Anyone else hit the menopause & their tummy suddenly gone spacehopper, after a lifetime of being slim?

[BillyBusStop]

Sigh. Whatever I do now, the dreaded tummy is in the way. If I try to paint my toenails there's this socking great cushion of tummy stuck in the way. I am two stone overweight which I put on in the last year after never having to look at scales in all my life. I want the bloody thing gone & my old body back.. Anyone else in the same boat?

Yep. The solution appears to watch what you eat like a hawk, cut right down on alcohol, fewer carbs and lots of exercise. It’s a bigger. Also hrt.

Yes. Very similar here.

Yup. It's a pain.

Me, but then found out was expecting number 3.
Just saying

Me. I had a hysterectomy 18 months ago and whilst I still have my ovaries they’re packing up I think. Bloods suggest I’m perimenopausal.

I gained 10kg in 5 months despite doing nothing differently (genuinely, if anything I’m eating less, drinking less and exercising) but I can’t seem to shift it. It’s all gone on my tummy and hips.

I’ve never had to worry about my weight, been a size 6-8 for ever and now I’m a 10-12 and my shape has changed completely. I hate it.

yep no where else just my stomach i look about 4 months preggers but then im 62 now so the slim babe has long gone and im not that vain any more tight fitting jeans do wonders when im dressed no one knows its on holidays i have to look weird

Yup.
Gone from a busty 12 to a 16-18 in two years.
Joy.

I feel your pain. In my mid 50’s and suddenly gained 5 kg which I cannot shift.
I reckon exercise is the key -really getting heart rate up for an hour a day but it hard to find time to do this! Either that or give up wine 😟

Yes. I was size 10. Now I’m this broad middle aged person in the mirror ... I don’t drink but my latte consumption has suddenly caught up with me ...

YEP! Tbh, I've just largely learned to live with it (within reason as I cannot afford all new clothes) because I really don't want to watch what I eat like a hawk. I already exercise a lot and I've cut way down on alcohol as I just don't tolerate it well now (it gives me the runs and hangovers), but I want to enjoy my life so I'm happily a 14.

I now look like one of the Roly Polys in my big pants. I was going to enjoy a mini magnum ice cream earlier, caught a glimpse in the mirror of me standing sideways and put the ice cream back in the freezer.

A small midline hernia hasn't helped as stomach crunches would make it worse. That's my excuse anyway.

I like to blame it on my fibroids. My fibroids were massive during pregnancy: the biggest were 11cms and 9cms. That was nine years ago, though so it’s probably not a valid excuse anymore.

I live on a diet. I only eat about 1350 calories a day. This is since I lost most of the weight I wanted to. But found that going back to normal I put weight on no matter what.

So I stick to those calories a day. So when I go out for dinner or have a Costa visit and have a piece of cake I don’t put weight on.
It sucks. Big time.

Been on oestrogen suppressants for 5 years (breast cancer) and now look like I'm overdue with triplets. This belly will not go away.

I’ve never had much of a waist, being much more of a rectangle than an hourglass, but I’m definitely broader in the beam now. Like other pps, I don’t want to have to watch what I eat all the time, but really don’t want to gain any more weight than I already have.

I don’t drink alcohol, I’ve had to give up coffee... sigh. I’m going to up the exercise so even if I am a bit more hefty, I’m fit.

Oh and trousers are really difficult. If they fit around my ‘waist’ they flap around my arse and legs.

Another one here! I have reduced my pasta, rice, bread and potato intake to very little bit and it has helped a lot. I'm working out really hard in the gym every weekday morning before work, don't drink very often and try to limit sugar (except for the week before my period is due when I probably undo all the good work of the preceding 3 weeks). I'm 50 in a couple of weeks and still fit into clothes I wore when I was 40 although these are a tad snug round the middle but baggy everywhere else!. I'm around 10lbs heavier but with loads more muscle.

My rib cage expanded and I had to get new bras as a result.

And to reassure us all, getting the extra round the middle isn't necessarily a case of us eating too much (although often it is!). As we go through menopause, our bodies store carbs that aren't used up as excess fat around our middles and the number of calories required just to exist drops significantly. His advice to me was not to cut out carbs completely but to limit them to when they are earned so just before or just after a workout or cycle ride when they will be used by the body for energy.

But yes it is also true (and IME totally unfair) that we need fewer calories to survive but also become less active! Its the same for men but there doesn't seem to be the same level of concern about middle age spread as there is for women!

Me. I have gone square. I have no waist, all of a sudden.

Im 51
Over the last 4 years Ive cut my meal size in half,exercise like a loon and have given up alcohol.
Im 15kg down and have a hint of belly but its suckinable

Yes yes yes, this is me too! Slim Jim all my life, but over the last few years have put on over a stone and Can now look pregnant except when I first get up. Hate it. Over the past few years I have had to buy lots of new clothes and I now have to be really careful about what I buy. Did a big boden order the other day and it all looks shit, all going back. Also have had to buy new bras. I'm 50, not had a period for 2 years. Exercise apx 3 times a week but cannot shift my tummy. Really don't want to diet but fear I will have to before the summer. Hate my new body so much we havent had sex for over 2 years, I just don't feel sexy anymore.

Does anyone know if HRT might help? I am fine with most men things (sometimes get flooding), so haven't seen a doc, but if it would help with weight gain it would be worth it!

I have gone up from always a 8 to 10-12. Tried eating less and didn't seem to shift it so gave up on that, don't eat that much anyway. Think exercise is probably way to go but DH has also increased in size so relatively I'm the same

It is worth doing a few tests at doctors - mine found fibroids, had an operation to remove some but then CT scan later said uterus very large probably fibroids. Also get tired a lot so don't exercise that much whereas when size 8 sometimes exercising a lot though also periods of doing nothing more than running after kids.

Yes been slim all my life and over the last year I've put on about 8kg! All on my tummy and back so bras don't fit and I've had to go up a trouser size (but then it's too big elsewhere ). I read the advice about reducing calories, cutting out carbs etc and I just couldn't be bothered. I've started to dress to highlight my good points (I have good legs!) and cover the bit I'm less happy with - and enjoy my food.