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?

Well I'm 29, fat and not menopausal. what's my problem then, as you seem to be able to diagnose (judge) these woman's purely on what you see?

I've just spent a delightful 15 minutes in the bus station of a northern town. I could count on the fingers of one hand the people other than ds1 and me who were not overweight. To be honest, a couple of the people who weren't didn't look at all healthy, either.

Pickachew - you know that all Northerners live on pies, stout and dripping butties. What else did you expect?

I think the op was wondering if weight gain post menopause is inevitable due to hormonal changes .. not sure she meant to cause offence.

I don't think the OP meant to cause offence either. Of course she may be a journo from the Fail or something..... but happy to give benefit of doubt. .

For most of us former slimmies who have put on weight post-menopause it's tough enough: I wonder what the future holds in store for our crop of overweight younger women when they hit the menopause?

Fact of life, most woman post-menoporsal tend to put on weight round hips, you have to eat a lot less cals than when you were younger.

The poster was wondering if this would happen to her and her friend

Yes, almost certainly. Studies have shown that there is a very high incidence among 'people watchers', as this is a largely sedentary occupation, often involving cream teas and slices of gooey cake.

Pickachew, in my small Northern town, I stand out as a fatty, at size 12/14. Everyone else appears to be permanently Lycra clad and moving at speed.

I do camp though, so I reckon that's the problem.

Oh, and mine's a black jack please

The women who put on weight post-menopause tend to be those who were sedentary in their youth (perhaps they were lazy, perhaps naturally slender so no thought to health or exercise) and who have carried those poor habits into their forties and fifties. Sometimes injuries and arthritis make things worse, medications etc.

The women who really work hard to maintain their bodies always stay pretty trim because they understand how CICO works and will research and adjust activities/diet etc. And this applies regardless of illness. I know many women with severe chronic conditions who have found the will to somehow maintain their weight.

Also the older you get the older you look when you're slim. Chances are the reason you don't 'see' any old fatties is because you can't tell their age - my obese 70 yo aunt doesn't look a day over 55.

I think most people are overweight, whatever age you are looking at.

Most of the girls i see in their 20s are overweight.

I think a lot of people don't know how to cook or don't have time and are stressed and rely on sugar or alcohol.

Also many people are on medications in mid life, many of which affect weight.

pmsl - sorry but I have always exercised and eaten well - at the age of 47 I run 10/12K a week, weight train and do 2 aerobics classes - I eat well and drink moderately - I was a size 8 at 22 I am now a 12-14 and fat - it catches up with most of us!

I used to think the same Groupie until I've seen the impact on my friend. She is extremely active, member of a gym and goes and has always gone about 5 days a week. She doesn't do 1/2 hour gentle walk on treadmill she does intensity classes sometimes two in a row. She used to be very slim and always have been but the menopause has really got to her and she's put on a lot of weight around the waist despite her eating habits not changing and even reducing portions. She does not drink.

I've seen this with my mum and colleagues, slim and active all their lives and then it creeps in before you know it. I'm been going through it for over 6 months now and so far weight and shape has remained not changing my diet but I'm really anxious that it might suddenly happen. I really really don't want to!

@swingofthings - the type of work out needs to change as you get older. She basically needs to start weightlifting and building muscle.

It's true that your BMR reduces as you get older and so to increase it a bit you build muscle. My gym is full of honed fifty year olds lifting weights and looking spectacular. Will try and get permission to link to a few photos/resources they use.

A few links to start

www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/womens-health/in-depth/menopause-weight-gain/art-20046058

www.shape.com/blogs/weight-loss-coach/prevent-midlife-weight-gain

People in their 50s often start to become less active, sometimes due to health issues. This probably explains why many women gain weight at this age.

There is probably a generational effect too, which may explain why 70 and 80 somethings are slimmer than 50 somethings - elderly women like my mother in her 80s predate the obesity epidemic.

