To be horrified at my menopausal weight gain?

[Midlifebloat]

Late 40’s and I’m menopausal.

Ive been horrified at the weight gain on my belly!

I’ve always had a flat stomach. Pear shaped, but slim.

could eat loads and still be a size eight.

I’ve put on a stone in the last few weeks. All on my stomach.

AIBU for being horrified and thinking I can fight this decline?

I’m with you!! I’m nearly 40 and have always looked after myself: I’m a small size 10 without starving myself and I exercise regularly. Now, a week of half term or holiday or a few nights of treats and I can literally feel that I’ve gained. I’m not sure I’ll ever have a flat stomach again! I read recently that metabolism doesn’t change as you get older, but mine most definitely has

OP I am 55 and was slim 8/10 until I was 47/48. Thought I’d escaped the weight gain.
I have not.
For all sorts of reasons I can’t do exercise which doesn’t help. I have never been a big eater but my carb cravings are awful.
So many ladies I know are on Ozempic or something similar but it’s not for me.

100% agree. I'm late 40's and been on hrt few years, never been slim and always had generous bum and thighs but since the hrt it's all on my stomach, can't come off hrt due to the symptoms.

I’m peri and looking at half a stone over the past year. Still exercise but seem to have dropped a gear and just find I care a little bit less about everything. I am fighting it though, we must!

Yes, the belly seems to be a magnet for fat deposits around that age - if you're slim elsewhere it probably stands out more too. I'm not as slim as you OP but I've definitely changed shape (less bum, more belly) - I'm just doing my best to stay fit and healthy but also accepting I'll never be the size I was in my 20s or 30s (well excluding the post pregnancy stage) and dressing to suit my shape.

I have been watching hundreds of videos during last 6 months on (belly) fat and menopause and how it's very challenging to loose weight in your 40s. While exercising at the gym, paying for a PT, having meal plan tailored for me by my PT. Had blood panel done and met with a doctor for her to tell me it's my age as women face a drastic drop in their body in their 40s. Well, I just keep going on hoping any day now I can start seeing results and my belly isn't sticking out so much. 🤞🏼

It's horrible, I have this same problem. Everything I used to do to maintain my weight just no longer works. I could eat 1,000 calories a day only and STILL not lose weight. I'm a surfer and so I exercise a lot, that's never been the problem. and I eat most meals cooked at home, very healthy.

Our metabolisms change when we enter menopause, and I do not think there is much study on this at all. It's not as simple as calories in, calories out. Something else is going on.

I tried Keto (which used to work so well) and found it incredibly hard to get myself into ketosis, where previously it would be easy. I managed to enter ketosis and still no weight loss. I tried intermittent fasting, which turned me into a grumpy horrible person, and still no weight loss. I tried calorie counting, still no loss and constant hunger.

The only dietary change that worked was Dr Hyman's Blood Sugar Diet. You have to eliminate all the following: bread, potatoes, rice, pasta, beans, corn, sugar, dairy, coffee, and alcohol. It's incredibly limiting, but I wasn't hungry. Over about 3 months I'd lose about 1.5 kgs. But the restrictions especially no coffee means it's completely unsustainable.

I've suffered from high blood sugar for a long time and have to work hard to keep it down to avoid diabetes. So eventually I tried Mounjaro. It's a total game changer. My blood sugar is under control and I'm very slowly losing weight, I've lost 7.6 kgs in 7 months. I still have excess belly fat, but overall it's getting better.

Menopause changes so much in our bodies.

Otho g to do with menopause. It's age that slows your metabolism.

As you get older you have to consume less.

Im 5.8 and always been a slim 8/10. After my second child 15 years ago I went up to 12. But easily lost the weight after. About 10 years ago (36) my weight slowly increased- busy with work and children didn’t overly notice. I joined the gym at 40, Covid came along and now I’m around 14/16. I have tried diets and go to gym , paid for PT - it’s not shifting around my tummy - my arms and legs and pretty much the same and don’t really carry the weight!

