Surviving peri-menopause/menopause? Help needed

Your post is so so much me! I am same age, same weight and built the same way. I also was a minny in high school as well. Wish both us of luck!

120-140 in carbs?

I looked back at this week, and I am between 127 and 175 in carbs a day. I'd say I average 155ish. If I try lower, I don''t want to feel "weak" exercising.

Do you feel weak at 120? I tried Atkins a long time ago, and it was no carbs/25 carbs. I felt sick and my side hurt.

Seems like a stupid question, but, what's your "rule" to keep it at 120-140? One slice of bread? Cereal? What do you keep in the back of your mind as you are choosing what to eat?

Here's my thoughts on low carb - bleh. Totally NOT sustainable for me. I eat between 200 and 220 grams a day, have two pieces of bread a day and fruit and veggies and a treat! Low carb is for some people BUT not for all.

I don't know if anything I say can help or not, but your experience is similar to my own. I'm 48 and always had a very fit, athletic figure, despite the fact that I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism over 20 years ago. For me, it has only been within the past few years that weight has piled on and perimenopause has been an issue. I had been thinking about posting my own topic, much like this one, concerning this subject, because I have yet to find a solution. What I have noticed is that I gain, what I consider to be, a ridiculous amount of weight in the week prior to my period. I'm talking about 4 or 5lbs! Then I lose it or nearly all of it, the following week. Water retention? I don't know. It's making weight loss that much more difficult, obviously, with a seesaw effect such as this. I've managed 13 lbs so far, but I can see that unless I find some solutions, this is going to take me years!
I can't speak as to anything concerning diabetes, because it's not something I know a lot about. I'm learning as I go, about protein/carbs, etc.
I always suggest to people to continue requesting tests for thyroid issues, though, because it is one of the most overlooked, but abundant conditions. Also, hereditary.
I hope you find out more info and will check back here, because I'd love some answers to the issues with belly fat. Good luck!

I wonder if this will help?

Cinnamon and Weight Loss

Cinnamon has a regulatory effect on blood sugar levels and simultaneously increases insulin levels in the body. It imitates the biological activity of insulin and increases the metabolism of glucose. Since high blood sugar levels can lead to increased storage of fat by the body, cinnamon helps prevent this increased storage of fat and enables you to lose weight. In addition, it influences the manner in which sugar is metabolized by the body and prevents the transformation of the metabolized sugar into fat. Cinnamon also delays the passing of food from the stomach into the intestine. Hence, you feel satisfied for a longer time and eat less. This helps you lose weight. Cinnamon also helps the body to process carbohydrates more efficiently and this assists you in losing a few pounds. Studies show that abdominal fat is more sensitive to the effects of cinnamon than fat from other parts of the body.

"my advise as a husband? Get your husband a gun so he can blow his brains out! LMAO "

To make it worse, our daughter is almost 12 years old . . . .

I went thru puberty when my mum was going thru menopause, it was awful!

I am seeing a doctor on Friday because I think I've started menopause or perimenopause....periods every 2 weeks, super heavy, cramps like I was a teenager again, and I'm hyper-emotional. No hot flashes or anything like that yet but I feel bad for my husband and kids because of my mood swings. I thought maybe I was depressed but then my stupid period came AGAIN and I realized it was probably that time.

I'm 46 in less than 2 weeks and my weight loss has been slow but steady....averaging .6 pounds a week. I tend to eat lower carb and I think that helps.

We should start a support group on here.....

I have insulin insensitivity and will not loose weight and may gain weight or stay the same when adding carbs even on 1200 calories per day. When I cut or reduce carbs I can have more calories and loose weight. Regular moderate exercise works too.

It is worth giving it a try.

Honestly, menopause was barely a blip on my radar. The worst was the hot flashes. All night long it was pushing the covers off because I was roasting, then pulling the covers back over me because I was freezing. I never felt the need for a supplement or any kind of treatment at all.

I do notice that weight is harder to lose that it used to be.

If you are gaining weight around the middle, are having trouble losing weight (even on 1200), and are only 42.. I would have to say that it is most probably insulin resistance. I'm 45, a newly diagnosed diabetic (but, I've probably had it for a few years). I was unable to lose weight, even on 1200 calories a day for 5 months! The diagnosis actually was the best thing for me.. I learned to lower my carbs Significantly (less than 30 grams a day) and now am dropping weight steadily and rather quickly (30 pounds lost in 2 months). Message me if anyone is interested in knowing more. Lowering my blood sugar really gave me a new lease on life.

