circle of Life song from the Lion King.. When I was young, I wore diapers. Someday, I may have to again.

An aside, I have a white dog too. He is a big, strong, strapping, blind in one eye and deaf 17 year old husky. He still pulls a sled and loves to go for walks every night. Talk about motivation for me!

kduncan704

I'm in as well. I'm peri-menopausal and dreading the whole thing--especially the weight gain!

AbbyFlower

Hello Ladies! Please add me to the list

I've been in full menopause since age 40 (5 years) as a result of treatment for recurrent breast cancer. I would so welcome a support group like this - most of my friends haven't even begun to consider the changes our bodies go through at menopause. It's like getting to know your body all over again.

Wishing us all the best!

Maura5

Hi ALL,
Please add me as a pal! I'm having challenges daily trying to navigate through this menopausal weight loss (or lack thereof) thing! I need all the encouragement & tips I can get. I'm nice, too, just ask my pals :-)
Maura5

Tiffanydepiano

I am in without question! I don't know how to create a group however. :blushing:

Tiffanydepiano

I am in without question! I don't know how to create a group however. :blushing:

mkaluzny

Maura is so on the ball. We all need to stay together as pals. I can tell you all she is supportive. She was one of the first friends I had on MFP. Let's go ladies - the best is yet to come!!

carolinebenforado

I would love to be in this group. I have had problems with my weight for the last 15 years, but now that I'm past menopause, it is just a disaster. I'm so frustrated and unhappy.

UltraRunnerGale

I am 52. A couple of years ago I started going through menopause. First off, I started having crazy periods. I suddenly started having super heavy bleeding, so heavy I had to use tampons and pads together (something I had never done in the past).
Then I would go months without a period, then, out of the blue I'd have the period from hell. Soon I started getting wicked hot flashes, although I had no night sweats (thank God).

Even though I was a runner, I slowly started putting on weight. I had been 130 pounds for a long time, but the scale started creeping up. Last year I signed up to do my first ultra marathon and started running more. I figured the weight would come off due to the extra mileage, but it never happened. This year I got up to almost 150 pounds, the highest I had ever been in my life. I was right at 150 when I was pregnant! It seemed like no matter what I did, I couldn't drop the weight. I know some of you may think 150 pounds isn't much, but it was for me.

A running friend who is serving in Afghanistan was using this site, so I tried it. By being able to track calories vs. work outs, I could finally see where I was making my mistakes. In the last little over three months, I've lost 20 pounds and am almost to my goal weight of 125 pounds (a place I haven't been to in a decade or more)! When I get to 125, I will decide whether or not I want to get down to 120. I will probably stop there.

I am now feeling 100% better and lighter., I don't "feel" the fat on my body anymore. I am running faster and I look great in clothes!!

When you go through menopause, your metabolism slows way down but it's not the end of the world. Weight loss can be accomplished but it takes a heck of a lot of hard work and you must exercise. Is it fair? No! But it's a fact of life. We can learn and fix it, or become fat and disabled.

Feel free to add me. :bigsmile:

lennykat

bump-

A peri here-- considering I started my TOM today. I've been on a 20 day cycle for about 6 months now with the visit lasting about 3 days. Considering I've been exercising for 9 months, watching what I eat for about 4 and really buckling down in the last two and lost

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ZERO

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pounds I'm thinking it's time to talk to my doctor about testing my thyroid and hormone levels.

Anyway- for those of you ladies who've already been through this or starting or whatever-- I've heard that weight loss can be a REAL struggle-- but what specifically makes it so hard, what were your goals and how long did it take you to see some success/results?

Thanks in advance.

sandrawmorris

I am not sure what my problem is. The doc says I'm fine. But, I weighed 151 when I gave birth to my oldest almost 22 years ago. This a.m. I weighed 153. Yesterday it was 156. My weight bounces all over the place. One day last week I was at 146. I exercise regularly. Have been for the past 20 years. I don't run anymore (they keep it hot as Hades in the club I go to), but I walk, ride the bike and do weight-training. I am guessing my diet is my problem, though I eat healthier now more than ever. It is very depressing.

JaneP2011

Well for the last year I've been gettng terrible insomnia in the two-three days leading up to my period. And if I don't get enough sleep I tend to over eat the next day. So on top of the usual monthly carb-cravings I get an extra dose of over eating which is related to the lack of sleep, I think. So while I might be a pretty good dieter for 3 weeks, all my effort is being cancelled out in the build up and start of menstrul week. :-(

RagtimeLady

One thing I can recommend is getting your metabolic rate tested. I had a New Leaf assessment done at a relatively close health club (which is, unfortunately, too far away for me to consider a membership). I now know exactly how many calories my body needs to survive at rest (which is DISGUSTINGLY low), plus exactly how many calories my body burns in different heart rate zones, and what my anaerobic threshold is - or was, as I have greatly improved that over the last 8 weeks.

I also talked with my doctor about thyroid testing. Last time I had it done it was within normal range but on the low end. We decided to hold off on that to see if I couldn't boost my metabolism through exercise. Had I not recently started to see improvement, I would be in for a test, but I don't think I need that yet.

Here's information about the New Leaf test - there's also a locator there if you're interested in the testing. It is NOT CHEAP, but worth every penny if you want to know exactly what's going on in your body.

aiyana1228

I'd like to join as well. I am Peri... I am 53. I have had night sweats for years but thats it. I started period young-4th grade- and the doc said when you start young you tend to go long. Great. I was even going to get the laser thing done but the doc said since I am in the end of the range it seems pointless. Would like the support from others in similar stage of life.

lizziebeth1028

OMG!!! I want to hug you of all! Count me in! I'm 53 (next month) and still in the peri phase......haven't had a period in 3 months now. NEVER has it been so easy in my life as now to gain weight!! All those little 'cheats' here and there that I could get away with when I was younger just go right to my mid section now. Sucks! I feel your pain and know exactly what you all are going through!!! Let's hang in there and keep fighting the good fight sisters!!

caligirl328

I completely agree and would love to join in! in the last 6 months I've discovered my body going through all kinds of changes! Can't sleep, hot flashes, *****iness, I am also finding i am retaining up to about 5 pds of water (which freaks me out and makes me think ive actually gained that amt of weight) periods that last 3 weeks then some that last 3 days! Oh the joy of going through menopause....NOT!