Going through menopause and trying to lose weight

avarney66 · April 2022

Going through menopause and trying to lose weight hello guys I just started this journey today. I’ve gained 30 pounds over the past two years and it’s driving me crazy. If any of you guys can help with suggestion concerning what works with. Menopause I would be so appreciative. 😜❤️

AnnPT77 · April 2022

Personally, I don't think menopause is all that special. Weight loss presents challenges for everyone.

Those of us who are menopausal (I'm one) tend to blame menopause, those who are hypothyroid (I'm one) tend to blame low thyroid, those who are over 50 (or whatever) tend to blame age (I'm 66), those who "hate all exercise" or "hate all vegetables" blame that (thankfully, those don't apply to me!), and so on.

IMO, weight loss works about the same for any of us: Find a tolerable way to get calorie intake a moderate amount below calorie burn for the weeks, months, maybe years that it'll take to lose a meaningful amount of weight at a sensibly moderate rate, and follow it, experimenting and improving the approach along the way . . . improving it to make it easier, not to make it faster.

It's useful to remember that after loss comes lifelong weight management . . . not "going back to normal". Sustainability helps make a smooth off-ramp into long term maintenance.

I lost around 60 pounds at age 59-60, while of course menopausal, plus hypothyroid. I've maintained a healthy weight since.

What worked for me on the eating side was gradually remodeling my eating, using this general approach:

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm/p1

That won't be universally perfect for everyone, because there's no "one true way". It's just one option. Personalization is important.

On the activity side, what worked (a few years earlier than weight loss, for me), was gradually increasing physical activity, giving various interesting-sounding, manageable-sounding things a fair try (to get past the "newbie blues" stage where most anything feels awkward and impossible), and sticking with the ones that were the most fun, or at least tolerable. An activity - formal exercise or otherwise - that's fun so I want to and do stick with it is 100% more fitness- and health-enhancing than something I hate and procrastinate and eventually drop from my schedule because it makes me miserable, y'know?

Sometimes it seems like people think it's necessary to suffer to lose weight or improve fitness, as if being overweight or out of shape were sins we need to expiate. They're not. The process won't be easy every second, change never is, but it doesn't need to be extreme or miserable, either.

Wishing you excellent outcomes, whatever course you select!

shazmorgan · April 2022

Hi, I'm also new here and have taken this app after gaining weight during menopause. I've already noticed huge changes, just in a week of keeping a did diary. The app has really helped keep me accountable. 🙂

jaynebaldwin8854 · April 2022

It's quite irritating to read that someone not experiencing menopausal weight gain can dismiss others that are so easily. Yes people gain weight for all kinds of reasons and menopause weight gain may not be special but it is different. The challenge for many of us is what worked in the past may not work now so a re-think is needed. I've gained weight on legs and behind in the past, but now it's my midriff as well, a reality because the fat cells there provide oestrogen. The fluctuating hormones are causing me cravings, particularly late at night, again that's new for me so need to find a way to deal with it. I'm burning less calories now, probably due to losing muscle mass so need to do more resistance exercise. Probably need to restrict calories more or accept it'll take longer to lose weight than before. What worked in the past for me to lose weight doesn't work now because my body has changed and is continuing to change. That's menopause for a lot of women and it's much more pleasant to be supportive of each other and to offer help and ideas rather than risk someone feel that their problem is irrelevant (because anxiety is also a real issue in menopause too).

lynn_glenmont · April 2022

jaynebaldwin8854 wrote: »

It's quite irritating to read that someone not experiencing menopausal weight gain can dismiss others that are so easily. Yes people gain weight for all kinds of reasons and menopause weight gain may not be special but it is different. The challenge for many of us is what worked in the past may not work now so a re-think is needed. I've gained weight on legs and behind in the past, but now it's my midriff as well, a reality because the fat cells there provide oestrogen. The fluctuating hormones are causing me cravings, particularly late at night, again that's new for me so need to find a way to deal with it. I'm burning less calories now, probably due to losing muscle mass so need to do more resistance exercise. Probably need to restrict calories more or accept it'll take longer to lose weight than before. What worked in the past for me to lose weight doesn't work now because my body has changed and is continuing to change. That's menopause for a lot of women and it's much more pleasant to be supportive of each other and to offer help and ideas rather than risk someone feel that their problem is irrelevant (because anxiety is also a real issue in menopause too).

