Menopause

ss21469
ss21469 Posts: 2 Member
in Introduce Yourself
I am 49 years old and hit the perimenopause overnight and within 8 months I have put 18lbs on. My weight 8 months ago was 10 stone, I am 5ft 3" I am now 11 stone 8lbs and I am heart broken because I have never been this fat. I do understand now, why some ladies going through it would get stressed, depressed and very low mood. I watch everything I eat, I my have 1-3 units of wine within a week, maybe non and I am exercising 4-5 per week on top of dog walking. I have been on a low carb diet, eating three meals a day, no snacking and I cannot lose 1lb, within the 6 weeks I have put weight on. Please can anyone help, suggest anything for me to get this weight off, thank you

Replies

  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    Are you logging your food and counting calories? You need a calorie deficit to lose weight, no matter what stage of life you're in. If nothing else, accurate and consistent logging for a few weeks will give you an accurate picture of where you currently stand.

    Have you had a checkup recently? Getting your thyroid levels checked us also something to look at.

    I'm sorry you're struggling :flowerforyou: Just know there are lots of peri-men and menopausal women here who have lost the weight, and you can too.

    If you search "menopause" you might be able to find some previous threads as well. And check out the Most Helpful Posts threads pinned to the top of each forum.
  • ss21469
    ss21469 Posts: 2 Member
    Thank you for your advise
    I have had a full check up twice at the doctors, full bloods, thyroid and any deficiency I may be suffering with. i.e Vitamin D, B12 and calcium everything has come back normal.
    I am counting, re counting my calorie, I am on 1200 a day, for exercising I do over 10k steps, Charlotte Crosby DVD 4 times a week and I run twice a week
    Last week no drinking
    And after all that I put 2lb on, but please bear in mind the 6 months before that I have never lost, I have stayed the same or keep putting on
    Where am I going wrong???????????????????????
  • SouthernCountryGirl
    SouthernCountryGirl Posts: 195 Member
    It’s possible you aren’t eating enough strange as that may sound. I’m 56, post menopausal. I started exercising and lost 30lbs relatively easily but then it stopped. I had to play around with my numbers but found once I increased my food intake I began losing again. It sounds like you are fairly active and exercise on a regular basis. You may not be eating enough to feed you body what it needs. Just a thought. It took me a LOT of trial and error to figure out what worked for me and it came down to the more I lose (with consistent exercise) the more I had to eat to maintain or lose.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Welcome! Please feel free to join our menopause group here:
    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/group/506-near-or-post-menopausal-group

    I don't have an answer, unfortunately, other than to say it seems to "right" itself a bit AFTER menopause.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    You can get advice and support from others going through menopause, but be aware that it's an individual journey. Some have no symptoms, some have light symptoms, and some have hellish symptoms. I'm 64. When I was going through the worst of it, I was desperate, asking for advice and no one had my terrible hot flashes. I just finally had to trial and error to work it through. Things are better now, but after 10 yrs I still get hot flashes. So, I get the frustration. You can lose weight, many have, but your logging will have to be on point. My salvation was swimming for exercise. My hot flashes were barely noticeable in the pool.
  • mom23mangos
    mom23mangos Posts: 3,069 Member
    ((Hugs)). I've been perimenopausal for at least 3-4 years now and I have the feeling I'm going to be one of those where it lasts 10 years. woopee. And it sucks. I totally sympathize. My fat storage pattern has definitely changed to store much more fat on my lower abdomen than I ever used to. But I was able to successfully lean out by counting calories using this site and lifting. You can definitely do it. Get a food scale if you don't have one. And use a weight trending app as our water fluctuations seem to be even wilder at this stage.

    Also, it isn't for everyone, but I threw in the towel and started taking HRT. I tried the patch first and I loved the way it made me feel (pretty much all my symptoms went away), but I had a hard time keeping it on. So now I'm trying oral Progesterone and topical estrogen. It's been a bit of a challenge figuring out the right dosages, but I'm hoping to get there.
  • Luv2eatSweets
    Luv2eatSweets Posts: 221 Member
    Everyone has pretty much suggested everything I would have. Exercise, logging are important. Are you getting good quality sleep? That can also mess with your body.
  • MostlyWater
    MostlyWater Posts: 4,294 Member
    Nothing happens "overnight" by the way. You just didn't notice the change(s).
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    snowflake954 wrote: »
    You can get advice and support from others going through menopause, but be aware that it's an individual journey. Some have no symptoms, some have light symptoms, and some have hellish symptoms. I'm 64. When I was going through the worst of it, I was desperate, asking for advice and no one had my terrible hot flashes. I just finally had to trial and error to work it through. Things are better now, but after 10 yrs I still get hot flashes. So, I get the frustration. You can lose weight, many have, but your logging will have to be on point. My salvation was swimming for exercise. My hot flashes were barely noticeable in the pool.

    This is true! I have said this to others. Just as each of our journeys through puberty were unique and each our our monthly cycles during our reproductive years were unique. My sister had 2 hellish weeks a month from 14-53. I had a pretty easy time of it from about 16 on. We are each unique.
    Funny about exercise: I get no hot flashes from most exercise, except Pilates (my favorite). Go figure.
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    mom23mangos wrote: »
    ((Hugs)). I've been perimenopausal for at least 3-4 years now and I have the feeling I'm going to be one of those where it lasts 10 years. woopee. And it sucks. I totally sympathize. My fat storage pattern has definitely changed to store much more fat on my lower abdomen than I ever used to. But I was able to successfully lean out by counting calories using this site and lifting. You can definitely do it. Get a food scale if you don't have one. And use a weight trending app as our water fluctuations seem to be even wilder at this stage.

    Also, it isn't for everyone, but I threw in the towel and started taking HRT. I tried the patch first and I loved the way it made me feel (pretty much all my symptoms went away), but I had a hard time keeping it on. So now I'm trying oral Progesterone and topical estrogen. It's been a bit of a challenge figuring out the right dosages, but I'm hoping to get there.


    I've also been doing oral progesterone and topical estrogen, but I don't love the oral progesterone, so I'm going to a once-every-three-months approach to the progesterone. I'm happy with my estrogen dose. I just prefer topical progesterone, so this is my compromise.
  • f4fey
    f4fey Posts: 1 Member
    Hi,

    I just joined 4days ago. I am 48 and a complete hysterectomy put me in immediate menopause since last year and I gained about 10(20poubds) since. I have also had a complete thyroidectomy so I am on thyroixine medication. All boook levels are ok now so I have decided to do something about my weight gain. Counting calories is not the main thing, but watch you tube videos to first find out what kind of body u have. From your description seems ur like me ... an endomorph... meaning u gain weight easily and hard to loose it. So find out for sure and agree with ur self how many calories you want to loose to get your desired weight back. Then count the calories as well as the Macros(amount of protein, fat and carbs in each meal) to get there. I started 4 days ago and alsready lost 2.1kg(over 4llbs).
    . It takes a lot bcos I used to drink coke daily and I have not had a sip in 4 days I also did not drink much water and now I do ...YOU CAN DO IT . Good luck
  • belins007
    belins007 Posts: 18 Member
    Add me in...totally understand what you're going through

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