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?

I live in the north. I might walk down to the shops now to look at all the overweight people BTG3385 says will be there. How have I not noticed before?

I'm with Backforgood on the change in shape generally. However, rather than noticing it on old Toppo episodes, I noticed it on...don't judge me...old episodes of 'Bullseye' on Challenge TV from the 1980s. Both the contestants and the professional darts players look relatively svelte. Some of them were even menopausal women, OP.

I'm in the North too, Nettle. I'll meet you outside the chippy in 10.

Fried pies all round Shockers!

I had a flash of inspiration earlier. The old Bullseye episodes are my evidence base. The women on the OP's campsite are failing to play darts often enough!

Hilarious comments from people who claim to know no-one who is overweight! I'll say I for the third time - 2/3 (that means two out of three) adults in the UK are overweight or obese. If you can't see overweight people, your idea of healthy weight is massively distorted.

I am in my 50s and weigh less than I did in my 30s. I am one of the 1/3 who are not overweight and yes, I am post-menopause

What I found hilarious was the suggestion that all the overweight people were in the north.

Hormones certainly play an important part in weight gain during the peri menopause, and after the menopause.

I belong to a menopause discussion forum and most ladies on there report struggling much more with their weight + hormonal bloating.

From 43-45 I gained nearly a stone, despite my eating habits not changing. I also felt constantly bloated and no matter what I did my tummy always looked 4 months pregnant.

Then last year I started a fantastic HRT regime, which also includes a little blob of testim gel every day. I have lost the stone I gained, and don't get the dreaded bloating anymore. I'm back in my size 12 jeans again

I have already admitted to being slightly overweight, Argy. I also camp.

If the OP was at a campsite on Anglesey, I was more than likely one of the 50+ women she was 'watching'. I'm 51 and pre menopausal.

Fried pies you say, Nettle?

I don't see a problem with the question - it's not goady and i'm a post-menopausal woman who struggles to keep my weight down.

My answer: I'm not sure but I definitely lay more fat down than I did before menopause and I have to work much harder than I did before.I was very lean until I was about 57 and then I started to get slightly podgier, my face filled out (I used to have cheekbones that could slice beef) and there is not one thing I can do about it. Also, I would agree that I've reached an age where I can say, fuck it, no one will say I was really skinny in my eulogy

Not long to go then OP, you will soon find out for yourself.

Tsk tsk guys. Obesity does increase with age. Why do people want to argue with that? Chart 2 below is from a UK Parliament report.

I will be proudly post-menopausal... whenever it happens. But hopefully not too fat. :).

www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/obesity-map-shows-areas-in-uk_uk_5703bceae4b069ef5c00dd6d

Obesity is also related to region in the UK, with Scotland leading the way and northern regions in general higher than most of the south.

Some people do seem to be a bit in denial about a) the number of overweight and obese people in the UK and b) where they might be located/age groups.

I don't care if people wonder why middle aged women are more barrel-like, I'm a middle aged woman, I'm very tree trunkish round the middle now and I am trying to walk more and eat smaller portions with only a tiny bit of success (unlike when I was younger and any weight just fell off). It's a well recognized phenomenon and a bit odd how many people either are denying it or think it shouldn't be pointed out.

There are more middle aged fat men though, male overweight/obesity is higher than womens.

Shockers

catarina someone i was at school with has hypothyroidism and has depression because of it.

MNers google androgens. I never had any hairs on my chin then suddenly on my 40th birthday EXACTLY to the day they sprouted.
Ive just had them waxed off again today.

Hormones completely change the game and not just with weight.

Argy i was a lot bigger in my 20s than now....in my 40s. But its FUCKING HARD.

I certainly would understand if some find it too hard to tackle. Illness and medication make a difference too.

I do so hate post and disappear OP's .

That said, a very interesting topic so thank you for that!

at Bullseye !

But, seriously, you can see a real change in how the population's shape has changed by watching old tv programmes. I watch all the old Top of the Pops programmes starting from 1976. People (audience members) were skinny then, not slim , and the blokes had concave chests and the girls were very slight. In the last 30-40 years people have become way more beefy. Even if they are not overweight, they are more solid. (And, for some reason, less hairy. People had fine heads of hair in the 70s... are we becoming less hirsute, does anyone know?!).

Re the campsite menopausal women, I would say that women do change shape. Breasts increase in size and weight is distributed to the middle. Heads seem to grow too, for some reason. Not everyone, of course. But if it is in your genes it is hard to fight and unsurprisingly many can't be arsed.

should've read the whole thread; I see someone mentioned TOTP.

Ladyincement they ARE overweight. That's the whole point.

Lady- if you're watching totp from the 70's it'll be mainly 16-20 year olds. Screened for their looks as well before they're allowed in the studio.

Bit like all the kids on any given tv programme now, all under 20's are slim and beautiful, with full heads of hair.

I'm never sure if the increased "beefiness" of people is down to better nutrition or just weight.

YY to the concave chests and the hairiness! Mind you, I seem to redistribute hair these days; my head hair is thinning, my foof is balding, but I have coarse black hairs springing up all over my face and neck instead. Ageing is such a buggeration .

Good point re totp. I watch an 80s episode last night and Sade had the tiniest waist I have ever seen and Alison Moyet looked completely normal whereas she stood out for being very overweight at the time.

Thinking back to when I was at school in the 80s, we were skinny. Not 'quite slim' but verging on skinny.

We took our DDs to the O2 last week for a concert, and I couldn't help but clock the sheer amount of teenage girls who were really overweight.

Hormones are bastards IME. You have to work harder and eat a tiny bit less once middle age kicks in. I daresay that if a woman wasn't fit before the menopause it's a horrible uphill struggle to get fit once it kicks in.

People had fine heads of hair in the 70s

Because we all had perms or demiwaves, I dont think any young people have perms nowadays.
Back in the 70s i was 5ft 2 , 7.5 stone and a then size 8 (today 6 or 4). My dd 19 is exactly the same curvy but thin shape i was at her age except 4 inches taller.
I did put on a lot of weight , but i am 54 now and last year lost stone and half but as i said above now im swapping fat for muscle at the gym and losing inches even though weight is staying the same.

So as a in the middle of losing loads of weight 47 year old (which surprisingly I'm finding easier now than at 40) do I go a bit lower than I was going to to have a bit more flexibility to gain a few pounds after menopause?

Or do I take the view that the changes I have implemented now to diet and exercise will stand me in good stead and I will be able to maintain the loss? HRT not on the cards for me as never got on well with the pill and Mum died a year ago of breast cancer. Being well on the way to being healthier and fitter than I have been since my 20's I want to use my rapidly narrowing window of opportunity to set myself up as well as possible for post menopause.

I was a size 10 in the 80's and wasn't considered particularly slim - it was the norm.

The reality is that there is a huge increase in obesity over the past 50 years. It applies to both females and males. The increase is evident is all ages groups too.

Interesting graph here with world health data for Europe
jakubmarian.com/percentage-of-obese-population-by-country-in-europe-map/

UK and Turkey top the obese league. It's worth while to reflect on the country differences. I wonder why such a 10% difference between UK and Austria?