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 agree with Zafferana, you need to up your exercise. I’m 47 and walk to and from work which is 6 miles a day and at a pace that leaves me slightly breathless. I also run 3 times a week and do circuits and weights.

The result is that I don’t have to calorie count (within reason) but I do try and stick to a Mediterranean style diet with mainly fresh unprocessed food. I would be thoroughly miserable if I was having to restrict my calorie intake as some of you do.

The OP does not need to up her exercise. She's towards the bottom end of BMI, and although I agree BMI isn't the be all and end all, she's definitely very slim. Do pilates to help your core if you have a wobbly belly.

I really don't think you should up your cardio. As pps suggested you should start gaining some strength.

I do pilates every morning - I love it. It's mat pilates so lots of arm weight bearing. Then I do yoga flow at night.

You do have an issue with eating op. You are obsessive around food and your body.

Increasing muscle is the best thing you can do as we age. It’s great for bone density and will keep your metabolism high.

I agree springydaff, and about exercise too

What's the aim? To live longer? To be super slim? Once you're old, no one is interested in anything about you physically. That's just fact. Our culture completely worships youth. You sound miserable. Just have a bit of a tummy and enjoy life. You see these elderly women starving themselves with these birdlike bodies. Sad indictment of our times.

Make sure you lift weights and do load bearing exercise for osteoporosis. It's better to carry a little more weight with age and has better mortality (is that the word?!) outcomes with illness too

A 2K run isn’t much exercise for an adult.

That isn't what I said. I do pilates and yoga every day, 12000 steps daily - the 2k run is just for fun with the kids.

That seems like several hours of exercise a day to me, coupled with your concern over weight, it all adds up to a long term excessive interest in weight, call it what you will.

Your diet is very very limited and short of calories and anything nice, I'd be so depressed to eat that but I do accept I will be overweight by doing so. I would feel exhausted eating so little and it would trigger migraines.

Whoever said being overweight is slightly better for you, mortality wise is correct. Being under or even normal weight is slightly less optimal as one ages- probably because if you get some horrible disease,you will have very little buffer.

I'm sure your children can see that being thin is very important to you, that's a lot of exercise and very limited eating, but only in the way that my children will see that eating Magnums is my treat and I do have a mum tum as a consequence. We all make choices- you have to live with yours.

I don't eat anything like this.

Even if you're lowish activity you can manage 1400 calories, with a little cardio exercise and a few strength exercises. On this you can lose weight.

With those calories, I manage 3 meals a day, eg

Eggs and bread or porridge, fruit.

Lunch of proteins (eg chicken, fish or nuts) and veg plus carb in some form eg soup or salad with bread or rice or potato or bulgar wheat.

Dinner same. Eg chicken breast in lemon dressing plus a baked potato or rice. Veg.

Often yogurt and fruit for a snack mid evening.
Almond milk in drinks, for calcium.

It can be done.

..but I do accept I will be overweight by doing so

I'm not overweight and I eat 3 good meals a day. I dont eat (cane) sugar or between meals. I'm not hungry, except when a meal is due.

I’m 5ft 2.5 and weigh 8st 10.

Im 53, eat a balanced diet which includes wholemeal bread (usually 4 slices a day) and 3 proper meals a day. I just don’t eat huge portions.

Typical day-
Poached egg on toast or Greek yoghurt and fruit

Sandwiches- tuna/mayo/salad or cheese/tomato etc

Evening meal -anything from pasta/sauce and cheese to steak and chips alongside lots of veg or salad.

I’ll eat banana, dates, nuts and an apple every day

If I fancy a chocolate bar I’ll have one but we don’t have biscuits etc in the house. I don’t like the taste of them.

I am going to start doing some weight baring exercise as I know it’s important as you get older. I only do a bit of walking and Pilates at the moment.

I too am an apple shape, I hate that just a few pounds extra, goes straight to my tummy. When you’re short with boobs (32F) you can easily look like a barrel!!

Why don't you just do more exercise?

I'm late 40s and eat way more than you and am a size 12/10 and I go running three times a week plus am vg active in general - never sitting down for long.

It's always better to do more than eat less if you're getting worried about getting enough nutrients!

Ok I've read the full thread and think OP you do have issues with food that are not healthy. So you are not going to sort them out on here. Good luck getting better if that is what you actually want.

Also @buggerthebotox you are not eating anything with any goodness in it - it's all processed foods! You must feel shattered eating that much junk. Swap it all for fruit and veg and meat and fish and cheese and grains and you'll feel so much better. Honestly!

I'm shocked by how some of the people on here eat/live. I'm not perfect (booze and crisps are my weaknesses) but I eat loads of nutritious stuff too and do loads of exercise and maintain my weight/figure in my late 40s without even thinking about it.

I'm early 40s and have definitely noticed that the weight seems to hang around my stomach more than it used to! I've also noticed that I'm suddenly much older than I think I am and very few people are interested what I look like these days (but that's a different thread...)

I follow a low carb diet and do a lot of exercise, e.g. today I've had:

2 scrambled eggs (no bread)
Small portion of nuts
Cheese & ham salad
Berries & cream
Bolognaise (no pasta)

I go to the gym 5 times a week and do 40 mins cardio (average 1000 cals), weights and abs.

Gosh MrsJBaptise how do you do all that exercise without carbs?
A bit of wholemeal bread/pasta/potatoes, are good for your body and brain.

I actually think that if you don't mess around with your body (by going on drastic diets!). It sorts itself out. I put on weight during peri, but just carried on eating the same as I always have and it's now falling back off again. There's no way I want to condemn myself to 1000 calories a day for the next 30 years. My weight may even out at a little over what it was pre menopause but that's ok with me. As pp's have mentioned, it's actually healthier to be very slightly overweight as an elderly person.

My mum's in her 70s and still obsessed with her weight. I find it really sad and just a complete waste of time and energy.

You just get used to it Lizzie!

I go to the gym on an empty stomach knowing I have my eggs & bacon to look forward to when i get home! 😉

As for thinking about your weight when you're older, my Grandpa still got on the scales every morning until he died at 101! Now I think by then I would have let it go! He did enjoy a nice meal out and plenty of wine though 😁

This is all a bit worrying reading .... I'm going to be 50 next week, don't do any exercise (apart from walking everywhere as I don't drive) and neither want to eat less nor buy a whole new wardrobe 😳.

Have you had to dramatically cut what you eat in order to maintain weight in your late 40s?

No. Less food since I was late 30s, I guess but not 'dramatically' (yet?).
I'm only 52 so haven't hit perimenop yet so can't comment on that.

I eat about 2500 kcal/day. Sedentary life/job but I get about 100 active minutes/day, too.

Body shape has changed for me, true, with getting older. I think it's body shape changes that OP is struggling with. I wonder what OP drinks. I suspect not just water.

Ha ha, no not just water! I drink two oat milk cappucinos a day with caffeine and two decaf oat milk cappucinos daily plus 1 litre of water and an 800ml grren smoothie daily (spinach/cucumber/beetroot usually) and 250ml prune juice at bedtime.
I have approx 250mls rose wine on Saturday nights, ocassionally Friday too.
Do people really just drink water only?

All this frantic exercising and eating no carbs, measuring your wine

It's really sad.