Post-Menopause and Weight loss
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I am 53, been menopausal for 3 years, and have lost 52 pounds since Sept. 2012. I have bad knees so I only work out 3x week on my recumbent bike. Otherwise, I am a very busy lady who likes to garden, cook, and clean (I have a 13 yr. old), so I believe I burn a lot more calories than I log.
I don't care about studies, surveys, or what so-called "experts" have to say, and that includes doctors. I am living proof that this can be done.
yayyyyy xx0 -
hang about....you like to CLEAN????0
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I'm peri-menopausal and It took me a year to get 50lbs off. I've gained back about 10 from sloppy eating. It was harder than when I was younger, it was slower, and I put weight back on easily. But the MFP record keeping and set at 2lbs loss, gradually going with 1/2 pound loss toward the end, worked. I worked up slowly to an hour or more of exercise. Sometimes I only do 30 minutes. But I try and always exercise 7 days a week. Big variety, including weights and strength. I even started running (shocker!) and i'm up to 3 miles at least 4 days a week or so. But mainly it was the food, and the quality of food. It's 2/3 the food you choose and the portion, and 1/3 exercise efforts. Exercise is the icing on the cake and will shape you up, plus jack up your metabolism. I can eat more with more muscle and not gain. So the big thing that lets me eat more is gaining and keeping muscle.
The sad fact is I can't eat a whole lot like I used to and not gain. Once you get used to changing up the quality of your diet this isn't as big of a problem as it sounds. Filling up more on good low calorie food instead of waste calories has helped me not to be hungry on my allotment. Keep going! Persistance and slow progress is how it works!0 -
WHY DO DOCTORS SAY SUCH THINGS! IT IS RUBBISH! Yes, it's harder to lose than when you're younger, but no way is that much cardio necessary to simply maintain! I'm sorry for the shouting but this is the second time today that I've seen this ridiculous claim.
Most of my loss was with 30 minutes of Curves curcuit training 3 times per week.0 -
hang about....you like to CLEAN????
LOL Chato! You are so funny! xox
And YES, I like to clean! I;m kinda anal that way. :blushing: :laugh:0 -
hang about....you like to CLEAN????
LOL Chato! You are so funny! xox
And YES, I like to clean! I;m kinda anal that way. :blushing: :laugh:
lol....can I jump in here? I like to clean too......but I hate cooking. I do it, but only because I have to.
So.... I'm 57 and I've been post menopausal since I was 46 1/2. Just prior to menopause, I slowly put on weight until I was about 50-60 pounds heavier than I was for the first 20+ years of my adult life. I am 5'6" and a pear shape. In the past almost 10 years, I have lost this weight 3 times. Each time I didn't find it difficult to lose weight at all. It's keeping it off that's the hard part. Mostly because after I lost the weight, I would slowly return to the way I used to eat before I ever had a weight issue. So....here I am back on mfp. I've lost 27 pounds since early May of this year. I want to lose at least another 30 pounds....and I fully expect to be able to do that. Just going to have to work at keeping it off after I lose it. I'm eating around 1200-1400 calories a day. I take my multi vitamin and extra calcium/vit D. For exercise....I'm doing about 45 minutes to 1 hour about 4 times a week......this consists of fast walking/slow running on my treadmill or outside, WATP videos and doing some beginner weight training with my 3 lb weights. I also stay active running after my 11 grandchildren and the girls in my Girl Scout troops. Oh...and I'm lucky......besides the weight gain with menopause, I never had a hot flash or any of the other issues women can have. 0 -
I agree--menapause really accelerated my weight loss, I NEVER thought it would happen, but BOOM-here i am with at LEAST 50 pounds to lose, a very bad back, and discouraged, feeling unattractive. I am hoping MFP will really help me refocus and help me work on what i eat
. I used to be one of those super skinny woman, never dreaming this would happen. 0 -
I gained some weight when I married DH at age 50. We relocated for my job and he retired (he was 65) and took over the cooking. He cooks pretty healthy but you still have to exercise portion control!
