Peri-menopausal women - need eating plan ideas

LKArgh
LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
I have lost weight in the past, but even fluctuating 7-8 kilos up or down, it was variation in the normal/healthy range for my height, from being on the really slim side to a bit heavier and back.
The last couple of years, I have gained quite a bit and I am for the first time overweight, due to a combination of stress and health issues. I find that being perimenopausal complicates things, and I imagine menopause soon will make things harder.
Do you have any suggestions for eating plans? I do not mean "magic" diets, just ideas for go to meals and snacks that might have helped you stick to a calorie goal, which seems to be lower and lower as I get older.
I am good on exercise, have more or less got back to pre-injury routines with a combination of cardio and body-weight training, so I need to figure out how to focus on a long-term nutrition plan that is realistic.

Replies

  • Sumandigital23
    Sumandigital23 Posts: 13 Member
    Hello there

    It's completely up to you what kind of food helps you stick to your calorie target. I could tell you what I like to eat, but it would probably make other people want to eat their arms off, and vice versa.



    Why not keep a truthful food journal for a while and weigh everything to get an accurate idea of your intake? If you always feel hungry at the same time of day, think about what you could do to change that. Add more protein to a dish that is rich in carbs, or switch a dish that was low in calories and high in fat for one that is high in calories but low in volume. Additionally, if you always feel hungry, think about your weight loss objective. It might be excessively combative. The
  • Rockmama1111
    Rockmama1111 Posts: 262 Member
    Eatingwell.com has a lot of weekly meal plans for different calorie goals or diet preferences (vegetarian, low carb, etc.) and a pretty good search function. I have found a lot of good meal ideas there, but have never followed a weekly plan.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    I am not looking for a strict eating plan, more ideas to incorporate in my diet. I realise that my maintenance calories are getting much lower than they used to be, so I am looking for ideas to stay full.
    I think I was pretty clear that I am NOT looking for magic solutions, just ideas that might make it a bit easier and come from "real" people. I will check eatingwell, thanks for the tip.
  • vexedangel678
    vexedangel678 Posts: 263 Member
    I have really been enjoying the Mediterranean lifestyle diet. Lots of plant-based meals, with an emphasis on whole foods and healthy fats. Satisfying, easy, and yummy!
  • claireychn074
    claireychn074 Posts: 1,593 Member
    LKArgh wrote: »
    I am not looking for a strict eating plan, more ideas to incorporate in my diet. I realise that my maintenance calories are getting much lower than they used to be, so I am looking for ideas to stay full.
    I think I was pretty clear that I am NOT looking for magic solutions, just ideas that might make it a bit easier and come from "real" people. I will check eatingwell, thanks for the tip.
    This might not be quite the answer you were expecting, but I’d encourage you to see if you could increase your maintenance calories over time. I’m 49 and in peri (and yes have the weird bloating and weight fluctuations) and my maintenance calories are much higher than they were 10 years ago, largely because I lift weights. I need more calories now than I did when I just did cardio.

    I find snacks like fruit and Greek yoghurt fill me up. Bread less so, but cheese and crackers works because of the fat. Protein snacks work for me, whether that’s a protein bar, shake (don’t like them but I have them when I really need a protein boost and they do fill me up), hard boiled eggs or tinned tuna. Stiff like carrots and hummus or homemade cheese dip also fills me up. As an emergency snack, I’ve also been known to eat tinned fruit in juice. Cheap, fairly low in cals but can be high in sugar.

  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,374 Member
    edited August 2023
    Sorry. You’ve clearly got as much experience here as I do, lol. 😘 but you asked!!!
  • claireychn074
    claireychn074 Posts: 1,593 Member
    I think we make the eating thing way too difficult. Yes, I was an overthinker when I started, too!

    What I’ve come to realize is, just eat the foods I enjoy, but be careful to weigh and measure and log them, and eat reasonable portion.

    Substitutions. Diet soda for sugar. Water. Margarine for butter. Sugar free, low or zero cal syrups and dressings. Egg whites instead of eggs. Skim milks, yogurt, cottage cheese and cheeses.