The problem is finding the line between being supportive and enabling the belief that one has no agency to achieve one's goals.

AnnPT77 · April 2022

jaynebaldwin8854 wrote: »

It's quite irritating to read that someone not experiencing menopausal weight gain can dismiss others that are so easily. Yes people gain weight for all kinds of reasons and menopause weight gain may not be special but it is different. The challenge for many of us is what worked in the past may not work now so a re-think is needed. I've gained weight on legs and behind in the past, but now it's my midriff as well, a reality because the fat cells there provide oestrogen. The fluctuating hormones are causing me cravings, particularly late at night, again that's new for me so need to find a way to deal with it. I'm burning less calories now, probably due to losing muscle mass so need to do more resistance exercise. Probably need to restrict calories more or accept it'll take longer to lose weight than before. What worked in the past for me to lose weight doesn't work now because my body has changed and is continuing to change. That's menopause for a lot of women and it's much more pleasant to be supportive of each other and to offer help and ideas rather than risk someone feel that their problem is irrelevant (because anxiety is also a real issue in menopause too).

I'm not sure where I said I didn't experience menopausal weight gain, or at least menopausal weight challenges?

(I've been menopausal since about age 45, thrown into hard-stop menopause by chemotherapy for advanced-stage breast cancer, then I took a couple anti-estrogen drugs for 7.5 years after that. Loosely, those drugs create a sort of hyper-menopausal state, increase many of the typical menopausal side effects. I've been in menopause for over 20 years now.)

The only thing I've seen so far that seems even somewhat research-supported, about body fat management in menopause, suggested that strength training may reduce the tendency for fat deposits to be more midsection-located, and those findings were somewhat limited. (I admit, I haven't actively, extensively sought out menopause-specific tactics, because the standard tactics seemed to work OK for me, and for some other long-term successful women I've read about here. I do read menopause-specific and aging-specific research when I see it, though.)

Right now, menopause is a big marketing tool for some IMO pretty skeezy, poorly-science-supported nonsense. Using women's fears about menopause to sell them things is what's unconscionable, in my view.

From what I've read about her at a superficial level, Pahla B's approach doesn't look ridiculous, among those using that marketing tactic, but I've never used her content personally or deeply researched it, so I can't in good conscience recommend it. Other people here have found it helpful, though I haven't so far seen one of the long-term successful menopausal women here say that. (I'm not saying it doesn't/wouldn't work. Not seeing such cases is no evidence that they're non-existent, of course.)

I literally said quite specifically what I personally did to lose weight and build fitness, all of that done during menopause. If that doesn't feel like support, ideas or help . . . I'm sorry, but it's all I've got.

Sinisterbarbie1 · April 2022

Jumping in to support @AnnPT77 I also gained A LOT of weight by being thrust prematurely into menopause in my mid forties by chemo due to a very aggressive breast cancer. I am just a few years past that now and still struggling to regain my footing fully. That was exacerbated by late stage chemo effects/poor nutrition and an auto immune flare that put me on bed rest and made me unable to walk (had to relearn without being able to feel my feet). This accompanied with having to take multiple medicines that have as side effects weight gain. I am very sympathetic to the frustrations one feels when having to overcome new and unexpected challenges in losing weight (especially after having already overcome a lot already.)
Anyway, all this to say, I gained the weight, and I had to figure out how to lose it once I was healthy enough to do so. I regained my ability to walk - though not to hike at altitudes, run, cycle, or do the other types of exercise I used to do and enjoy and which kept my weight relatively easily in check. I also can’t get down on the floor due to balance and neuropathy issues, so “real” yoga and much of pilates, both of which I also did regularly, are also out of my normal routine the way I used to practice them.
Nevertheless, I have managed to lose weight by applying basic nutritional techniques such as those AnnPT77 describes. I have lost 50 lbs as of this past weekend. There was nothing special about my weight gain just because the circumstances surrounding it were especially unpleasant and dramatic to me. With apologies to AnnPT77, I venture to guess she was trying to convey that sentiment =. That there was nothing special about her weight gain/loss either even though there is obviously something very unique and unknowable often even to those closest to us, much less the strangers on these boards lurking behind every person’s struggle with weight, or other challenges they may be seeking to overcome. Before we snap at someone like AnnPT77 about how “easy” she has had it and how difficult our situation is in comparison, perhaps we should all remember that we are all talking to people whose circumstances we do not know. (Even those of us who have read about Ann’s weight loss journey and know of her chemo induced menopause from other posts).