I don't think weight gain at menopause is inevitable. I'm 52 and am the same size as I have always been. If anything I find that I eat more now, because although I have been fortunate not to get hot flushes, I seem to be hot all the time - it's like someone turned up my metabolism.

I became a lot less active at the age of 34, soon after becoming a single mum. Up until that point I was always at the gym or out doing some sport. Being a single mum and more or less housebound every evening put a stop to my exercise addiction. I'll have to wait until my 50s to have the time to really take care of myself again.

Oh hell I'm 43 not menopausal and over weight so apparently its not always the menopause me thinks I should have a to console myself

My body seems to go its own way. I was skinny up to the age of 25 with excruciatingly painful periods from the age of 11. From 25, with no particular change in lifestyle or eating habits I started to gain weight and my periods stopped being painful. Something hormonal seemed to be going on but in those days, weight gain was looked on as a character flaw. I've been reading lately about the imbalance of hormones which govern appetite and the feeling of satiety being one of the culprits in weight gain, especially in the inability of 95% of dieters to keep the weight off for more than 2 years. In the future I think they'll be able to treat abnormal weight gain the way they do underactive thyroid now. Too late for me though. My life has been blighted since the 80s trying to get my weight under control and just seeing myself get fatter and fatter.

I can't find much data quickly, but the charts I can find suggest that obesity rate has historically always peaked at about age 45-60yo & then goes down again. Today's 80yo was 40yo in 1970s, and the obesity epidemic was well started by then.

(Both Charts are American data but UK only slightly lower numbers)

Even in a population that tends to have little obesity, body weight still tends to peak at about age 60. These lines are changes in the same individual people over a 10 yr period. Recent Japanese measurements.

ps: blue is Japanese in main islands & Red is Okinawa.

I can't remember what the source was, but I have heard that the risks to health of being overweight are less in those who were healthy until middle age then became overweight compared to those who had been overweight through their youth.

There will be a range of causes, hormones and metabolism changes. Lifestyles may change. Gradual accumulations of weight gain over time that have added up by a pound or two per year. Health complications or medication that affect activity level/ metabolism.

The rise in people entering adulthood overweight/ obese is worrying because the majority of them won't be affected by those kinds of complications and will face a battle to establish healthy lifestyles before healthy gets more complicated.

I'm not at the menopause stage yet, but since having DCs, my weight fluctuates more around the "mum tum" than it did in my 20s when it was most definitely pear shaped before.

The women who put on weight post-menopause tend to be those who were sedentary in their youth (perhaps they were lazy, perhaps naturally slender so no thought to health or exercise) and who have carried those poor habits into their forties and fifties. Sometimes injuries and arthritis make things worse, medications etc.

Well, I spent most of my youth walking miles - long dog walks, long walks to school, long walks around the city where I went to university. Then I started a job where I was on my feet all day, then walked 2 miles home to decompress. I was already overweight at this point, but it didn't sit on my middle.

Then I had kids in my mid-late 30s. They stole my arse and replaced it with tummy blubber. The minor joint niggles which had constantly plagued me all my life also began to bite. I had a ligament in my foot tear in my early 30s, not even doing anything strenuous. Turns out I'm hypermobile, but had no idea that it was a thing. I have days wen I can't reach my feet to put my socks on or my arse to wipe it. I'm struggling with trigger finger this week. Doesn't affect how far I can walk in itself, but the same hormonal soft ligament shite means that I have a stiff hip and keep twisting my ankles on uneven surfaces, even with supportive trainers.

With the problems i do have, eve though I'm mobile and feel better long term for pushing myself to my physical limits, I do accept that, if i see someone obese using a mobility scooter, it's fairly likely to be inactivity caused by physical difficulties leading to the incapacitation rather than them getting too fat to walk because they never ever exercised.

A few people in their 50s that I'e known needing joint replacements but unable to have them until they lose weight have been unable to keep their weight down because of the joint problems, plus medications that managing their pain directly or indirectly leading to weight gain (I take amitryptiline and naproxen, both of which have weight gain listed as complications)