    Recipe calls for eight tbsp butter? Try it with four of margarine. Or, can I substitute applesauce for butter? A cup of sugar? Can I use half, ir better yet, use that zero cal syrup?

    Fancy chai or coffee? Make my own instead of hitting Starbucks, with frothed skim milk, zero cal syrup, and using fat free half & half when I need that “richer” mouth feel.

    Air fryer.

    Misto olive oil sprayer.

    Pot roast? Heavier on the carrots and celery, and lighter on potato. Use a 140cal/4oz top round toast instead of a 280/4oz fattier cut. Ditto smoking pork. Use a 130/4oz loin cut. Everything is tenderer anyway when crockpotted or smoked.

    Prosciutto in spaghetti instead of ground beef.

    I can easily cut my favorite recipes’ calories by 1/3 or 1/2 just thinking about what’s going in the pot.

    It wasn’t til I opened my eyes and actually spent the time to look at what I was putting in my mouth that I started to lose weight.

    Now, it’s fun to experiment to see how I can get the same flavor for waaaaaaaay less calories. Every time I do, I high five myself.
    Actually cottage cheese is a good filler and I’d forgotten about it. I love it on a jacket potato, I get one from a local farm so it tastes rich but is still low calorie. I also prefer sweet jacket spuds and the cottage cheese goes well with that.
  • musicfan68
    musicfan68 Posts: 1,143 Member
    You need to figure out what macro split will keep you satisfied. I am more satisfied and eat a lot less when I eat protein. If I eat a lot of carbs, I will eat all day long because they leave me hungry and unsatisfied. It is totally individual for everyone. I also think you are overthinking it. First, figure out how many calories you are actually eating by weighing/measuring accurately, then adjust your portion sizes to fit the calories you should be eating to lose weight. And pay attention to what satisfies you more, and start making swaps with food that satisfy you.

    Also would like to point out that menopause doesn't really have anything to do with losing weight. As we age, we get lazy and aren't as active. That is why we lose weight. We tend to keep eating the same amount we did when we were younger and more active. There are plenty of people on these boards that have lost weight in menopause.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    I had difficulty at perimenopause due to uterine fibroids, which caused very heavy bleeding, which lead to anemia and crippling fatigue. But in general, weight loss when we're older can feel harder simply due to people (men and women) being less active than when we were in our 20s and 30s. We get used to eating a certain way, and don't adjust when our activity decreases.

    I like Claire's advice about trying to increase maintenance calories. Our bodies were meant to move.

    I also like the PP's advice about finding what macro splits are the most satisfying.

    I almost liked @springlering62's advice about substitutions, but then she tried to replace my butter with margarine, which is unforgivable :lol:

    But seriously, when baking, I can generally reduce the amount of sugar, and can often replace half the fat with an equal amount of apple sauce. I replace some of higher calorie salad dressing etc with cottage cheese. Etc.
  • claireychn074
    claireychn074 Posts: 1,593 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I had difficulty at perimenopause due to uterine fibroids, which caused very heavy bleeding, which lead to anemia and crippling fatigue. But in general, weight loss when we're older can feel harder simply due to people (men and women) being less active than when we were in our 20s and 30s. We get used to eating a certain way, and don't adjust when our activity decreases.

    I like Claire's advice about trying to increase maintenance calories. Our bodies were meant to move.

    I also like the PP's advice about finding what macro splits are the most satisfying.

    I almost liked @springlering62's advice about substitutions, but then she tried to replace my butter with margarine, which is unforgivable :lol:

    But seriously, when baking, I can generally reduce the amount of sugar, and can often replace half the fat with an equal amount of apple sauce. I replace some of higher calorie salad dressing etc with cottage cheese. Etc.
    Funnily enough my peri is mirroring yours with the fibroids and anaemia. And I’ve got to say that I hugely admire @springlering62 and usually agree with her but - MARGARINE?? No, just no.
  • claireychn074
    claireychn074 Posts: 1,593 Member
    musicfan68 wrote: »
    You need to figure out what macro split will keep you satisfied. I am more satisfied and eat a lot less when I eat protein. If I eat a lot of carbs, I will eat all day long because they leave me hungry and unsatisfied. It is totally individual for everyone. I also think you are overthinking it. First, figure out how many calories you are actually eating by weighing/measuring accurately, then adjust your portion sizes to fit the calories you should be eating to lose weight. And pay attention to what satisfies you more, and start making swaps with food that satisfy you.