Cluelessmama1979 · April 2022

Let's try this another way.

Human bodies go through chemical and hormonal challenges several times throughout their lifespans.

The ones people recognize most because of the groovy names they've been given, are puberty and menopause. But it also happens around our mid twenties (less so) and when we're 3-5 years old (more so) and again sometime after retirement age.

When these changes happen, our bodies *may* end up having different reactions, such as changes in taste and smell, new hair growth, poor reactions to lotions or deodorants we've always used and, yes, storing fat in different places.

It's not, typically, going to directly affect our weight (which is, I believe, what Ann was referring to). It *does* affect how those fluctuations in weight are perceived by ourselves and others (which is, I believe, what Jayne was referring to).

The solution, no matter if weight gain is rooted in changes in body chemistry or past trauma or age or supernatural ghost-witches casting binge-inducing spells in our sleep (how my daughter explains my late night binges) is the same:

Eat within your calorie limit, in a way you can handle eating long-term.

Some changes in hormones or medications will make you hungrier. Age itself changes your calorie limit. Yes, it is hard.

I believe what Ann was intimating is that there are challenges for everyone. And limiting yourself to knowledge solely based on menopausal experiences is, well, limiting yourself. Limiting your knowledge.

There's nothing about menopause specifically which excludes or precludes any other weight loss experience on these forums. So, feel free to join in other discussions. All the advice will be along the same vein.

On another note, @AnnPT77 : I feel called out, lol. I already *knew* the things you were saying, but every category except age felt pointed at me, and all I could think was "OMG, I make a lot of excuses!"

Really gave me some food for thought. (Pun?) Thank you.

fatty2begone · April 2022

I am almost 54, not thru meno yet (I pray it comes soon), but I can tell you my hormones are out of whack and am experiencing weirdness symptoms.
I can not say the perimeno has caused the weight gain (maybe some of the symptoms). Being inactive and over eating caused my gain absolutely.

Tracking and counting ci-co, is working. I am losing.
I am not losing as fast as I could have in my 30's, 20's, but I am not starving myself either. I am not crash dieting to lose 20 pounds in a month.

Can I blame it on age??? I think in the last 10 years I have days were calorie control is more difficult due to excess hunger for no given reason, other than hormones. (yes it is cyclical and repeats its self on certain days of the month). Or it could be that I was more active when younger and I am just starting to get active again.

Not really more difficult... just different. I am trying a new way to lose. Slower loss equals eating more and not being hungry all the time. I am hopeful that maybe this time around I actually maintain the weight loss and will not be repeating this in a few years.

I do believe that some individuals might have certain obstacles that make losing weight more of a challenge, but age is not an automatic given.

Best of Luck and I hope you find what works for you.

Sinisterbarbie1 · April 2022

@Cluelessmama1979 ” The solution, no matter if weight gain is rooted in changes in body chemistry or past trauma or age or supernatural ghost-witches casting binge-inducing spells in our sleep (how my daughter explains my late night binges) “

Love this …..Finally the answer —- supernatural ghost witches casting binge inducing spells !!!! I knew there would be an answer if only I had enough patience to wait for it! Please thank your daughter for giving me the best laugh of the day.
ETA - I like the rest of your post too btw ….

Going through menopause and trying to lose weight

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