Early 40s getting fatter by the day,send solidarity

[Defeatedbylife]

I've always been fairly slim,till this year.Im 43 havent drastically changed my eating habits but seems like every mouthful is now adding a pound.im still exercising three times a week and run around after kids daily.has it all just caught up with me??sob!im on week three of eating mindfully, ie not stuffing myself, limiting sweet stuff but the scales have continued to climb.ive gained a stone and half since January.

What can i do?!feel i can't eat any less and move any more!do i admit defeat and just go till bust!haha joking a little bit,so fed up of it!

HRT …? Although some find it makes them put more weight on but it’s quite common to be in early menopause in your 40s and find your weight creeping up as a result, especially around your middle.

I feel your pain. I've always been effortlessly slim but those days are gone and I'm battling to fit into my clothes.

We have that naked Lewis Capaldi billboard near work and while everyone else was laughing heartily all I was thinking was "Yep, that's pretty much what I look like now".

Same age as you and was always a fairly 'effortless' weight (not incredibly slim, a fairly average size 12, but could eat / drink more or less what I wanted without putting weight on) until about a year ago.

I used to laugh at people on 'faddy' diets, but unfortunately I am finding that the only things that work for me are low/no-carb, enough water to drown a camel (about 4L a day) and no wine (there's always gin / vodka and tonic, though).

I don't miss bread, but there's days I could murder a bowl of pasta.

Yep, also 43, and have spent all my adult years till now as an effortless size 8. Haven't changed anything. But now I can't do up any of my clothes, and nothing looks quite right on me. Are you actually overweight now, @Defeatedbylife ? If not, is it an option to just embrace the fact we change shape as we age? Sounds like you're otherwise pretty healthy?

I let myself get fat when I was around 50. Not intentional of course, but let a couple of pound slide and thought it was nothing to worry about, then didn't weigh myself and a couple of pounds became a couple of stone.

I have had to get rid of it and have made good inroads in doing so.
What is working for me is weight lifting. It is making a huge difference. I am doing it 4 times a week and only 45 mins at a time but making that time count.
My shape is changing back to something I recognize.
I have friends telling me they are doing loads of exercise and 'nothings happening' but they are just doing cardio and light weights.
Maybe worth a go OP?

Im 10ft stone 10lbs,was 9st 3 at beginning of year!!no menopausal symptoms.my clothes are All tight!i look frumpy. Height is 5ft7

OP, you're still in the 'normal weight' range, albeit at the upper end. So in terms of framing this, it's not the worst thing.

However, I completely understand that's a significant weight gain for you in a short time, and you don't feel yourself.

For me, this is significant: im still exercising three times a week and run around after kids daily.

'Run around after the kids' makes no differences in terms of peri-menopausal weight gain. Moving, yes, but just activity like this will have no impact.

3 times week is good - but too little. I think you need to be exercising intensively 5 times a week, and ensuring it is varied exercise.

A PP mentioned weights - this is excellent as it works well for perimenopausal weight gain but will also help maintain muscle & avoid osteoporosis.

About exercise, I think it's so individual. I exercise 7 days a week - 5 of those are high-intensity, a mix of Spin, HIIT, weights, core plus 2 runs (one is an easy run so I don't wear myself out entirely). I always exercised a reasonable amount but for me, to manage a) my weight & b) my shape, more, and varied, exercise is important.

I know there are many theories about diet. I don't cut anything out but watch portions. I eat too much chocolate for sure but enjoy it & probably won't stop.

I still weigh about half a stone more in my 40s (I'm 46) than I did all my adult life (56kg, 5 ft 4). That's just about 9 stone & I work hard to make sure it doesn't increase. However, my physique is the best it has ever been, muscular, well-defined etc. my GP said impatiently, maybe that's the weight you're meant to be. I know my weight is fine, but that half stone seemed to come from no-where so I understand what you mean

I do think it's important to find what works for you re weight management. It gets so much harder to have excess weight & live a good quality of life when we are older.

Same, I'm 38, go to the gym 4 times a week, stay under 1200 a day, and struggle to get under 10st.

