To wonder why so many post menopausal women are overweight?

[Fruitandnutqueen]

My friend and I are both 44 and love to sit and people watch.
One conversation and observation we make regularly is the fact we notice there appears to be a high percentage of women, late 40's plus, who are overweight.
Last week I was on a campsite where the majority of the people where 50+ and most of them were quite overweight.
We are coming to the conclusion that it's either menopausal hormones and we'll have no control over the bulge attack when the time comes (not long now ) or that most people hit that age and think 'oh fuck it, life's too short!' and just eat and drink to their hearts content.
I suppose there are probably just as many men that age overweight too, but I can't help but notice women I know who were previously slim, hit that age group and expand quite a bit!
Just wonder if it's inevitable?

[Crispsheets]

Good luck with your own menopause

[PortiaCastis]

[PeaFaceMcgee]

You've attributed it to one variable with no consideration for anything else. By the same logic, you could say that campsites make 50+ women quite overweight!

[PossomInAPearTree]

You need less calories as you get older so unless you eat less or exercise more then yes you'll put on weight.

[fedupandnogin]

Yes good luck

[Raspberriesaretheonlyfruit]

but I've noticed elderly women tend to be skinny.

[mynotsoperfectlife]

Because if we were living in the wild, it would be a way of preserving calories.

[MostIneptThatEverStepped]

How shamelessly judgemental!
Better hope it doesn't happen to you is all I can say.
Karma and all that...

[friendlyflicka]

I haven't put on weight but found I was actually hungrier and more tired all the time. Just started very successfully on HRT and have gone back to my old patterns of energy and feel better again.

[Chilver]

Just you wait til you go through menopause, maybe you'll be lucky.

I was 35 when my menopause started due to surgery and the surgical menopause has been horrific. The physical effects of the menopause were brutal. I am now 3.5 stone overweight despite my diet not changing, still doing as much walking and cycling daily as possible. I have been to nutritionists, doctors etc for help and no-one seems to be able. Steady consistent dieting does not work for me - at all. My self esteem is rock bottom and this has effected every aspect of my life. It sucks and I'm not even in the age bracket you mention!

[LiviaDrusillaAugusta]

[C3H8O]

It's definitely not inevitable. My mother is 55, and is a UK size 6/8 depending on the brand. She also constantly gets comments from people asking if she's in her 30s! I attribute that to a healthy lifestyle (frequent exercise, traditional Japanese diet so lots of sashimi, natto, seaweed, grilled fish etc, 8 hours of sleep every night), and a very positive attitude towards life (minimal stress).

[Fruitandnutqueen]

I've too noticed that elderly women do get skinny but surely I and my friend can't be the only ones who notice this? I'm not shaming just curious as to why it is?

[DonkeyOaty]

Arf at PeaFace. Excellent smackback.[thumbs up]

[MrsDustyBusty]

I've noticed that people who start threads about how they simply can't understand how other people are fat tend to be judgemental and disingenuous. I was just chatting to myself the other day and I agreed with my observation.

But why, I ask myself, do people struggle with the idea that other people aren't them?

[LiviaDrusillaAugusta]

In case you actually want to know (as opposed to being goady) why don't you try this magic invention called Google - try 'effect of menopause on weight'

[BuzzKillington]

I think you have to work harder at staying slim after the menopause and maybe, for some, it just doesn't matter that much.

[IrritableBitchSyndrome]

Gut bacteria change at various times - including menopause, and can result in extracting far more calories from food, leading to weight gain.

[FizzyGreenWater]

but I've noticed elderly women tend to be skinny.

• all the fat ones are at the campsite, where they tend to spend most of the time inside the tents where you can't see them.

[TheFaerieQueene]

Some things you ponder in your head should fucking stay there.

[PortiaCastis]

Yep Fizzy they're hiding from the OP

[BackforGood]

As you walk around my local High Street, I would definitely say, %wise, it is the generation of men and women in their 20s that are carrying loads more weight than the folk in their 50s, 60s and 70s. Not a scientific study either, but an observation just like you.
My own, personal experience is that I have put on a lot of weight between 40 and 45, between 45 and 50, and seem to have not then put on since hitting the menopause, so on that tiny amount of data alone, maybe it is age and not necessarily menopause. Or, maybe it is your campsite and my High Street. Who knows? Who knows what will happen to the people who are already considerably overweight in their 20s, when they hit middle age?

[Sparklingbrook]

I am amazed how manypeople have thoughts and then suddenly decide to turn them into a thread on MN and in AIBU of all places.

[PollyPerky]

The same thing applies to most 50+ though!

Metabolism slows down after 45 ish so unless you eat less and exercise more, the weight goes up.

In women, the distribution of fat changes post-meno; it becomes like men's weight gain, settling around the middle. This is especially dangerous for heart disease, diabetes and women's risk of breast cancer is fat-dependent.

It's certainly not inevitable to gain weight post meno. I haven't but I eat about half what I did in my 20s.

[Cooroo]

OP made an observation and wondered if it was a 'thing'. FFS if you can't wonder aloud in the anonymity of MN, where can you?