    Also would like to point out that menopause doesn't really have anything to do with losing weight. As we age, we get lazy and aren't as active. That is why we lose weight. We tend to keep eating the same amount we did when we were younger and more active. There are plenty of people on these boards that have lost weight in menopause.
    Absolutely, I agree with everything you’ve said. But the OP received some similar advice originally and said she just wanted food ideas so I thought I’d try to help by listing some of my go-to snacks and filling foods. I guess going through the menopause can be alienating enough, and i was trying to avoid my usual snippy character! 🤣
  • zebasschick
    zebasschick Posts: 1,067 Member
    menopause is years behind me, but i found that having lower calorie snacks that i really like or no-calorie popsicles that i pour from my favorite sodas and water enhancers (and homemade shaved ice, too) means whenever i get a craving, i can fill it with less calories. pre-measuring or buying pre-measured portions is also very helpful. i used to eat a can of peanuts in a sitting, and while i really like peanuts, part of it was mindless continuation. now i get 1 ounce, really enjoy them, but now i don't have another 7 servings in my hand, ready to devour while i concentrate on reading or watching the great british baking show.

    if you find your regular meals are too many calories, figure out if there are substitions you can make - like light butter in place of regular butter, using low fat milk instead of whole milk when you make mashed potatoes and so on. food substitutions helped me lose 60 pounds a few years ago, so i'm a great believer.
  • LKArgh
    LKArgh Posts: 5,178 Member
    One last question:
    I have figured out that I am always hungry in the evening, regardless of what I have eaten for lunch, while I rarely feel the same way at lunch time. I have never tried skipping meals consciously (I mean, it has happened because I was too busy, but not planned) and I am wondering if it is worth giving it a try, having breakfast, something very light for lunch, like fruit and then dinner (of course still counting calories).
    Can anyone think of a reason why this might be a bad idea? I also have the fibroids with perimenopause and I supplement with iron, so I think it might not really be a problem nutrient-wise, right? In my last check-up, there were no other deficiencies.
  • zebasschick
    zebasschick Posts: 1,067 Member
    fruit has no protein or fat, and much of it also has very little or no long chain carbs. why not have a cup of light yogurt or cottage cheese, maybe with some veggies instead? i usually go with things like a protein drink, veg and 5 to 7 grams of peanuts, but i eat 6 small meals a day, so you will probably need a few more calories - maybe a small muffin, a couple rice cakes or a half serving of crackers?

    i always have about 200 calories not long before bed, and i don't get hungry for 2 hours after i wake up.
  • jsimmons1065
    jsimmons1065 Posts: 2 Member
    LKArgh I too am always hungry in evening regardless of previous meals. I believe it’s a habit for me. I’ve started exercising as soon as I get home. Prep a healthy meal. Then shower before enjoying dinner with my husband. All that said, the sweet snack craving begins and it turns into a battle. Sugar free popsicle v. Ice cream. So I get up, find a chore, stay out of kitchen. I’m learning IF, I feel best about myself and in control with time restricted eating.
  • claireychn074
    claireychn074 Posts: 1,593 Member
    LKArgh wrote: »
    One last question:
    I have figured out that I am always hungry in the evening, regardless of what I have eaten for lunch, while I rarely feel the same way at lunch time. I have never tried skipping meals consciously (I mean, it has happened because I was too busy, but not planned) and I am wondering if it is worth giving it a try, having breakfast, something very light for lunch, like fruit and then dinner (of course still counting calories).
    Can anyone think of a reason why this might be a bad idea? I also have the fibroids with perimenopause and I supplement with iron, so I think it might not really be a problem nutrient-wise, right? In my last check-up, there were no other deficiencies.
    No, no problem at all with that plan. Give it a try and see what happens. I’m a morning eater so hate big evening meals and I would suffer if I waited until tea to eat most of my calories. My other half is the opposite.

