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 not sure I'd call pilates and yoga "frantic".
Eating no carbs is a method to reduce my peri-menopausal symptoms without having to resort to HRT - it has massively reduced my symptoms so I'm definitely not going back to non veg or fruit carbs.
I don't "measure" my wine - I was guestimating a large glass.

JMAngel going back to your OP, the food you eat is healthy but it really does sound like too little to eat on a regular basis to get all the essential fats and nutrients you need. If you sustain it over a long period you will, sooner or later, start feeling the effects somehow - could be energy levels, hair, nails, skin, headaches, it will start affecting you. And our bodies are actually incredibly efficient and adapt to fewer calories by conserving fat more, so the more you diet the better it gets at hanging on to weight (basic survival). So you could be setting yourself on a path to a lot of years of fighting your appetite in order to stay a certain size.

More to your point about your DD’s - however hard you try to conceal it, they will see all this and they will take on board the message about what a high priority you place on being slim. Is this what you want them to learn?

I'm amazed at people doing all this exercise on so little fuel. Genuinely don't know how you do it. Or why really, it's not like anyone is going to get obese just by eating a bit more here.

Someone at work (short but not unhealthy slender) eats lunches like this. With more greenery & without visible cream cheese. They look like nice Hors d'oeuvre to me. I often reflect "If that's all I ate for lunch then I would CRY real tears."

I'd be chewing on computer mouse before day was out.

I'm amazed at people doing all this exercise on so little fuel.

Believe it or not, some people (particularly small people), don't actually need that much food. I am constantly amazed by how much food most other people eat. When catering for others I've sometimes made the mistake of thinking other women eat roughly what I eat - BIG MISTAKE - generally they eat at least twice as much! I can easily do a long run on a banana and a cup of tea and then not eat until lunchtime.

I have opposite view, I can't believe how little others eat on an ordinary basis.
Except... I find they eat huge amounts in some situations. Call the event Christmas or a party & the food is hugely consumed.

Ordinary lunch on a weekday: lettuce leaf time.

Fuck this shit. I’m (almost) 48 and overweight, but my plan is to get fit and tone up, and cut out unhealthy processed foods. If I’m still a bit tubby after that then fine - I’m not spending the next however many years I have left on a diet. What a waste of life.

I think it depends on your priorities. Being overweight makes me miserable, uncomfortable, I get aches and pains in the morning, fatigue. Intermittent fasting has left me energised, a healthy weight, I no longer gets aches and pains or brain fog. I can fit most of my wardrobe again. What’s not to like? I eat everything I want to eat just not everyday.

OP Im 48 and my periods stopped in May so probably into menopause by now. Ive noticed a big change in my weight. Ive put on 10 lbs since May - like you Im small framed and 5'4 so it really shows on me. Also more worryingly its all on my belly. I also have high cholesterol so that is not good.

I work out - run, weights, yoga about 4 days a week and was slim before this but Im finding it hard to lose weight with all the strategies I tried before. Im not a breakfast person so never ate that in the first place.
I dont have any answers for you as yet but this is what Im doing for now

• I now try and get some exercise in 7 days a week. I live in the US so my lifestyle is a lot more sedentary that it was in London so this is a must.
• I used to have cheat days but have stopped that.
• I try to hit 1000 cals a day but in order to get nutrition, i cant have any processed or junk food at all.

Not sure how sustainable this is particularly when i go on vacation etc.

I'm 5'4 and, at 49, eat a lot more than you, but I also weigh 2 stone more. I can't get away with cakes and puddings any more. I simply don't feel good on them, never mind that they actually make me hungrier for the rest of the day.

For more perspective, my last period was at Christmas and I consume 1800-2000 calories per day. Fairly active but can't do any high impact exercise or lift heavy weights as my joints are knackered.

9 stone 5! My heaviest pregnancy weight was 9 stone 2. I would look like a weeble at 9 stone 5 - I truly am a very tiny frame.

OP I am the same height as you, and am 9 stone 6. I don't look like a weeble, though. I am in my 50s and not particularly large of frame.

I eat what I want (but don't overeat) and even drink wine! But I do exercise and this has changed my shape from a bit wobbly to looking more trim and toned.

I suppose if I ate less I would be thinner and would get rid of the last bits of wobble, but I am pretty happy with my body – I am stronger than I used to be, and more muscly and to me that is more important than being thinner at this point in my life. I do think women need a bit of fat to protect the bones when past menopause, but I may be deluding myself!

Also, a number of my friends/family haven't made it this far and I do think now that life is too short to worry about every mouthful I eat.

I'm not overweight and I eat 3 good meals a day.

Um..yay? Good for you. I know plenty of people who eat whatever they please and never exercise, and who are still slimmer than me. This does not mean that they are slimmer because they eat what they want.

Been following this thread with interest, as I seem to find it a bit easier to keep my weight down now I’m older (definitely peri’ and most likely in meno’ now). I do seem to be one of those people who can do a ten mile hike on a banana and a cup of tea - I prefer to ‘run on empty’, but I always struggled with my weight when younger. I have stopped drinking so fewer empty calories there, and some days maybe only eat once a day. I take a multivitamin and mineral as ‘insurance’ and I seem to feel well enough in myself.

I'm exactly the same as you, 5'3 and 8stone 3 (I'm 47). I can only eat very little so everything is high calorie, high fat. I also can't exercise. I have my bloods taken every four weeks and take huge amounts of vitamins and minerals, (prescribed) iron infusions and B12 shots. I wish I could eat better but need the calories more.

feeling sorry if I’ve misunderstood

Are you walking 10 miles a day and eating 800 calories a day?