I hit menopause around age 53, I think, so I chalked it up to that. I was wrong. I got into 5:2 fasting a couple of years ago, then got roped into a sprint triathlon and decided I better train harder. I got my cardio routine up to 45 minutes a day. I'm 5'7 and over a couple of years went from 147 to 129 and have maintained it. Right now I do almost an hour of cardio a day during the week and more on the weekends. Today it was 45 minutes in the pool and later an hour and 15 minutes bicycling (about 15 miles).
Having had a hard time losing weight when I was on BC pills in my early 20s, I'm convinced that hormonal changes can make weight loss harder- but it's not impossible. And DH's eyes still light up when he sees me naked. Life is good!0 -
There is absolutely no reason why being menopausal should make weight loss any different than any other time in life. The problem is usually losing lean muscle mass so the key is to be active and not let that happen. It's more of an old wives tale to explain the middle age spread than it is based in fact. As we age we do less, eat more, gain weight and lose muscle. Reverse all of those and you'll be fine
I used to have that same opinion... and then Post surgical menopause proved me wrong. There are many studies that support a link to weight gain and estrogen loss.
Absolutely and it was proven to me in university and through my own adjustment to menopause that as women age our metabolism slows down and you combine that with estrogen loss and the many problems we go through later in life (surgeries etc.) of course its harder to lose weight. Many women end up with body aches and pains that they aren't use to as well which slows us down. The symptoms that some women experience with menopause vary but many are extreme and very uncomfortable making weight loss a bigger challenge. Such as the following:
Common Symptoms
1. Hot Flashes
2. Night Sweats
3. Irregular Periods
4. Loss of Libido
5. Vaginal Dryness
6. Mood Swings
Changes
7. Fatigue
8. Hair Loss
9. Sleep Disorders
10. Difficult Concentrating
11. Memory Lapses
12. Dizziness
13. Weight Gain
14. Incontinence
15. Bloating
16. Allergies
17. Brittle Nails
18. Changes in Odor
19. Irregular Heartbeat
20. Depression
21. Anxiety
22. Irritability
23. Panic Disorder
Pains
24. Breast Pain
25. Headaches
26. Joint Pain
27. Burning Tongue
28. Electric Shocks
29. Digestive Problems
30. Gum Problems
31. Muscle Tension
32. Itchy Skin
33. Tingling Extremities0 -
I am post-menopause and I seem to be doing well losing weight on myfitnesspal. I try my best to stay at 1200 cal a day and make sure I stay within my limits on my settings. I do go a bit over at time, who's perfect....haha. But if I stay right on it I do we'll. one secret is I add a food first and if takes my goal up too high I choose something else. Lost 12 pd back in Feb but went on vacation and well gained some back. Not giving up I am back keeping track... Yes I walk or ride my bike, love it because it gives me extra cal, which I really don't use.0
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I think what is important is to find something that is sustainable...therefore the gym is out for me as I hate it so much. Zig-zagging my calorie intake is in for me as it fits in so nicely with my working life and I STILL get to treat myself on my weekends off. In fact, I am basically doing what I used to do before I got fat in the first place!!0
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This mirrors my experience. I only walk for my exercise about 10 miles a week only and Lost at about a pound a week since last August. I never thought those 6 inches round my middle would go but they have.I'm age 59 and have lost 29 pounds since 4/1/2013. I lose 1-2 pounds almost every week. I'm thrilled with my weight loss and very happy that I found MFP.
My exercise so far is walking, I leave my car at home and walk to work and local errands (except to buy really heavy things). i walk in town during the week and hike in a national park near my house on the weekend. I'm slowly upping my distances. When I started walking, I did 4 miles and thought I would die. Last weekend I hiked 10 miles with no problems
It helped me to pick exercise I enjoy and incorporate it into my life in a natural way -- then it doesn't seem like a chore.0 -
Was looking for any women who are post menopausal and wondering how their weight loss is coming along. I just walked in the door from my dr appt and since April the scale is the same! Now I know it's not all about the scale. I have lost a very few inches which I am grateful for. It bites though! I work out 6x a week I do cardio and I use weights. Right now I am currently doing Insanity. Just started the third week. No weight loss. The dr. told me that post menopausal women need to work out 5 hours a week to just MAINTAIN their weight! Was wondering if this is how it is for others or are you losing working out around 5 hours? Im just wondering about how many hours I will need to workout to have the scale go down. I know everyone is different just trying to get an idea. Thanks in advance!!