    When you eat your calories doesn’t matter, you could graze all day or just eat one meal. Just make a note of how it affects you; just eating fruit would spike my blood sugar and leave me ravenous on the crash, but we are all different.
  • csplatt
    csplatt Posts: 1,205 Member
    i like to shred chicken in the crock pot and divide it between tupperware for lunches throughout the week. i also add black beans and have it with half an avocado (or a 100 calorie pack of guacamole). sometimes i will add half a cup of rice.
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,374 Member
    edited August 2023
    menopause is years behind me, but i found that having lower calorie snacks that i really like or no-calorie popsicles that i pour from my favorite sodas and water enhancers (and homemade shaved ice, too) means whenever i get a craving, i can fill it with less calories. pre-measuring or buying pre-measured portions is also very helpful. i used to eat a can of peanuts in a sitting, and while i really like peanuts, part of it was mindless continuation. now i get 1 ounce, really enjoy them, but now i don't have another 7 servings in my hand, ready to devour while i concentrate on reading or watching the great british baking show.

    if you find your regular meals are too many calories, figure out if there are substitions you can make - like light butter in place of regular butter, using low fat milk instead of whole milk when you make mashed potatoes and so on. food substitutions helped me lose 60 pounds a few years ago, so i'm a great believer.

    A.) why all the margarine hate, folks? 😂😂😂Margarine is pretty tasty these days, and if you need to shave calories, it’s a darn good place to start!

    B.) Shaved ice??!!! How? What are you using? I had an early Opal ice maker that died in less than a year. About $800 down the drain, with extras we had just bought for it but Lordy, I miss that thing and my dentists tells me I’m ruining what teeth I have left constantly eating ice. Shaved ice sounds crazy good.

    C.) cooking shows are a hard pass for me, otherwise I find myself wanting to eat

    D.) keep your hands busy at night. It really does help. I do needlepoint, crochet, beadwork, embroidery. No home on the planet needs or deserves as many things as these hands churn out, but it’s one of the best diet plans!!! I have more needlepoint pillows than you could ever imagine, and since we’ve downsized, there’s nowhere to put them all.
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I had difficulty at perimenopause due to uterine fibroids, which caused very heavy bleeding, which lead to anemia and crippling fatigue. But in general, weight loss when we're older can feel harder simply due to people (men and women) being less active than when we were in our 20s and 30s. We get used to eating a certain way, and don't adjust when our activity decreases.

    I like Claire's advice about trying to increase maintenance calories. Our bodies were meant to move.

    I also like the PP's advice about finding what macro splits are the most satisfying.

    I almost liked @springlering62's advice about substitutions, but then she tried to replace my butter with margarine, which is unforgivable :lol:

    But seriously, when baking, I can generally reduce the amount of sugar, and can often replace half the fat with an equal amount of apple sauce. I replace some of higher calorie salad dressing etc with cottage cheese. Etc.
    Funnily enough my peri is mirroring yours with the fibroids and anaemia. And I’ve got to say that I hugely admire @springlering62 and usually agree with her but - MARGARINE?? No, just no.

    I'd been trying to avoid a hysterectomy, having been assured that the fibroids would shrink at menopause, but at age 55, I'd needed to go to the ER twice for blood transfusions, and tried everything, including a 6 months course of Lupron. When this failed to work, my GYN was concerned about cancer, so I finally had the hysterectomy. No cancer. And no more torrential bleeding!

    u2xkxu75yqxa.png
  • claireychn074
    claireychn074 Posts: 1,593 Member
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I had difficulty at perimenopause due to uterine fibroids, which caused very heavy bleeding, which lead to anemia and crippling fatigue. But in general, weight loss when we're older can feel harder simply due to people (men and women) being less active than when we were in our 20s and 30s. We get used to eating a certain way, and don't adjust when our activity decreases.

    I like Claire's advice about trying to increase maintenance calories. Our bodies were meant to move.

    I also like the PP's advice about finding what macro splits are the most satisfying.