This is what I was thinking while reading the OP as well.

Another suggestion is to weight and measure everything you eat. I log when I have a stick of gum, a packet of artificial sweetener, black coffee and tea, basically everything. I thought I was eating around 1200 cals a day, but it turned out I was actually closer to 1700 when I got really serious about weighing and measuring all my foods. I even log Pam cooking spray as a 1/2 teaspoon of oil because I'm pretty sure that is what it takes to coat my skillet.

My biggest estimate errors were with things like salad dressings and condiments. A tablespoon is a teeny-tiny amount of dressing. One of those packets of dressing you get from take out restaurants was closer to 1/3 of a cup, and was on the order of 300-400 calories per packet (the serving size is listed in tablespoons on the label, not for the entire packet).

I'm well into perimenopause with all the fun stuff that goes along with it. My progress has been very, very slow but at least I am making progress.

Calling help from my sisters out there who won the battles or war with our friend, Mr. Change of Life. How did you do it?
I am struggling with diet and exercise. I am tired, can't sleep at night, gained weight in the mid-section . . . everything but the hot flashes. Those haven't hit.

I eat 1200 calories AND I AM GAINING WEIGHT! If I exercise, then I stay the same weight. If I go over 1200 significantly, say to 2,000 calories, I gain a few pounds in a week! In my 20s and 30s, I was skinny minny. I ate at restaurants, ate the bread, dessert, drinks, and weighed between 120 and 130 pounds! Now, I've been creeping over 140, then 150, and now looking at the mid 150s. All of this in the past 2 years since hitting 42. Now, at 44, I am starving myself and working out. Nothing is budging. Instead, I gained 2 pounds this week, and it was AFTER Mr. Monthly.

Any advice out there?

I fought it and finally became successful. We are all different, but the following is a summary of what worked for me.

There is nothing easy about this journey. Don't give up. Keep your eye on the prize. You do not have to be perfect to do this. You just have to have more good days than not. A bad day is not the end of the world. Tomorrow is a new day. Just pick it right up again. Be kind to yourself at all times and never beat yourself up.

Being on a calorie deficit is hard. You can't do this journey on will power alone. You must set up your environment for success. Have a team around you in your real life, not just online. Get trigger foods out of the house. It will take some sacrifice and it's not easy. You might have to say no to some social events sometimes.


I’ve been an athlete all my life but it was just covered in a layer of fat. I am currently 51 years old and I started my fitness quest when I was 19 years old. I took an aerobics class and the instructor was 50 years old but had the body of a strong and fit teenager. I vowed I would be like her when I was 50. Over the years I ran and lifted weights, I practiced martial arts, ran marathons, hiked, skied, and biked. Over the decades the weight piled on. I kept on working out harder and harder thinking I would lose the weight but it kept growing. I tried diets, lost, then gained, lost, then gained, the typical yo-yo story. At age 48 I finally reached my peak of 171 lbs. at 5’1″. I had chronic back pain and thyroid and adrenal fatigue. I kept working out and running one marathon after the next thinking maybe this time it will work. Nope, the weight stayed on.

The problem is we eat too much. Our society has an overabundance of food and the smaller you are the less you need to eat. I’m small. I never realized how small until I finally lost the weight. I had the muscle and I always thought I had big bones because of my size but when I lost the weight I learned this is not true. I have strong bones from lifting and a healthy diet, but they are not necessarily “big”.

My biggest problem was not realizing that I ate too much. As I got older I stayed physically active but my weight did the slow creep up year after year. I could never understand why and I worked out harder and harder and still the weight crept up. I kept on running and lifting, but still the weight kept increasing and it didn’t seem to me like I was eating too much, I have never been one to stuff myself or binge, and I don’t watch TV and I stay active. I thought something was wrong with me, a slow metabolism or something.

On my own I learned to cut my portions more than half to lose weight and stumbled upon mini-fasting by simply not eating in the evenings or even skipping dinner because I had a late lunch and felt I had enough calories for the day. When I told a friend I thought I found the secret was mini meals and mini fasts because I’d lost 40 lbs. he told me to check out Eat Stop Eat and that is how I also found the Venus Index workout.