I am post menopausal, I will be completely and utterly honest:
To lose weight, I have to go on 1200 calories per day, it is all very well for people that are not even verging on the brink of starting their change, let alone 18 year old lads tell me that all will be fine upping calories to 1800 or 2000, because it will not. End of.
I exercise three times per week (running) and weights once per week. I run anything from 30 minutes to one hour at a time.
Regarding maintaining weight, my maintenance level (from past experience is 1600 calories per day) - I know, some people can lose on that, I cannot.
You do not have to kill yourself OP, just ensure you eat the correct nutrients and keep active, but you definitely do not have to go exhausting yourself into oblivion and yes, it definitely can be done xxx0 -
The symptoms that some women experience with menopause vary but many are extreme and very uncomfortable making weight loss a bigger challenge. Such as the following:
Common Symptoms
1. Hot Flashes
2. Night Sweats
.... .. 33. Tingling Extremities
Wow- that list is going to make women in their 40s want to jump off of tall buildings! For the record, I really noticed only #s 1,2,5 and 8. I've learned to ignore the hot flashes and night sweats; I roll up my sleeves or kick off the sheets without even remembering why. I got a prescription ring that delivers estrogen exactly where it's needed for #5, and just have to live with #8. Partly it's heredity. I"ve also read that some of these symptoms can be worse if you're overweight, so there's some motivation. I'm also convinced that exercise cures everything. An oversimplification, of course, but I'm sure it helps.0 -
It's worth saying, my symptoms got much better and some went away, for the most part, or leveled to "normal", with weight loss. I was asking for hormone replacement or antidepressants to help get me through at my heaviest weight. Which, btw, just caused more problems and was expensive, so I never continued with it. I just resigned myself to feeling sh$$$y.
The next year I was completely changed around with less fat and 9 inches off my belly. I'm less foggy, less noticeable and problematic hot flashes, less intense mood swings. That has got to be incentive!0 -
People that don't have bad periods often think the ones that do are just being dramatic and weak. And this statement (above) is false. But good for you if you don't have any problems except needing to get back off your butt and not overeat!There is absolutely no reason why being menopausal should make weight loss any different than any other time in life. The problem is usually losing lean muscle mass so the key is to be active and not let that happen. It's more of an old wives tale to explain the middle age spread than it is based in fact. As we age we do less, eat more, gain weight and lose muscle. Reverse all of those and you'll be fine.0 -
I am only 40, but six rounds of chemo put me into early menopause. I don't know what research says, but what I do know is that it has been really tough to lose weight. I don't know if it is the chemo effects or the menopause but I definitely think it is harder to lose now. I tend to do better when I eat low-glycemic. Calories in calories out is an overall guiding factor, but I really do think that everyone is different and there is a "formula" (of exercise & food) that works best for each individual. Now if I could just figure out what formula works for me, I'd be golden!0
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With many of you, it appears the difference is the amount you have to lose. " Eat less carbs", "do more cardio"....all I can say is, I work out with a trainer, do cardio, and eat 45 or less grams of carbs and I still do not lose weight. I would say I have maybe ten pounds to lose. Those last ten pounds are something you don't experience when you are losing 1-2 pounds a week. In fact, I GAINED weight when I started working out with a trainer, but it is ok because most of that was muscle and I feel so much better with the extra muscle. I have starved myself to get the weight off, and it left me with saggy skin. Gaining the muscle filled in that saggy skin and I feel better. I don't really have anything to solve your problems except...keep on going. I will let you know if I ever find that secret solution all the ads claim to have!0
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I am peri-menopausal or perhaps now menopausal (haven't gotten last blood results yet). I find exercise to be more important now for weight loss than when I was younger. Less calories without exercise doesn't produce the results it used to. But that's a good thing I think, since exercise is now so important to prevent muscle and bone loss.0
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Honestly, most of us don't have an hour a day to do cardio.0
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