When I was 21 I lived on snake bites, kebabs, and ginsters pasties from the vending machine in the uni halls, and weighed 8 stone.

Ah, OK. So healthy weight, but a fairly big change in quite a short time period, so you don't feel like you. I've put on similar amount (and like you am still in healthy range, but bigger than I was). Guess maybe we need to change things to make sure the gain doesn't just continue indefinitely. Interested in @EarringsandLipstick and @notacooldad mentioning weights. I run but have never done weights, and am kind of interested in this as a way forward, because apparently it also is really good for mood?

People keep saying "perimenopausal"... is 43 usually perimenopausal, then? I'm the same age, and kind of assumed I had a few years till perimenopause - but perhaps my expanding arse says otherwise!

Strength training 100%. Ive dropped a size in 6 months. Only thing that works for pre / post menopausal women.

Your family history is the biggest indicator (i.e. at what age did your mother / older sisters / maternal aunts go through MP), but it is now generally understood that the early symptoms of PM can occur anywhere up to 5-7 years before MP.

Argh, posted too soon... so yes, could be as early as 36, could be as late as 50.

Yes, this is me too sadly. I was always a slim 10. In 6 months I put on 3 stone!!! Intermittent fasting works and hula hooping (weighted) really helps. It's burning off all the fat around my mid section.

What do you eat ? @Defeatedbylife can you give a few typical (and honest) days, every morsel included.

Perhaps get blood tests done. Could be a thyroid problem?

Same here. I'm a couple of years older than you and a similar height (5'6). I've been between 9 and a half stone and 9st10 for about 15 years and have never been overweight. Earlier this year out of nowhere I just started putting on 2 or 3 pounds a week. It bore no relation to what was going in! I now seem to have stabilised at 10st10 but I can't shift a pound and all my clothes are tight. Peri meno sucks.

Same age as you, gained 21lbs since Christmas and inspite of joining slimming world and sticking to it I can't lose a damn oz! After chatting about this and changes to my cycle with a senior nurse at my GP practice it appears I am starting the early stages of menopause. We went through other symptoms together and I was amazed at how many little niggles I had that I just put down to life..... they all added up. 10 days on a low dose of HRT and I'm already seeing a difference in many ways. My mood has improved and I've even dropped a couple of pounds too. Have a mooch at symptoms on the NHS website.

It's very dependent on the individual. You may not be!

You can look at a list of symptoms & see if any fit. Weight gain may be an issue (it wasn't really for me, it was all the other ones - night sweats, joint pain, low mood, anxiety, awful sleep, brain fog, dissociation...!). Thank God for HRT!

HRT will not help with weight loss - but it helps mood, energy levels etc which means you fab exercise more, make better dietary choices.

Plus, it really helped with bloating & digestive issues for me, which obviously affects how we look / fit into clothes.

@SaltLampMani

Weights are excellent for women. Some posters here really like lifting heavy weights.

For me, I combine it. I do classes where weights are incorporated with cardio ie AMRAP (as many rounds as possible) where eg dead lifts might be one exercise, with the others being cardio linked.

I used to a strength class - it really didn't work for me. I need the calorie burn, to have a really intense class, and have weights as part of that. It's what I enjoy, but it demonstrably works for my physique & in managing weight.

I'm a big believer in what works for the individual though so know that my way might not suit others.

@EarringsandLipstick are you doing CrossFit?

How do you “do weightlifting?” I mean, I know you can pick up weights, but how do you know what exercises to do? Do you follow a programme?

Are you me?

After a bad year (mum died and I had a hysterectomy) I hardly moved the past few months. I ate shit. Lockdown weight just went up.

3 weeks of moving 3 times as much, burning treble my actual e calories daily and tripling my steps a day - alongside MUCH healthier eating.

I've managed to put on another half a stone and got my highest ever weight.

It literally makes no sense

It is what goes in (your mouth) that will matter and make the difference @itsgettingweird not how much you move. For movement to matter, you need hours and hours and hours per day.
It all comes down to calories in.