Anybody else hit their mid 40s & suddenly balloon up in weight?

[lirror]

In the last two years I've put on 2.5 stone, I've been a size 8/10 all my life & now I'm a 14/16. I absolutely hate it. All my life I've been a skinny mini who could eat anything. It seems like I'm going to have to shift to eating lettuce only at this rate. I have a classic round 'apple' belly that now sticks out further than my boobs and people give up their seats for me on tubes & buses because they assume I'm pregnant. I've even got rolls of back fat I know I'm definitely in the perimeno because I sometimes have hot flushes. I'm feeling really down about it, it's really restricting my ability to do things & it's causing back ache too. Has anyone else had this & managed to turn it around? I want my old figure back. I look dreadful.

Oh nightmare.
I did a silly (but wonderful ) thing and had a baby at 43 and then got huge.
I became so desperate and fed up with weight watcher and slimming world not working that I changed my diet to vegan 9 months ago.
I’ve shifted a stone but more crucially I’ve got control so instead of gaining 5/6lbs a week, I’ve pretty much remained stable which makes me happy.
Also meno symptoms have decreased, cholesterol is low, blood pressure better.
I’ve increased my walking, got my fitness pal and a step counter on my phone so I can track.
I’m ok on about 1000 calls a day.

Oh yes dear OP I have become a monster, put on 5 stone since mid 40's and now nearly 60 and cannot get it off. I am booked in for a gastric band at the end of January because I simply cannot live like this any more. It is miserable.

Yep 47 now and I've gone from a size 12 5 years ago to a 16 now
Depressing or what

Yes I feel like I've been cursed after being a size 8 all my life & now I'm a 12/14. My cousin and friends are extremely happy by my change in shape.

Yep me too despite exercising loads I kept gaining I’ve been reading more about insulin intolerance which starts to show in mid-40s after over eating carbs in earlier life. Interesting listening / reading to some of Tim Noakes work and I’ve just ordered his Banting book off eBay which is low carbing approach that he has been advocating for over 20years. He talks about the constantly feeling hungry feeling that can be removed by drastically cutting carbs, I’ve noticed if I have green tea instead of milk n tea first thing my “hungry” feeling doesn’t kickin straight away. Of my two children one of my DDs definitely wired like me and is constantly hungry so I’m trying for experiment with how I can tweak her diet to feel “fuller”. My other DD wired like my DH and just eats when she’s hungry, so definitely a genetic thing going on here too.

Yes. I was already about 1.5 stone overweight before my menopause and have been a life-long mindful eater because I gain weight so easily. But between the ages of 48 and 55 I gained another stone which now puts me in the obese/size 16 bracket, despite still being generally very restrained with what I eat. It has all settled around my upper waist so I am an absolute barrel now. I've never ever known what it's like not to think about calories in exercise out and I'm still a blimp. It's depressing.

@crosser62 what are you eating as a vegan diet please (eg can you give me examples of a couple of days eating. I'm trying to go mainly vegan but have found that since going veggie a couple of years back it's been harder to lose weight as I eat such a lot of carbs.

SkiMum99 that’s really interesting. I think I’ve probably overeaten carbs all my life and I also feel constantly hungry. Will look that book up.

Im 45 I lost ten stone in 2002/03 with Slimming World Kept it off for years. Suddenly this year ive gained a stone and its around my middle I look pregnant.

I have acid reflux (which ive had for years and medical profession swore blind to me that this would disappear if i lost weight. It didnt. ) and i feel really hungry all the time. WTF is it? People tell me i look great but i can feel where the weight has gone on. I hate it. Ive not gained weight anywhere else but the middle this time. It used to go straight to my boobs which are still a 32HH thank God but the reflux and hunger is driving me mad.