    I almost liked @springlering62's advice about substitutions, but then she tried to replace my butter with margarine, which is unforgivable :lol:

    But seriously, when baking, I can generally reduce the amount of sugar, and can often replace half the fat with an equal amount of apple sauce. I replace some of higher calorie salad dressing etc with cottage cheese. Etc.
    Funnily enough my peri is mirroring yours with the fibroids and anaemia. And I’ve got to say that I hugely admire @springlering62 and usually agree with her but - MARGARINE?? No, just no.

    I'd been trying to avoid a hysterectomy, having been assured that the fibroids would shrink at menopause, but at age 55, I'd needed to go to the ER twice for blood transfusions, and tried everything, including a 6 months course of Lupron. When this failed to work, my GYN was concerned about cancer, so I finally had the hysterectomy. No cancer. And no more torrential bleeding!

    u2xkxu75yqxa.png

    I suspect I’m heading that way. I’m trying HRT to see if that will help, but I am expecting to have surgery to remove an ovarian cyst in the next year. They’ve mentioned a hysterectomy at that point sigh. It’s been hard to get taken seriously but finally they’ve agreed it’s not “normal” and I’m just desperately hoping my bleeding is due to peri and not the fibroids. Only time will tell! It’s a real pain trying to train and compete, and it’s also a pain trying to explain what’s going on when you’re afraid to leave the house 🤷‍♂️
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited August 2023
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    kshama2001 wrote: »
    I had difficulty at perimenopause due to uterine fibroids, which caused very heavy bleeding, which lead to anemia and crippling fatigue. But in general, weight loss when we're older can feel harder simply due to people (men and women) being less active than when we were in our 20s and 30s. We get used to eating a certain way, and don't adjust when our activity decreases.

    I like Claire's advice about trying to increase maintenance calories. Our bodies were meant to move.

    I also like the PP's advice about finding what macro splits are the most satisfying.

    I almost liked @springlering62's advice about substitutions, but then she tried to replace my butter with margarine, which is unforgivable :lol:

    But seriously, when baking, I can generally reduce the amount of sugar, and can often replace half the fat with an equal amount of apple sauce. I replace some of higher calorie salad dressing etc with cottage cheese. Etc.
    Funnily enough my peri is mirroring yours with the fibroids and anaemia. And I’ve got to say that I hugely admire @springlering62 and usually agree with her but - MARGARINE?? No, just no.

    I'd been trying to avoid a hysterectomy, having been assured that the fibroids would shrink at menopause, but at age 55, I'd needed to go to the ER twice for blood transfusions, and tried everything, including a 6 months course of Lupron. When this failed to work, my GYN was concerned about cancer, so I finally had the hysterectomy. No cancer. And no more torrential bleeding!

    u2xkxu75yqxa.png

    I suspect I’m heading that way. I’m trying HRT to see if that will help, but I am expecting to have surgery to remove an ovarian cyst in the next year. They’ve mentioned a hysterectomy at that point sigh. It’s been hard to get taken seriously but finally they’ve agreed it’s not “normal” and I’m just desperately hoping my bleeding is due to peri and not the fibroids. Only time will tell! It’s a real pain trying to train and compete, and it’s also a pain trying to explain what’s going on when you’re afraid to leave the house 🤷‍♂️

    Well, fibroids tend to increase at peri, so it's kind of both.

    Some years back, I did get some relief from Tranexamic acid, which you can take with progesterone. (You don't want to take estrogen when you are dealing with fibroids.) I took progesterone from ovulation until my period started. When I went from light to moderate bleeding, I started Tranexamic acid.

    I moved in with family, and that turned into a disaster. One member is mentally ill, and started being verbally abusive to me, and eventually physically abusive towards my partner. Another was emotionally abusive.

    During this time, the Tranexamic acid was no longer enough, and I started the 6 months course of Lupron. Normally, this shrinks fibroids 50%. Mine grew. My GYN and GYN oncologist thought this was due to cancer. After the hysterectomy, the lab found no cancer, and my doctors had no other explanation. I am firmly convinced that the emotional trauma I was experiencing during this time contributed to the lack of success of the Lupron. So I would still recommend it (and as a prior measure, Tranexamic acid) to people not in my situation.