There is no mystery to weight loss, everyone thinks something is wrong, their metabolism is broken, they have low thyroid, they have menopause or whatever issue, they are as unique as a snowflake, whatever. I thought a lot of these things once too but once the doctor helped resolve the health issues for me I learned there is still no magic pill. Most people eat more than they need to and are not at good at estimating calories as they think they are. Most people have a lower BMR than they think they do. The only way to know for sure is to go to a lab and have it tested. It doesn't seem fair to have to eat less and feel a little hunger. It's hard to face the truth of it, very hard. It's not fun. It's drudgery at times. But if you learn to enjoy your smaller amounts of food (necessary to lose weight, since the reason we got fat in the first place was eating too much whether we knew it or not), and rejoice in your victories it can be done.

Your body loses weight in chunks, not linear. I have found that you can do everything right and your weight loss seems to plateau but if you are patient and keep exercising and eating at a deficit (however slight) you will lose it, it will suddenly "whoosh". There are so many variables for the scale; water retention, digestion, hormones, allergies, sodium, carbs, water intake, DOMS, inflammation, the list goes on. People mistakenly think they lose or gain weight when they eat more or less because of these fluctuations.

Losing weight requires tremendous patience. You will not lose it when you want it or where you want it. The body does its thing. Some apparent plateaus can last a month or so. You cannot make it happen faster. You must focus on two things; calories and exercise. Nothing else matters. Scales and metrics don't matter. The day in and day out grind of exercise and calories are all that matters. It is not very exciting until things fall into place. You get your victories and you ride one victory to the next.

The scale is a trend tool. The scale is good but put it away and only check once a week and only use it as a trend tool. It will fluctuate, it does not matter. Take front side and back progress pictures at least once a month. You will see differences that the metrics won't tell you and it's that little bit of NSV that will keep you going until the next victory.

To say eat more is wrong.

To say eat less is wrong.

To find the exact calories needed for YOU to be in a healthy sustainable calorie deficit is the right answer. Wait, if you need to adjust by 100 do it, wait, adjust, wait, adjust, wait. The tortoise wins this race.

All that matters is calories. A healthy balanced diet within a calorie budget for a deficit that is right for YOU is all that matters for weight loss. Don't make it complicated.

You want to eat as healthy as you can because it makes you feel better and perform better, and makes you healthier. There are a bunch of tricks and clean eating; reducing sugar (especially HFCS), fiber, white flour vs whole grain, low carb, low fat, on and on. All that matters is calories for weight loss. If you need to eat a certain way for health reasons or to feel better do it, but extensive good food and bad food lists will drive you insane at some point, it’s a constantly moving target. Just eat what you like, mostly healthy, mostly balanced, within a calorie budget. We all know what healthy is by now, just do it.

Also people play mental accounting games with calories just like with finances. Make steps to make sure you are making accurate measurements. Packaged foods can have MORE than they say but not less (they get in trouble if less so they would rather error with MORE).

If you typically intake sodium at a certain rate your body adjusts, but if you make a sudden change then you will see a spike.

Exercise is for making your lean body mass pretty (especially lifting weights) for when the fat is gone. Losing fat with no muscle is ugly and cardio alone will not make you pretty. You cannot out exercise too many calories.

Everyone needs resistance training to improve their health and bone density and this will especially improve your quality of life when you get older. But you will not gain all that much lean body mass as fast as everyone thinks. Guys of course will gain more. A DXA scan will prove the point. There are lots of stories about changing size but no one REALLY knows unless they do a DXA scan. Here's more about that --> http://bradpilon.com/weight-loss/intermittent-fasting-and-bulking/ this is true whether you IF or not. My DXA scans proved that I really didn't gain that much lean body mass yet I look very muscular for a female. I have very high bone density from over 30 years of lifting yet my lean body mass is still only 104 lbs and my RMR is still only 1380.

I recently had my DXA scan done and at 51.5 years of age I have the bone density of a super athletic 30 year old. That is a direct result of lifting for over 30 years. Now if that is not scientific proof that lifting weights keeps you younger I don't know what is! Also I believe it is why most people think I look much younger than I really am. Because of this I don't have to worry about osteoporosis. If you wait until you are older and your bones start to deteriorate it's a bit too late, you can't get back what you lost, and you can only start a resistance routine that will prevent further damage.

