To wonder why so many post menopausal women are overweight?

[Fruitandnutqueen]

My friend and I are both 44 and love to sit and people watch.
One conversation and observation we make regularly is the fact we notice there appears to be a high percentage of women, late 40's plus, who are overweight.
Last week I was on a campsite where the majority of the people where 50+ and most of them were quite overweight.
We are coming to the conclusion that it's either menopausal hormones and we'll have no control over the bulge attack when the time comes (not long now ) or that most people hit that age and think 'oh fuck it, life's too short!' and just eat and drink to their hearts content.
I suppose there are probably just as many men that age overweight too, but I can't help but notice women I know who were previously slim, hit that age group and expand quite a bit!
Just wonder if it's inevitable?

Very judgmental.

I'm 63, weigh around 10 stone and can still get my aging rear into a pair of size 10 skinny jeans (and wear them in public without feeling any embarrassment at all).

MN is so full of sanctimonious women who never comment on anyone else's appearance - even through an anonymous forum or a general comment. It doesn't mean the OP is 'gawping' at women all day or being unkind - just curious.

We have 4 women in their 50s in our admin team of 8 and they are all overweight and have got bigger as they have aged. All 4 of them are dieting and trying to lose weight, unsuccessfully so far. There must be a correlation between age and weight.

Buzz It isn't sanctimonious to refrain from gawping at people and judging them.

They eat too much sugar :nodssagely:

not really, but how long before somebody says it on a thread about diet/weight

Why do you notice or care enough to express faux interest anyway?

Its because we all eat and drink to our hearts content, obviously, since there are only 2 choices available.

Can't comment on the reasons any other post menopausal women are overweight; this particular post menopausal woman is a fat fucker because I've always been a fat fucker, which is in turn because I've always loved cake and gin. However, I'm a gorgeous fat fucker and on campsites I generally see younger and slimmer women weeping in envy at my magnificence.

However, in general, I'd guess it's because the metabolism tends to slow with age, linked to loss of muscle mass, and that this means that if you continue with the cake and gin in the same quantities, you gain weight. This might also be combined with a reduction in the amount of fucks you give about other people's opinion on the subject of your appearance and on the amount of cake and gin you shove into your gob, also as a result of hitting your fifties. It's very liberating.

twitter.com/Tess_Holliday/status/869612188016590848

It is impossible for anyone on MN to have a sensible conversation about obesity and weight unless moaning about losing weight and or looking for diet tips

I went to a talk by an international medical expert in the Menopause and he said menopausal weight gain would be on average:-

14lbs
10lbs if you take systemic HRT

I was horrified.

I was very slim before my hysterectomy sent me into a hard menopause, I was 42. Despite watching what I eat and walking 12,000-15,000 steps a day I've still put weight on and got thicker round the middle.

Still a size 12 but unless I train like an athlete I'm not going to shift it, it is hormone and metabolism related, not necessarily a ' fuck it' attitude.

Arf, its because I barely sleep 4 hours a night now as I'm sweating and my hips hurt. Simply cant be bothered to exercise like I used to. No wonder it will all be back to normal in a couple of years but OP I wish you well with your own menopause, it's no cakewalk and I suspect you'll be cringing at the memory of this post shortly.

Yours

Fatty

This is why MN gets on my nerves sometimes.

If the OP had posted on one of the weightloss threads, she'd have got a sensible discussion about the correlation between age and weight gain.

Post on AIBU however, and you get the lynch mob who can't wait to put the boot in and make sweeping accusations.

FurbysMakeSexNoises - that is shocking!

So I'm being judged for being old, fat and menopausal??
What a lovely pair of ladies you and your friend are!!

Ah, OP. Wait til your judgeypants don't fit you any more.

God almighty, the op was an observation not a judgement. Why does she care? I know I care, because I'm a woman in my forties and the menopause is on its way. Literally everything I read about menopause indicates weight gain/fat redistribution to waist.

But noticing it on others is 'judgemental'? Makes no sense to me.

I'm average weight and post-menopausal. You need to eat less to stay slimmer but you don't really want to eat as much anyway.

I'd have said the largest ladies are among the teens to 30s, by quite a long chalk, if we're really taking notice?

went to a talk by an international medical expert in the Menopause and he said menopausal weight gain would be on average:-
14lbs
10lbs if you take systemic HRT

I was horrified.

That's rubbish. Been on HRT for 8 years . BMI 19 same as at 21.
It depends on what and how you eat.

Furbys who was the expert? I know quite a few through work and personally.

Polly did you miss the bit that said "on average"?

Noticing it and posting about it on MN so we can all point and laugh at the old fatties are two different things.

One conversation and observation we make regularly is the fact we notice there appears to be a high percentage of women, late 40's plus, who are overweight.

The OP and her friend regularly have this conversation. Regularly. That is not especially pleasant - I really, really hate people commenting on how other people look. That's not just "an observation"

true Averages are pretty meaningless. The mean would be better.

The people I know who are post meno are still slim if they were slim before, and fatter if they were fat before.

Weight gain is only inevitable if you overeat. At any age.