Is it possible to get through Menopause without weight gain? If so please share your secrets!

13

Replies

  • yjc68
    yjc68 Posts: 8 Member
    I'm 52 and have gone through the menopause early
    Did I gain weight?.....Not in the least...
    Night sweats?.....the devil
    Osteoporosis....severe
    Do I know anyone who has gained weight?.....lots
    Do I know anyone that has maintained?.....lots

    I found the one's that had gained were eating the same calories as they were 10-20 years pre-menopause..no exercise
    Same calories (as when younger).....slower metabolism...no exercise....more calories in than out.
    They blame the menopause
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    I had my very first hot flash last month and I live in Canada where it’s freezing- ladies it was awesome! I barely even needed blankets at night! Honestly I’m excited of this whole process.. no periods and your own personal furnace😂

    Just wait until one hits when you are all dressed up and in a fancy restaurant.

    I was excited for menopause too. Happy to be done with periods so I can get on with the fun part of life. Besides saving money, it also makes traveling so much easier. Less to pack.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    yjc68 wrote: »
    I'm 52 and have gone through the menopause early
    Did I gain weight?.....Not in the least...
    Night sweats?.....the devil
    Osteoporosis....severe
    Do I know anyone who has gained weight?.....lots
    Do I know anyone that has maintained?.....lots

    I found the one's that had gained were eating the same calories as they were 10-20 years pre-menopause..no exercise
    Same calories (as when younger).....slower metabolism...no exercise....more calories in than out.
    They blame the menopause

    I think this is why I know so few who gained weight. Most of the women I know have active lifestyles and do stuff like walk, hike, bike, ski, etc. Only a couple belong to fitness centers and most of them joined so they could swim year round.
  • yjc68
    yjc68 Posts: 8 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    yjc68 wrote: »
    I'm 52 and have gone through the menopause early
    Did I gain weight?.....Not in the least...
    Night sweats?.....the devil
    Osteoporosis....severe
    Do I know anyone who has gained weight?.....lots
    Do I know anyone that has maintained?.....lots

    I found the one's that had gained were eating the same calories as they were 10-20 years pre-menopause..no exercise
    Same calories (as when younger).....slower metabolism...no exercise....more calories in than out.
    They blame the menopause

    I think this is why I know so few who gained weight. Most of the women I know have active lifestyles and do stuff like walk, hike, bike, ski, etc. Only a couple belong to fitness centers and most of them joined so they could swim year round.






    Spot on.....
    Slightly off topic but relevant...
    My mother put on having hysterectomy as all has friends developed a 'tummy' after the op.
    She explained her concerns to her doctor to which the reply was:
    'there is no medical reason to have a 'tummy' afterwards.....it's purely lifestyle that will give you that'


  • natasor1
    natasor1 Posts: 271 Member
    I think it's possible. In my 65 it takes little more exercising and little less eating. I started adding fasting days(one or two days a week). It's hard to overtrain your food calories, so to make it simple I just decrease number of meals a day and amount of food. Only pedaling bike or elliptical machine don t make a trick. Try to include functional exercises at least 2 times a week. It has to feel hot, challenging and short of breath. I also suggest sauna 30 min after gym, cold shower for 1 min and cold exposure 3-5 times a week. I know, it's too much, but if you wont to look slim like in your 20th, it will take a lot more than average public thinks.
    If you ready to do only what average publick is doing, you can reach only mediocre result.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,707 Member
    Menopause is a lonely dark place for me ... I'm so sick of it and can't wait to see the back end of it.

    Menopause doesn't end ... until you do.

    First there's a decade or so of Perimenopause with all sorts of wild and crazy and mostly unpleasant symptoms.
    Then you go through 12 months with no periods.
    And then you're in Menopause for the rest of your life.

    Why is Menopause a lonely dark place for you?

    Those of you saying they are looking forward to it? I hope you don't go through what I've gone through. Because it sucks goats.

    We can't wait until one day we make our way through the decade or more of wild, crazy, and unpleasant symptoms ... and finally go 12 months without a period ... and get out the other side into Menopause.

    I'm 52 and I know I'm getting close to the Great Escape. I've been in Perimenopause for 10 years. I've experienced almost all the symptoms. I've gone through female part precancer twice just to add to the fun, and have surgery both times. And I've made it as long as 6 months without a period ... and then one started again 28 days ago.

    I'm "due" right now but hoping, hoping, hoping one doesn't start. I need to start the 12-month count again!

    I cannot wait until it's all over!! I cannot wait until I'm in Menopause.

    As far as my weight goes, it pales in comparison with everything else I've gone through in the last 10 years.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,707 Member
    As I mentioned on Page 2 ...
    Machka9 wrote: »
    @paperpudding sorry for the remark but I didn't find your advice (or some others) very helpful in regards to my post. In my original post I stated, "If anyone is FIGHTING the menopause battle and has won, please share your secrets!" And by saying battle, I meant, you are having symptoms! Clearly you and some of the other ladies sailed through the transition and that's awesome, but I wasn't looking for that kind of information.