Cardio is good for you but it is optional. I love cardio, but you can't out exercise too many calories. Of course you burn calories, but not near what all the HRM's say. I learned the hard way, running marathon after marathon (yes even multiple runs during the day), as well as hitting the gym hard, martial arts, staying active all the time, not eating while watching TV, not binging, not mindlessly eating, not pigging out, not having emotional eating issues, yet I gained weight year after year, each decade putting on the pounds. I worked harder and harder, not able to figure out what was wrong. It didn't seem like I ate too much, but for my small size I did and didn't realize it until just a few years ago when I finally started losing weight by eating less.


Everyone is different, but it's very easy to do a lot of cardio and think you can eat more than you really need, especially when you need to lose weight. It is also easy to think that you are burning more fat than you really are. Just do cardio if you enjoy it and because it's good for you.

Too many changes at once can be hard on some people. I've always eaten healthy so it easy for me to simply eat less. Eating at a calorie deficit is hard on people; even a small deficit puts your body in a state of flux with hormones and such. Everyone is different. Some people can handle a deeper calorie deficit than others, this is not right or wrong, it just is. Stress in your life affects your hunger hormones; lack of sleep, fatigue, job stress, family stress, financial stress, etc. Add in emotional eating issues and it gets even more complicated. Most people can only handle so much change/stress at once, they try to do too much and fail. Sometimes it might be a better strategy to eat at maintenance and make some small changes first, it really depends on how much stress you are taking in at the moment.

What is the exact number of calories for you?

We’ve been trying to figure out an exact NUMBER of calories that everyone should be eating, without recognizing that everyone is slightly different. In truth, the calories aren’t the end game. Your body is. So the EXACT amount of Calories that are right for you is the EXACT amount that will allow you to maintain your ideal bodyweight no matter what some calculator or chart says.

In other words, an online calculator might tell you that you need to eat 2,500 calories
per day to maintain your ideal bodyweight. But the only way to know for sure if this is
the right amount for you is to test it out. If you gain weight or can’t lose weight eating
that much, then you know you need to eat less to lose weight no matter how many
calculators and text books say otherwise.

This doesn’t mean your metabolism is broken, it just means the estimate of your needs
was just a bit off.

-John Barban (The Body Centric Calorie Guide from the Venus Index and Adonis Index Manuals)

The good thing is you don't have to worry about the starvation mode myth if you are fat. Only skinny people have to worry about starvation mode. It does not mean you have the capability to eat at a large calorie deficit if you have emotional eating disorders or other issues going on, but at least you don't have to be afraid of it anymore.

I am short, petite, small; my RMR is low compared to others. With my doctors approval I had to eat less than or right around 1000 calories to lose weight. We are all different. There is no one size fits all. Even people my height and gender are different and some need more calories than I do. My doctor checked my hormone levels throughout my 60 lb weight loss journey (from obese down to 10% body fat) and everything was fine. I got stronger and stronger at the gym, my running and weight lifting strength improved even while eating on a significant calorie deficit. My DXA scan proved I did not lose lean body mass or go into starvation mode.

Also you do not have to eat the same amount of calories every day. You can think of it as a weekly calorie budget. You can eat low some days and high some days. You can be flexible. You can find what is sustainable for you.

The Theory of Fat Availability:
•There is a set amount of fat that can be released from a fat cell.
•The more fat you have, the more fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
•The less fat you have, the less fat can be used as a fuel when dieting.
•Towards the end of a transformation, when body fat is extremely low you
may not have enough fat to handle a large caloric deficit anymore.

At the extreme low end, when your body fat cannot ‘keep up’ with the energy deficit
you've imposed on your body, the energy MUST come from SOMEWHERE. This is
when you are at risk of losing lean body mass during dieting (commonly referred to
as ‘starvation mode’). This happens at extremely low levels of body fat, under 6% in
men and 12% in women [Friedl K.E. J Appl Phsiol, 1994].

-Brad Pilon and John Barban (from The Reverse Taper Diet in The Adonis Index and Venus Index manuals)

For me it's all about a calorie budget. I had less of a budget available when I was losing weight, more to spend now that I'm maintaining and all the tools I used for weight loss come into play for the rest of my life maintaining.

