Have you had to dramatically cut what you eat in order to maintain weight in your late 40s/perimenopause? If so, do you worry about not getting enough nutrients?

[JMAngel1]

Just that really. I have had to reduce what I eat to probably 50% of what I ate 5 years ago just to try to keep my tummy reasonable and weight relatively stable. But I feel kije I hardly eat anything! Wierdly, I'm not hungry as I do keto but maybe my body is lacking in vital nutrients?
Here's what I ate yesterday
Apple
Banana mashed up with one teaspoon sugar free peanut butter.

Keto muffin made with one egg, spinach, almond powder and feta cheese

Approx 1/4 medium chicken with beetroot, rocket and cucumber.

What do you think? It doesn't seem like a lot written down. I used to have Paleo snack bars and dark chocolate but have had to cut them out as tummy was getting very flabby.

I'm torn about what to do. Some days I think I'll just have to relax a bit, not worry about it so much and realise that putting on a bit of weight is normal.
Other days I'm so miserable that I am putting on a bit of weight and stomach isn't as flat as it's always been. I try to stick to low carb as it's always worked best for me but I'm failing miserably at the moment because I see to have developed a bit of a sweet tooth.
Horrible isn't it.

I know Durham it is miserable especially when I can't join in with treats with family. I have two DDs and I don't want them to think I have an issue with eating.

Yes I’ve reduced the amount I eat but I’m not miserable. I eat everything I want to eat to get the taste but in small amounts.

I will never ever let myself go and put on any weight so I find it easy not to overeat.

I never feel hungry in between meals so know I am eating well.

I think it's a struggle. I haven't cut carbs, though I try to stick to low portions of it, such as one slice of toast etc. I ear carbs most meals. That said, I suppose I eat between 1200-1400 calories most of the time, so not critically low. Obviously, getting into a routine of even 30 minutes a day exercise does help.

I haven't got in to the habit of exercising on a daily basis, I'm active and love long walks/hiking but I have to admit that on a day to day basis I'm a bit lazy when it comes to actual exercise.
I'm unhappy with the stomach, my thighs and my upper arms but I don't do much to address the issue.

How are you managing to eat apples and bananas of keto?

Misses the point of the thread entirely

Regular weight bearing exercise becomes even more important as we get older if you want to retain muscle tone and bone density, as well as maintain a healthy weight. I run 40 miles a week and do two HIIT classes with weights, and find that I can maintain my (mid range BMI) weight on around 1600 calories a day (I'm 46). I think that its vital to focus on increasing your activity levels rather than just on decreasing calories.

No I eat whatever I want really because I'm pretty active. At the moment I'm walking ten miles a day at a very fast rate, that burns over 800 cals.
I did find it was harder to lose weight when I was actually going through my menopause, but things settled down after a couple of years.
Re getting your nutrients, I think you can get everything you need in about 800 calories, assuming you eat a balanced diet and none of those calories come from junk food.

Keto is pretty restrictive isn’t it?

I do my 12000 steps a day most days and do weight bearing rather than lifting exercise most mornings - mat pilates or yoga. Maybe I shoukd do some HIT workouts too - good point.
I do my version of keto - I don't restrict fruit.

I don't do keto, that is by nature restrictive.

Yesterday i ate a bowl of muesli and an apple
Can tuna, cucumber tomato avocado beetroot lettuce apple cider vinegar and mayo, lovely new low sugar yogurt thing, just low sugar NO SWEETENERS i dont touch them
Spaghetti and meatballs, small portion

Im 52 and on HRT which initially made me put on 10lbs but ive lost that now.

I believe wholeheartedly in wholefoods, as natural as possible, lots of green veg and no sweeteners!

@feelingverylazytoday. that's reassuring about the 800 ca!orie comment.
Do you guys think what I eat is a reasonable amount? How does it compare to what you eat? I'm 5 ft 3" , very small frame, clothes size 8 and weight 8 stone 3. My weight all way through 20s to early forties was 7 stone 12 ( give or take 2 pregnancies!). I need th those extra 5 pounds though to pad out my face - if I go below 8 stone now, I look dreadful.

You are tiny and that's a tiny amount of food and a lot of exercise. But i presume you realise that.

