POST MENOPAUSE AND WEIGHT GAIN-HELP!

On the other thread, you mentioned wanting to get your hormones tested. Low estrogen only causes weight gain indirectly. This article discusses that, but its focus is that post-menopausal women should exercise more than they tend to. You're already doing that. Great job on the steps!

By all means, get your hormones tested if you wish, but I do think the answer is going to be discovered by using a food scale.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/womens-health/in-depth/menopause-weight-gain/art-20046058

I'd point out that gaining 20 pounds in a year implies eating about 200 calories above maintenance calories on average daily. That's the calorie equivalent of one serving of peanut butter or a generous serving of ranch dressing: Not much!

It's easy to eat that much more (maybe with hormone-related appetite increase) or move that much less (maybe with hormone-related fatigue, such as from lower sleep quality), or some combination of slightly more eating and slightly less activity.

Surprisingly major weight gain can come from fairly minor cumulative changes in routine.

There's recent research suggesting that our metabolism stays pretty consistent from our 20s to around age 60 or so.*1* After that, the age-triggered decline in metabolic rate is quite gradual.

It's also common to gradually and subtly move less in daily life as we age. I don't know about you, but my job, leisure activities, home improvement/maintenance projects, etc., tended to be more physically active in my 20s than now. It changed slowly, though!

That decreased movement contributes to gradual weight gain over the life course, for a lot of people.

On top of that, as we age, we will gradually lose muscle mass unless we work seriously at keeping or increasing it. That makes a tiny difference in calorie needs at rest, but I suspect that as we have less muscularity, it becomes less easy and less fun to be active in daily life and exercise, so we move less without even thinking about it. (Your addition of strength training is a good move, in this light. Of course, cardio is also a good way to be more fit and active, plus burn some extra calories.)

Though I don't have a cite, I've seen some research suggesting that strength training may counter that tendency for aging women to store fat more centrally, though I don't think that's a fully proven thing. Even if it doesn't, it should tighten things up a bit, maybe improve posture (which affects how prominent central fat will look) . . . and strength is useful for its own sake, besides.

Complicating muscle maintenance/gain, many people eat less than ideal amounts of protein as we age. That can be a particular risk, it seems to me, when "dieting", maybe especially among us women, because it's common to turn to veggies and salads and avoid fats and meats when reducing calories. As we age, research suggests it becomes more important to spread it though the day. That's because a typical person metabolizes protein less efficiently at older ages than when younger. *2*

I think you'll get some useful insights from logging what you eat as accurately as is practical for you. Eating a couple of hundred calories above needs adds around 20 pounds in a year . . . and eating around 200 calories below needs would drop around 20 pounds in a year, too, roughly. (Faster than that is fine, but too fast isn't ideal.)

You can figure this out, and make practice, if you apply persistence and patience. I'm cheering for you!

Yeah, it's a post with footnotes. Crazy, huh?

*1* https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34385400/
*2* https://www.jamda.com/article/S1525-8610(13)00326-5/fulltext

P.S. Increasing daily life (non-exercise) movement can make a useful contribution to progress. Many MFP-ers share their diverse ideas about that in this thread:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1

I’ve been exactly where you are! Except I’ll be 55 next year. All great advice given so far. See your doctor and get tested. I started intermittent fasting in June 30th this year, and since then I’ve lost 22 kg - that’s almost 50 pounds! A combination of intermittent fasting and watching what I eat has completely changed my life. I’m almost at my goal - I just want to let you know it can be done and you can see results quickly!

jaxluvthebeach wrote: »

Just an update, I am sure its just water weight right now but I have lost 3 pounds since starting this on November 1, 2023. So I am guessing that food was the culprit here but time will tell!

It usually is.

N=1

I was logging and lost weight in 2013 age 50.

Kept logging in maitenance for several more years, in that time I had last menstrual period age 54

Continued logging.

I did not find I gained weight with the same calorie intake pre or post menopause.

*qualifies by saying my lifestyle or activity level did not change i n that time either and I did not have any real menopause issues other than some minor hot flush issues, not affecting activity level or calorie intake.

Incidentally I also had thyroid surgery in middle of those years (2016) and half my thyroid removed due to a tumour (non cancerous it fortunately turned out )
That made no difference to weight either - of course with correct replacement medication.