When you have accumulated excess fat, you have accumulated a debt. It is hard to pay off the debt (you have less calories to spend). If you are sitting next to someone your same gender and height and they are not overweight and you are, they get to eat more than you (have more calories to spend) because they are debt free. You have less calories to spend because you are paying off your debt.

Wishing you the best! -Bobbie

2 facts: It sucks & you have to work HARDER if you want this.

I don't know about you but when I was younger, I was more active. That is why I was smaller & healthier. I had to get off my *kitten*, burn calories, build muscle and start eating right to make a difference. No more excuses. That's it.

As far as the pre-menopause symptoms go, I've only had hot flashes and night sweats. The only thing I've found that really works 100% is HRT. Now that I can no longer take hormones due to a blood clotting disorder, I can only take supplements. I take Estroven Energy and it got rid of my night sweats completely. I still have hot flashes but the more I exercise, the fewer I seem to have. If I start having a lot of them, I eat roasted edamame and drink SIlk light chocolate soymilk.

I exercise a lot, including walking, biking, swimming and running. I am 51 years old and after having some back pain, I had an mri. The Dr. told me that I have the spine of an 18 year old, so I must be doing something right.

Also, I'll add that as you lose fat, you also lose stored estrogen and that makes your symptoms worse. You just have to remember that although you are more miserable, you are still healthier!

Keep moving, eat healthier and stay positive. Although we are miserable, no one has died from menopause. Well maybe some men, but that's another topic.

Good luck!

I think I am diabetic. I was told at my last md appt after blood work that I was border b/c I was running 118 at a fasting sugar. On my diet i was under a little with the carbs today, maybe thhhattts why I am EDGY. I just started this journey so I want to see if I can lose to begin with.

Maybe I should try to cut out the bread. Lets see what I weigh tomorrow.

I think i have the hot flashes.. and if my hair on my head grew as fast as the hair on my chin, I would be freaking rapunzel. As it is.. I do a good ZZtop impression.


New job next week.

Jane

I am 49 and am still fairly regular, but I am sure I must be peri meno by now. I kept a fairly normal weight up until my third baby at 36, and a disabling back injury at 37, then when I hit 40, the weight started coming on faster. By 45 I hit my all-time high of 237. I am very short waisted and carry all of my weight in my midsection already, so hitting my 40s just made it even worse. My mom died this summer of Type 2 DIabetes caused organ failures. I have kept my blood sugar within range, but 4 years ago my triglycerides were over 600, which indicated DIabetes was just around the corner. Thru diet changes I have lowered my tri level to around 200, but still need to get it lower. And weight loss has just been so slow and frustrating.

I started here at the end of August at 228. At 5'6" , that put me at around 55% Body Fat.

As of this morning, I am at 201 lbs. I also am riding my recumbent bike 4-5 days per week.

For my body, staying around 1200 per day has been working for me. I also found that lowering my carb level has been the key to a steady loss, without high water fluctuations, and I don't get hungry or have cravings for carbs/sugar anymore.

The sweet spot for me has been keeping my 'net' carbs, with fiber grams deducted, between 30 and 50 grams per day. I shoot for 20-25 g of fiber per day, so my total carbs are usually around 50-75. Around Thanksgiving that number went up to about 100-120 for a couple of days and it really thru me off. Weight stalled and the cravings came back. I felt hunger for the first time in months, even tho I ate higher calories than normal. After 2 days of keeping the net carbs under 50, the hunger and cravings were gone and my weight started dropping again.

Some women are able to eat higher carbs without problem, but for many of us, it really hinders our progress.

My macros are set at 25% Carbs/30%Protein/45%Fat

My carbs come mostly from veggies and 1 fruit serving a day.

My fats come from nuts, seeds, avocados, eggs, and some cheeses. I love Almonds, especially the cocoa roasted ones. Heavenly!
I have also discovered Pine Nuts recently and will sprinkle those on my salads sometimes if my cal level is low for the day.

I eat mostly fresh, unprocessed food, but my exception is Atkins Protein bars. The Hazelnut breakfast bars are awesome, as are the caramel nut rolls. They help up my protein levels, and have super low net carbs. And they are chocolate. yeah.

Weight loss is definitely more difficult at this age, but it isn't impossible. I am shooting for ONE-derland by Tuesday, which will be my 100th day. Yay!

So hang in there.