    I've had almost every symptom in the book ... all but 6 of them ... and I can't take HRT.
    (https://www.facebook.com/MenopauseNow/)
    5q7zy3teozo7.png


    But I'm not sure what you mean by winning the battle.

  • CaliMomTeach
    CaliMomTeach Posts: 745 Member
    I am 49 and have had one period since January 2019 in June 2019. I have had some hot flashes, though none recently. I have also had mood swings. I did gain weight, BUT I stopped tracking and exercising several months ago. I am actually hoping to not get another period so I can officially be in menopause. I do know that I feel better when I am not overeating and exercising. I want to be through my hormonal ride before my 10 year old daughter starts her period, lol.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 27,846 Member
    edited February 2020
    I haven't read all the comments yet but I wanted to reply:


    I have definitely gained weight. I believe a combination of depression (emotional eating), less exercise (last year I had surgery on my foot in March and in August found out in a very painful way that I had a herniated disc. Prior to that I was very active - running, biking, gym activities) and hormones out of whack (from menopause - bad, bad sleep - stress, anxiety; too much cortisol?). And I'm not out of the woods yet. Every day I live through is a bonus. Last year was so bad, I definitely thought about walking into the sunset several times, if you know what I mean.

    Menopause is a lonely dark place for me but I keep pushing forward. I just wish I could have a little bit of my body back by eating right and exercising by losing a little weight. I'm talking about 10 lbs would help me a lot with running and in general how I feel in my clothes. But even that seems impossible. I'm so sick of it and can't wait to see the back end of it.

    Those of you saying they are looking forward to it? I hope you don't go through what I've gone through. Because it sucks goats. I only know people in real life who gained weight during menopause so I don't believe it's just a myth.

    I'm looking forward to menopause because the plummeting estrogen levels will shrink my almost soccer ball-sized fibroid, which causes torrential bleeding during my period and is only partly managed by tranexamic acid.

    You sound depressed, something I've struggled with for decades.

    Are you exercising again now? Regular exercise, and increased exercise in times of increased stress is crucial for my mental health.

    Often I don't feel like exercise, so force myself to start, but am always fine once I begin, and always glad I did. I no longer have to give myself permission to stop in 10 minutes if I need to, but that was a useful strategy at one time.
  • SCoil123
    SCoil123 Posts: 2,108 Member
    I’m 40 and started periM early at 35. I’m still peri and have definitely noticed I get a belly easier now when I do gain weight and I require a little less food to maintain my weight than before. I don’t think it’s made me gain weight though. If I maintain my activity and stay in calories the scale doesn’t change but I’ve definitely got the pooch and find it much more challenging to maintain muscle definition
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,366 Member
    56 here and I have had no way of knowing where I am in the peri/menopause timeline as I had a hysterectomy at age 33 and therefore no periods. I can say that my scale weight hasn't changed, but my body composition certainly did. About a year or so after I started experiencing hot flashes I noticed that most of what little muscle I carried was melting away. That was with no change in eating habits or exercise patterns (desk job, walking as only intentional exercise, normal household chores including minor renovation activities).

    At age 47? 48? I started resistance training because I am very high risk for osteoporosis. A few years later I got into weight lifting and realized I wasn't eating nearly enough protein to support muscle building so I increased that.

    Whoever said that hot flashes are like being dropped into a pit of fire hit the nail on the head for me. I remember reading an article that said exercise could decrease hot flashes and howling with laughter at the time. Exercise actually TRIGGERS hot flashes for me, it's like being punished for Doing the Right Thing. Nothing like feeling overheated to start with and then having that cranked up even higher. I've also experienced a few hot flashes that are so intense I've fainted. (Fortunately this happens at work where I am surrounded by people with first aid training.) A good night's sleep is a distant memory for me, it's probably been about 10 years. The other pervasive symptom is a perpetual feeling of high agitation, I describe it as constantly feeling like a 33 record played at 78 rpm. My doctor doesn't believe in HRT. :|

    My "secret" to not gaining weight is purely genetic, however. I have my dad's hard gainer body type. The flipside to not easily gaining fat is that it is extremely difficult to put on muscle, especially at an age when it is so important to do so.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    ythannah wrote: »
    56 here and I have had no way of knowing where I am in the peri/menopause timeline as I had a hysterectomy at age 33 and therefore no periods.

    Has you doctor ever ordered a FSH and/or AMH test? They will give him/her AND YOU a great reading on where you are (assuming you kept at least one ovary).

  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,366 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    ythannah wrote: »
    56 here and I have had no way of knowing where I am in the peri/menopause timeline as I had a hysterectomy at age 33 and therefore no periods.

