Help please for late 40's peri menopausal. There is so much conflicting advice out there!

I counted calories but also exercise, I'm 48 and lost 100lbs over the last few years. I don't follow a specific diet, mostly eat veggies and protein at each meal.

Exercise helps to allow you to eat more while maintaining a caloric deficit, as well as keeping as much lean muscle as possible while losing weight. But calories are what’s important. Unless you have a metabolic illness such as diabetes or PCOS, cutting carbs and all that other stuff are just different ways of achieving a calorie deficit. Find what way of eating is most comfortable for you.

I’m post menopausal and counting calories works just the same for me as for anyone. The only special suggestion I would make for a perimenopausal person is to get ahead of any physical issues you might have which complicate weight loss. For example I was very anemic during perimenopause and needed iron supplements. Many women also have thyroid issues for the first time at about this age. Get some bloodwork done and sort everything out, then go for it!

Everyone is different. Find what works for you. It’s a personal process. What works for someone else, doesn’t necessarily work for you.

I didn’t have any menopause symptoms, not once. Lost significant weight at age 20, 31, and 60. It wasn’t any harder, or easier, at any age, for me. I know what to do for myself, and keeping the weight off is my issue.

Calorie deficit.

I lost nearly 80 pounds using this site in early menopause. There's nothing special you need to know due to menopause, just eat a little less. Exercise helped me a lot with moods and sleep. Welcome and start logging your food. You can eat what you like, learn from your own results.

Just take it a day at a time. Log food today, don't even worry about what you are eating, just log it.

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1234699/logging-accurately-step-by-step-guide/p1

Seriously, cut calories. Forget everything else. Try not to listen to outside sources and make it harder than it has to be.

Exercise for health, not weight loss.

Weight loss is VERY simple. It's just not always very EASY. Takes a lot of thinking, saying NO (to others and yourself) and planning. At least for me. Planning makes things MUCH easier. Less pitfalls. Less last minute decisions.

Cutting calories. It’s worked great for me, with or without much exercise, several times over the years, including now, and I’m 46.

But, I think while it’s easy to just say “cut calories!”, it can be difficult to know how to easily do that and still stay satisfied, satiated, and able to keep at it for as long as you need to for the amount of weight loss desired. What I’ve found most helpful is not the mantra to cut calories, but the method you use, so to speak, for how you’re going to successfully cut back on them. For me, the key is to compress my eating into less time in the day, ie, intermittent fasting. I started this several years ago before it became so popular. One thing I’ve learned from mfp is that everyone is different, and I can only tell you what has worked for me:

First, I figured out my TDEE at my current weight, then subtracted 500 calories for a 1lb/week loss. My TDEE is about 2050, so my calorie goal for weight loss is 1550. Then I set up mfp for a custom goal of 1550 calories each day, and I also split that into custom calorie goals for the following categories: breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner, late night. Then my usual routine is this:

Black coffee only in the a.m. Eat a protein-filled lunch around 1pm. Snack around 4-5pm. Dinner around 7-7:30, then some calories are left over for a later night snack/beer/wine. Some days will vary of course, but I find myself full after meals, able to wait until dinner after a good snack (usually Greek yogurt), and happy to have some calories left for something fun after dinner. I don’t cut out any particular foods, as long as it fits into my calorie goal, but I do find that focusing on protein at lunch sets me up better for the rest of the day.

It’s taken me a while, and several starts and stops (ie, failure of maintaining and subsequent weight gain) to finally figure out what works for me, even with the knowledge and attitude from the beginning that it’s “all about a calorie deficit.” I feel like the equally important point is HOW you’re going to go about cutting back those calories successfully.

Now that I’ve figured out the weight loss part of it, I’m hoping this time around to succeed at the maintenance part!!

As everyone else has mentioned, the key to losing weight is cutting calories. However I also want to mention that you should do this in a way that is sustainable to you, because what you are really needing to do is make some lifestyle changes. Those changes to healthier eating will have to continue once you are no longer cutting calories or you will gain the weight back. That means learning to eat the foods that make you feel best physically but don’t cause you to binge eat. Sometimes (often?) we have to retrain our brains. You may need to go without certain foods if you can’t stop eating them once your tongue tastes them. You may need to eat out at restaurants less.
I also recommend a smaller deficit and having patience. Rome wasn’t built in a day, you didn’t gain all your weight in a day, and it will probably take you a lot longer to lose it than you were hoping.
Either use the MFP calculator or find a macro calculator online, and use the info it asks for to set your weight loss calorie goal. Aim for .5-1 pound loss a week, set your calories, and weigh your food. Weighing really is the most accurate way to see exactly how much you are eating and for me the most effective way to lose weight!
Best of luck, and remember patience, and don’t give up even if you have an off day or two. Just get back at it without punishing yourself. You are worth it!