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?

Shockers i think you have missed the point. Name Changers post was tongue in cheek. Like the twitter account @manwhohasitall

She was making a point that men dont get judged as much as women.

On the age note.............it took me 18 months to lose 10 stone starting at age 29

It took me 3 and a half years to lose nearly 4 stone starting at the age of 40. Id only lose a pound and a half a fortnight or a pound and a half a month. Not menopausal yet though. Peri possibly.

I have put a couple of pounds on and yes its gone on my tummy due to eating choc ices I live in an HA flat and it gets bloody hot in here.

Will go back to what i was doing before to stay cool.........rinse a T shirt under the cold tap and wear it soaking wet with the window open. Because im obvs not going to get away with eating choc ices

Cant do anything about my legs unless someone invents a time machine so i can go back in time and hand my granddad a condom. My lipodema is hereditary. I get it from my gran.

Polly You obviously have issues with overweight people. Im guessing thats to do with coming from a generation where looks were the most important capital women had.

Or you think your weight loss will stem off the fact that you are aging.............you do know that weight loss isnt a time machine right.

You sound like a scared old woman.

the mum of an ex colleugue of mine is very overweight. Shes about your age but has been on a high dose of steroids since 2000 due to illness.
Steroids prescribed by the NHS!

BackforGood Your comment about the old TOTPs is accurate. As a teenager in the early 70s I don't recall anyone of my age being overweight, there must have been the odd one but I genuinely can't think of any. There was one child at school who was overweight.
Something fundamental has changed since I grew up. When I think of our diet it would probably be considered unhealthy today.
The things I can pin point as different now from 40 years ago are

1. Snacks. We never ate anything bewteen meals (I still don't).

2. Sweet drinks. I never had a sweet or fizzy drink as a child. 3. Activity. We had no screens and played out all day. I mean no screens, tv didn't broadcast until 5pm . As a teenager I walked everywhere. Miles.

I wonder what towns/cities people are talking about when they say there are overweight people of all ages and slim people stand out. I'm in central London right now and the majority of people are in good shape

I have gained a lot of weight.
The weight is also more noticeable around my middle, whereas I have always been an hour glass shape.
I exercise, a lot and am very active. I do everything myself, gardening, decorating, car washing etc.
Just a few years ago I was much slimmer whilst doing the same level of exercise. It is depressing.

I'm menopausal and on HRT. In fact, due to several reasons, I am lighter than I've ever been but despite that I have changed shape and have a flabby stomach no matter what. BMI is about20.

So I dress to flatter and accept that we don't keep our same body shape forever.

I met a woman recently who was yet to experience the menopause due to staying on the pill into her fifties ( very odd) but told me she didn't believe in hot flushes. How I laughed. Sadly her GP has decided the pill must stop so maybe she will be amazed yet....

It's comi g to get you OP. You can run, but you can't hide ...

Helena if you're going to call out posters for having an issue over weight, it might be better not to make an issue of their age. It kind of of undermines the argument.

My DM is nearly 87 and was on HRT for many years. She's 4lbs heavier (9st 4lbs) than she was at 20 and 5 foot 6. I'm a bit taller and lighter but we never ate convenience food or had takeaways. No exercise apart from walking. I was asking her as I'm 47 and wondering when this perimenopause is likely to hit me. Genetics might have something to do with it but inherited eating habits count for a lot.

And my DF is nearly 93 and the same applies; in fact he's not got the slight beer gut he had 40 years ago. Not bad as he's in a wheelchair some of the time.

Not when im merely using it as an observation the same way Polly is doing with fat.

I'm not convinced middle-aged-spread is just down to hormones and age. maybe half a stone of it is. But the rest, I really do think is to do with a shift in lifestyle. In my twenties I was thin and instinctively chose the lighest food on a menu - a salad or fruit salad. I had tiny portions of carbs and an obsession with cardio exercise. No sense of self-denial - that was just how I wanted to live. In my thirties I lived on cigarettes and black coffee and often forgot to eat (weird person) and walked everywhere. Had DC at 39. In my forties I started hoovering up left over fish fingers from the kids' tea and being too tired to do anything but slump in front of the TV at night. And that's when the fat started settling in. I'm pretty sure if I lived on fags and black coffee and walked everywhere again it would melt away. But I don't want to.

Well the phrase "middle aged spread" hasn't been around for decades for no reason...

Maybe Flora should make an ultra low calorie butter substitute and call it "Middle Aged Spread"?

Not when im merely using it as an observation the same way Polly is doing with fat.

So your justification is that the poster you're criticising is doing the same thing?

I see.

Flo Ever heard the saying............if you cant take it dont dish it out.

Because you are basically saying one rule for Polly and another for everybody else.

I don't know anyone who's overweight and the vast majority I see when out and about in my area seem a healthy weight as far as I can tell. The tone of the OP and those who seem to have some kind of issue is as usual on this sort of topic sexist, judging specifically women for their weight and probably going out of their way to notice only women who are in their eyes overweight.

Not at all and I'm sure Polly is quite capable of looking after herself.

I'll say it again - If you're going to criticise a poster for making an issue of someone's weight, your argument will stack up a lot better if you don't make an issue of their age.

Holo- visit a Northern town and you will see that the majority of people are not in good shape! It's not an age thing either!

My wise old great granny used to say that you lay it down in middle age so that you have something to lose in old age

I'm over 40 now and any bit of weight I put on, I find it very hard to lose it ! I'm not even menopausal yet. I never had a weight issue , in fact I was skinny. Now I'm struggling to lose 1and a half stone. I'm eating well and exercising and the weight is coming of slowly, not quickly like before!
So I can only presume my metabolism is slowing down and some hormonal changes are happening , so I reckon I'll have to work to keep it off when I do get it off !
It's age !
It's life.
I've seen loads of peoplease in their 20s majorly over weight these days, now that's down to lifestyle for the most part.

Helena, I know. My reply was also tongue in cheek.

But don't tell DH.

I don't think the OP is being goady or judgemental and is getting an unnecessarily hard time.

Actually, this thread has been a lightbulb moment for me. I've put on a stone in the last couple of years, almost all around the middle. I eat the same or less and I do the same amount of exercise. I was asking myself why, why, why? It genuinely never crossed my mind that it could be down to the menopause (obviously a bit thick!) but now I've read this thread it's opened my eyes. Thanks OP! Now I've twigged what it is and read other people's experiences I know what I need to do to counter it...unfortunately that means eat less and workout harder.

the OP really saddened me, whatever happened to feminism? Im post menopausal with the added delight of hypo thyroidism (again, google it)
I eat less than my 7 year old DGS, work full time and gym 3 times a week. Was always naturally slim, but after menopause am 3 stone overweight, despite my very best efforts. We are human, women and come in all shapes and sizes, please don't casually judge OP.