    Has you doctor ever ordered a FSH and/or AMH test? They will give him/her AND YOU a great reading on where you are (assuming you kept at least one ovary).

    I kept both ovaries!

    I've had a few FSH tests. Ironically, I had my first ever hot flash in the lab waiting room before the blood draw for the first FSH test.

    The problem is that FSH does fluctuate in peri, so mine just goes up and down depending on where my hormones are on the day of testing. The first one put me right in menopause, and I was actually peri at the time as I had several extended periods of "normal" afterwards.

    I've never seen an AMH test on the standard requisition form so I suspect it's not something that is covered by our health care.
  • earlnabby
    earlnabby Posts: 8,171 Member
    edited February 2020
    ythannah wrote: »
    earlnabby wrote: »
    ythannah wrote: »
    56 here and I have had no way of knowing where I am in the peri/menopause timeline as I had a hysterectomy at age 33 and therefore no periods.

    Has you doctor ever ordered a FSH and/or AMH test? They will give him/her AND YOU a great reading on where you are (assuming you kept at least one ovary).

    I kept both ovaries!

    I've had a few FSH tests. Ironically, I had my first ever hot flash in the lab waiting room before the blood draw for the first FSH test.

    The problem is that FSH does fluctuate in peri, so mine just goes up and down depending on where my hormones are on the day of testing. The first one put me right in menopause, and I was actually peri at the time as I had several extended periods of "normal" afterwards.

    I've never seen an AMH test on the standard requisition form so I suspect it's not something that is covered by our health care.

    It is new-ish so probably isn't on a lot of standard forms but can be requested by your doctor. You can always call your health care provider and find out if it is covered before requesting it from your doctor. It is much more accurate at showing the reproductive stage than the FSH is.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,048 Member
    Electric shocks? Not even sure what that means...
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,707 Member
    ahoy_m8 wrote: »
    Electric shocks? Not even sure what that means...

    For me, it's one of the things that helps me know a hot flash is on its way. I can be sitting there feeling quite comfortable, then all of a sudden I start feeling flickers of electric shocks from my head down my arms and sometimes into my legs ... like if you've ever shuffled across a carpet and touched something metal ... that sort of zap.

    Then I become very nauseated and dizzy and feel like I'm coming down with the flu. I'm also restless and feel like maybe if I stand up and start heading for the toilet, I might feel better, or at least I'll be closer if something worse happens. I can feel that way for 5 or 10 minutes.

    And then the hot flash washes over me for the next 5 minutes or so. It's almost a relief because the electric shocks, nausea and dizziness go away.

    Hot flashes are an adventure.

    Some days this happens about every 30 minutes ... sometimes I can go several days or even weeks with nothing, and then suddenly they come back again.
  • ythannah
    ythannah Posts: 4,366 Member
    earlnabby wrote: »
    ythannah wrote: »
    earlnabby wrote: »
    ythannah wrote: »
    56 here and I have had no way of knowing where I am in the peri/menopause timeline as I had a hysterectomy at age 33 and therefore no periods.

    Has you doctor ever ordered a FSH and/or AMH test? They will give him/her AND YOU a great reading on where you are (assuming you kept at least one ovary).

    I kept both ovaries!

    I've had a few FSH tests. Ironically, I had my first ever hot flash in the lab waiting room before the blood draw for the first FSH test.

    The problem is that FSH does fluctuate in peri, so mine just goes up and down depending on where my hormones are on the day of testing. The first one put me right in menopause, and I was actually peri at the time as I had several extended periods of "normal" afterwards.

    I've never seen an AMH test on the standard requisition form so I suspect it's not something that is covered by our health care.

    It is new-ish so probably isn't on a lot of standard forms but can be requested by your doctor. You can always call your health care provider and find out if it is covered before requesting it from your doctor. It is much more accurate at showing the reproductive stage than the FSH is.

    I'm in Canada so it would need to be approved by our provincial health insurance. Chances are if it's new or expensive, no.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 31,724 Member
    Is "spamsplaining" a word? Can it be?

    I predict that after a while, this comment won't make sense. ;)
  • spiritlevel9
    spiritlevel9 Posts: 48 Member
    General speaking, I found it much easier to keep my weight steady after menopause. However I had gone through a little early and was advised to have HRT for bone health. Initially I was on a lowish dose via patches and had no changes to weight. There is now an issue with supply of patches and for the last couple of months, I have been on oestrogen gel. I gained about 9lbs quickly and I have remained the same weight for the last 4 weeks despite logging and sticking to 1500 calories daily. That would normally result in a pound a week loss for me. I have bigger boobs for the first time ever as I never gain there. They are also painful and my stomach feels like it is full of water.

    It is a long time since I have taken the pill but I recall having a large weight loss very quickly when I stopped taking it. So in my experience, menopause hasn't impacted my weight but the hormone therapy has. I did find that my middle bit thickened a little after menopause but the numbers on the scale didn't change.