I am 38 and due to autoimmune conditions I have been going through the menopause for 2 years. Initially I became very depressed about the weight gain and cut back everything dramatically and was determined I’d be slim. After a while I began to feel quite unwell - both physically and mentally (not eating what you want is depressing!) so now I just eat 3 times a day, no diet in particular but I only have snacks maybe 1/2 a week. I am marginally overweight now (could do with losing a couple of stone if I’m honest) but it doesn’t bother me enough to want to go back to eating so little again. I think it’s very difficult to eat a wide variety of things on such a restrictive diet and I think it’s the wide variety of stuff that keeps us healthy and happy.

You see I don't think I'm tiny - if I put weight on it all goes to my tummy and I can look pregnant. But yes my arms and legs are good but not scrawny - I have defined muscles due to yoga. I really do have a small frame though so if I go past 8 stone 7, I really start to look too tummyish and booby - I'm 30E.

Well that's fine. Perhaps eat normal food ie not keto if you are genuinely worried about not getting enough nutrients? There's plenty of B vitamins and fibre in really coarse unprocessed wholemeal bread for example. I buy mine from the health food shop

We out ourselves under so much fucking pressure, don't we.

I've been doing the 16:8 eating thing for the last month and I've lost a stone. I also run twice a week, cycle to work and walk the dogs. And I'm still larger than I would like.

However, I'm 49 next year and I keep reminding myself of how unreasonable I am to expect to look like a 29 year old when I'm actually 20 years older. The only pressure I should be putting on myself is to look like a healthy and happy 49year old. And that will definitely include some element of muffin top and wibbles and wobbles here and there.

My mum’s done this to maintain her figure and now in her mid 60s she’s getting quite frail. She’d have a small bowl of muesli, undressed salad for lunch and about half an adult portion of a fairly light dinner. Yes she can still fit in all her old clothes but she’s really tired and fragile. I do think her health now is linked to being on a permanent diet and (easy to say I know) she’d be healthier now if she’d focused more on exercise and ate more. Unfortunately for her thinness trumps everything and she probably thought she was doing right be her body.

Well, it sounds as if you want to be relatively thin, so then the price is to undereat I guess

I have a totally opposite approach, am almost 50 but I am focussing on building muscle/fitness so I eat around 2500 cals, including lots of carbs, and do a fair bit of weight-bearing exercise and aerobic.

I will never be thin-thin, but seeing a,lot of my thin friends with osteoporosis or anaemia, starting in their 50s, I am aiming for a good bmi (lower than 25) and maintaining fitness and strength instead.

The bonus is that I can eat bread, potatoes, cake, whatever. I burn it off anyway.

To me, eating as little as you do, sounds hard! But then, I will never be as thin as you. I def have a bit of fat here and there.

Choices I guess

So to answer OP:'i did not cut my intake, but I really upped the exercise.

@2cats2many I completely agree with you.

I came to realise that even if could get back to a size 8 I would never be a size 8 18-21 year old super glam young thing - I would still look and be 38. So now I have tried to put things into perspective. If I’m healthy and can enjoy life with my kids that’s the main thing to me.

@Hotbiscuits Yes this is exactly the kind of issue I want to avoid - frailty.
I'm going to increase cardio and then food.

Most definitely. I’m small in height so that doesn’t help. Nonetheless I have drastically cut my cals to between 1000- 1200. Used to eat a lot more. However I used to be very very active. Now not so much, plus I’m post menopausal and being treated for under active thyroid. I have to be right on it to lose and even not to gain. I’ve still got a stone to go to get to a healthy bmi. If I wasn’t mindful about what I eat I’d be a big as a hippopotamus 🦛. Oh yes I most definitely would be!

I put on 4 stone as my body's slowed down. I 'm at the point where I'm hardly eating too. I've lost 2 stone since january. All I eat is fruit for breakfast, a slimfast shake, some nuts and a small dinner. I eat nothing else. I still have another 2 stone to lose 🙄 so I've taken up running now.

I am just 😮 at how little some posters are eating, sacrificing their health for the sake of aesthetics, it’s shocking and sad. You cannot get sufficient nutrients from 1000 calories a day in the long term. You won’t find any medical advice to tell you that it’s a healthy level of food intake.

SolitudeatAltitude’s way and Fairylea’s attitude is so much healthier - think about how much longer you are likely to be on this earth, would you rather be strong and enjoying life at 70+ (With a bit of a tummy) or frail and fragile and slim - for what?

Why is so much value attached to slimness for so many women, it seems to be prioritised at any cost? Constantly monitoring and restricting food intake is boring and miserable, surely there are more important and enjoyable things to think about and do? I’m not saying eat without any thought at all but focus on health not weight.