To ask for help re Peri menopausal weight gain

[Lifeswhatyoumakeit73]

I have suddenly hit a stage where I feel like i am holding back a dam of weight gain 😫 I am just 50 and still getting periods but have loads of peri symptoms.

I exercise every other day- mix of interval classes, home DVDs like davina and walking. I find any more exhausting. I use weights & do strength stuff etc in the mix (but maybe need to do 1 day a week actual weight training)

I also periodically fast and try to eat good carbs, up my protein & eat a plant based diet!

Dont drink much booze either.

Yet a feel like I am still only just staying on top of my weight- any deviation from a fairly strict life style and I can pile on the pounds.

I know it’s about being fit and strong and healthy but I find it utterly soul destroying.

Any thoughts?

Have you worked out your tdee and logged everything into an app like my fitness pal? There are lots of tdee calculators online if you Google. You put your age, height, weight and sex into the thing and it tells you your maintenance calories. To lose weight it is recommended you eat 500 less than this. I ate 3-500 less and lost over 2 stone since September. Slow and steady. I'm a big carb eater too.

I'm the same and I'm 50 too (also still have periods).

There's about 3kg that's come on and just won't go

I did my TDEE and was really surprised at how low it was !

@AutisticLegoLover yes i use nutracheck and my TDEE is 1400 I think

Erratic periods is only one symptom. Many continue to have regular periods throughout perimenopause.

The long and short of it is that if your hormones aren't balanced, you won't lose weight and in some instances, gain weight. HRT is worth considering, and was for me (along with a change of diet and heavy weight lifting 3-4 times a week), the magic bullet which finally enabled me to lose the weight I had piled on at the start of (my) perimenopause.

Additionally, perimenopause can bring a myriad of metabolic issues including insulin resistance which again make it harder to lose weight. Many also need to eat far less than they used to just to maintain their current weight. Also, digestive issues (caused by declining levels of oestrogen in the gut) are common and can inhibit weight loss.

Weight training is far more effective than cardio and HIIT as it builds muscle which in turn, raises metabolism and burns more fat. Interval training can also raise cortisol levels which can encourage weight gain.

All in all, you need to totally rethink everything you know about diet, exercise and nutrition.

My tdee is 2080 for maintenance. I'm 5'3" and 46 and also perimenopausal. Is that the figure for losing or maintenance e as it's very low?

Following closely.
My problem is that I've got bloody hungrier with perimenopause! I've been permanently on the 5:2 for years, and my fast days have been quite a struggle recently.

I'm a similar age and maintain my BMI at 21. Unfortunately everything I would have suggested, plant based diet, level and type of excercise, you're doing already, and (equally unfortunately) I'm afraid that, and retricting calories to around 1600-1800 per day, is what it takes now. For ever.
You have a choice though, between what you'd like to weigh and what you'd like to eat. But you can only pick one!🙁

I'm peri m and I've given up any hope of being a healthy weight. To get there I would have to restrict my life so much that I would be so unhappy. I watch what I eat most of the time (calorie counting or SW) and I exercise, but I also enjoy meals out sometimes, a drink with friends, I get invited to friends for dinner etc and I enjoy these occasions. One "unhealthy" dinner and I won't lose weight that week, more than one unhealthy meal easily sees me gain weight. I'm hovering around a stone overweight at the moment and I don't suppose I'll ever shift it. Unless we have another lockdown!! 😂

I want to be slim but life is for living and I think that's more important to me.