    Lupron is a GnRH analogue that can only be used short term. It's generally used to shrink fibroids prior to surgery. Our hope was that it would put me into menopause, and that since I was 55, I would stay there, and which point the fibroids would stay reduced due to the decreased estrogen levels of menopause. Lupron shots are very expensive. I'm a veteran, and did not have to pay for it, but I had to jump through many hoops in order to get it authorized. I wish I'd been insistent about getting Focused Ultra Sound when my fibroids were still small enough for this to be an option :disappointed:

    A few years ago, I tried reducing fat and saturated fat and increasing fiber based on this and a few other articles: https://doctormurray.com/health-conditions/uterine-fibroids/ (I was already taking the fish oil and black cohosh the article also recommends.) "Reducing" for me meant staying under MFP's default of 50% for fat and under whatever the default for sat fat is. I think I was also taking the Tranexamic acid and progesterone. This did help reduce my bleeding, but when I started getting ready to sell my house and move the stress of this led me to slack off. And then I was in even more stress due to the toxic family situation :disappointed:
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,156 Member
    LKArgh wrote: »
    One last question:
    I have figured out that I am always hungry in the evening, regardless of what I have eaten for lunch, while I rarely feel the same way at lunch time. I have never tried skipping meals consciously (I mean, it has happened because I was too busy, but not planned) and I am wondering if it is worth giving it a try, having breakfast, something very light for lunch, like fruit and then dinner (of course still counting calories).
    Can anyone think of a reason why this might be a bad idea? I also have the fibroids with perimenopause and I supplement with iron, so I think it might not really be a problem nutrient-wise, right? In my last check-up, there were no other deficiencies.

    Any experiment is worth a try. Different people find different routines more helpful.

    That said: I found that eating a big breakfast (with plenty of protein), then protein at other meals (including lunch), was part of my formula for minimizing night cravings. The routine you're suggesting would make things worse for me, but it may indeed improve things for you.

    If the routine you've outlined doesn't seem to be working over a few days to a week or so . . . maybe try something else. It can help to notice if there are days when you're a little more or less crave-y than other days, and look at possible reasons. Going for weight loss rate that's too aggressive is one obvious thing that can cause that, and so is increasing exercise (frequency, duration, intensity or type) more suddenly than optimal.

    Also, keep in mind that a feature of evening is that we've had a long day and bedtime is approaching . . . implying that we're more likely to be fatigued in the evening. Fatigue makes the body seek energy, and food is energy . . . voila, cravings.

    Sub-ideal sleep quantity or quality (or high stress) can therefore be a factor. So, sometimes better sleep/sleep hygiene or stress management techniques can help reduce cravings, too, by attacking a root cause.

    Best wishes!

  • LisaW2021
    LisaW2021 Posts: 5 Member
    Hi! You're looking for eating plans. Can I shift the discussion. Welcome to the Peri years. You are at a wonderful time in your life but no doubt along with this time comes a lot of stress, health issues, work stress and our bodies making a major shift. A little about me. I had a baby in my peri years. She was born and three months later my died passed away and three months later I lost my mom. After I finished breast feeding I went into a hard stop menopause. FYI - I never had weight issues until I entered this part of my life. Take a look at your stress levels. Cortisol is a beast. Take walks in beautiful places. It is not just about cardio but feeling peaceful and well. As far as meal plans go, pick one that you can stick with and cut back on how much you eat. I agree with journaling. Eat clean & don't use artificial sweeteners. All my best on your journey!
  • springlering62
    springlering62 Posts: 8,374 Member
    edited August 2023
    You do you.

    For years, obese me poo-poo’d the idea of artificial sweeteners. Give me cancer, they would. Too unhealthy, too risky. So I carried on scarfing down at least a couple pounds a day of the real stuff.

    Nowadays I thank my lucky stars a sweet freak like me lives in a world that has developed them.

    Minimal risk of anything from artificial sweeteners versus the grinding damage obesity was doing to my health?

    Pardon me while I partake of my artificially sweetened, very low cal, high protein fresh homemade banana pudding ice cream after dinner treat.

    am1vln0ib6g2.jpeg