Menopause

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chulipa
chulipa Posts: 650 Member
Weight loss after menopause is it harder to get the pounds off and is there things you should or shouldn't eat

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  • dsboohead
    dsboohead Posts: 1,900 Member
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    I am done with menopause. Don't think it's the menopause that affects weight loss but the lack of muscle as we age.
    We can still lose weight either way. Calorie deficit!
  • chulipa
    chulipa Posts: 650 Member
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    I have just completed 12 months with no period so Im now officially in menopause
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,436 Member
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    I went through abrupt chemotherapy-induced early menopause at age 44. As far as I could tell, it was no harder for me to lose weight at age 59-60 than it is for anyone else of any age or menopausal status. I pretty much ate the foods I've always eaten, just in smaller amounts and somewhat different proportions, and lost 50+ pounds in just under a year.
  • chulipa
    chulipa Posts: 650 Member
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    I have always heard it was harder but I have lost about 17lbs since early April after seeing Ortho Dr for really bad knees and was told to lose some weight need bmi under 40 Im real close about 10-15lbs away just wish I could get closer before May 30th when I go back and see if Im going to get a knee replacement.
  • chulipa
    chulipa Posts: 650 Member
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    Im not very active because of my knees but i tryto walk as much as i can
  • workinonit1956
    workinonit1956 Posts: 1,043 Member
    edited May 2018
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    My own personal experience is that it’s been easier to lose weight post menopause than before, the reason being that every other time I’ve tried to lose in the past I’ve used a “diet” of some sort, gave up too soon because what I was doing wasn’t sustainable and went back to old habits. Learning what really works (cico) and applying it (patiently) is amazingly effective.
    Maybe it would have been even easier when I was younger, I don’t know. Now, I’m not to maintainance yet so I can’t speak to that but losing hasn’t been very difficult at all.
  • chulipa
    chulipa Posts: 650 Member
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    I lost a little over 100lbs back in 2016 but put most back on due to a knee surgery and 2 car accidents the last one was back in August I hit my knee on the dash and was told it was a bone bruise but I found out that i had 3 fractures and my meniscus is torn bad so have had trouble just walking but before I would walk a lot go to the gym I guess thats why before it seemed easier.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,973 Member
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    chulipa wrote: »
    I lost a little over 100lbs back in 2016 but put most back on due to a knee surgery and 2 car accidents the last one was back in August I hit my knee on the dash and was told it was a bone bruise but I found out that i had 3 fractures and my meniscus is torn bad so have had trouble just walking but before I would walk a lot go to the gym I guess thats why before it seemed easier.

    Ouch! Sorry to hear that :(

    While weight loss is of course possible without exercise, for me it is much, much harder.
  • chulipa
    chulipa Posts: 650 Member
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    It does seem harder
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
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    chulipa wrote: »
    It does seem harder

    If you were able to be more active last time you lost weight, and have to be more sedentary due to injuries this time around, I definitely agree it's most likely harder. I don't think because of menopause, but not being able to use exercise to add to your deficit means you are eating less for the same rate of loss. Hugs - hope you recover soon!
  • staraly
    staraly Posts: 54 Member
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    I'm in menopause as well as being hypothyroid and terribly accident prone (I have so many old injuries & broken bones from being hit by a car and other accidents = ongoing pain, some mobility problems).
    I don't think it is any more difficult to lose weight because of menopause, but as you get older you are more likely to have other health issues which can interfere with weight loss. These need to be identified and addressed.
    I've been working on my leaky gut which is now so much better. I'm getting more nutrition from my food and don't get random uncontrollable cravings or weird nutritional deficiencies anymore.
    I've also had undiagnosed and untreated allergies, which at least in part, led to leaky gut. This caused higher than normal levels of histamine which in turn interacts with estrogen. They increase and antagonize each other.
    It might seem counter-intuitive to have issues with estrogen dominance in menopause but it's because progesterone can fall much faster than estrogen, leaving a temporary estrogen dominance. That's when higher histamine levels become a problem. The relationship between these two is well documented.
    Many women with allergies may have noticed this effect previously with their PMS getting much worse as they age, even to the point of being incapacitated, and then things getting really out of control about the time of entering menopause.
    When you are in this state, weight loss can be extremely difficult as there is a kind of domino effect onto various systems of the body. Once I had my allergies diagnosed and managed through diet and meds, it kick-started my weight loss. Now, I'm losing normally.
    There are plenty of other health issues that come up as we age but as long as they are well managed we should be able to lose weight and maintain. They can even give us greater motivation to become healthier. I try to look at it all as an opportunity to put myself in a good position health-wise for the coming years.
  • emmamcgarity
    emmamcgarity Posts: 1,594 Member
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    I am post-menopausal and haven’t had an issue as long as I am consistently logging all of my food intake.
  • Maxxitt
    Maxxitt Posts: 1,281 Member
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    Loss of estrogen will make you store your fat differently, most likely, and for many women, this means a larger waist and high-hip fat. Other than that, the process of getting to a healthy weight is about the same.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    I've found it difficult, but I'm in the vanity weight maintenance category, so I wonder if that's part of it, and the damned distribution!
  • chulipa
    chulipa Posts: 650 Member
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    Thanks everyone so glad I got all this information from people who have gone through menopause