My face and tummy is where it shows - it’s frustrating I 46 and it seems what ever I do I look swollen and fat. Frustrating

I’d been slim most of my life. Once I hit menopause I put on nearly two stone and looked like a weeble. A year ago I joined slimming world and it has all come off. I’m the same weight and shape I was in my thirties.

Me too. I’ve put 9kg on in a year, having never had to pay attention to maintaining weight, even after 2 kids.

I clearly now need to pay more attention to diet than I am, but adhd symptoms have also escalated and so will power/self control is pretty low.

Please do go to your GP and check that its not fibroids or ovarian cancer.
But yes, I am in the same situation after beimg a size 8-10 all my life. I am still a 10 everywhere but my belly.

I am also horrified by the weight gain and loss of a previously effortless washboard stomach.

But OP...not to be a downer, if you have literally put on a stone on your abdomen in a few weeks, are you 100% sure it is just menopausal flubber? Mine went on much slower than that and for anything so fast I would want to make sure nothing else is going on?

There are things you can do. I am in my 50s and am lighter now than I was in my 40s (still a size 12-14, not a teeny tiny). Mainly because I was given a diagnosis of high cholesterol last year and had to totally change my diet to try to deal with that.

It's not for everyone but I am a big fan of intermittent fasting - or just not having breakfast. All I have before about midday is coffee. Then a bowl of oats, and dinner at a normal time. Works for me. Also no/minimal booze, no butter, cheese, red meat. You are going to get loads of people piling in to demonise carbs but really it's finding what sorts for your body and that probably isnt the same in your late 40s as it was in your 20s or 30s.

Yes I'm mid forties eat better than ever, exercise daily have had a huge tummy for last few years. It's awful I feel so frumpy

I agree with this. I am not the weight l was up to 40 but a stone in a month is a lot. For me it has been more gradual and far less easy to shift. Before l would go hard core for a week and drop that half stone. Do get checked just to be sure.
If it is just weight gain l joined a gym with some weights, interval training etc and it did tighten my tummy, thighs, arms. Not so much weight loss as better shape.

and yet woman after woman after woman report that maintaining their weight becomes much harder, and this change happens exactly at menopause

and it's belly fat that is the hardest to shift

I do not think that all these women are just getting it wrong or don't know what's happening to their bodies

I think there is very little study done on this specific aspect of how menopause affects us

Op (and others with rapid gain especially around the abdomen) please speak with your doctor just to check that nothing more sinister is happening.

My diet literally cannot get any healthier. I have been eating Tim Spector style all my lifeal even before he even appeared on the scene. But has hsd no effect on my belly. Partly genetic. My mum is a size 8 with a prominent tummy. We are Asian and this is how we carry our weight.

Trying to up my exercise now.

I could have written this post. NOTHING worked - all my old tricks for losing weight just didn’t work. I’ve been ion Mounjaro since August and have lost 10kgs. My belly fat is reducing and I feel (and look) like me again.

I put on 10kgs in a year… it’s miserable. If you can afford Mounjaro I thoroughly recommend it.

Isnt Mounjaro only for BMI above 30? My BMI is just touching 24. Diabetes runs in my family too but I dont think I qualify.

@Surf2Live re the coffee, try mushroom coffee.
The OYL mushroom coffee brand.
My menopausal friend switched to it because her colleague was raving about it in her office.
Great coffee substitute, tastes similar and really lifted the fog that some women feel.
I bought it for my husband who was feeling morning fog.
He likes it and his office coffee is a superb Italian blend that they import directly. I thought it was tasty too.

Might be worth a try.

I am pretty sure it’s just weight. I don’t feel bloated.

I had lost weight for summer, then had a bit of a knock in my personal life and was comfort eating badly.

It’s just never gone on my belly before!

I know a lot is hormonal, but I also think the general ‘meh’ ness has been a factor. Finding exercise a real drag and finding it difficult to motivate myself - whereas before I was a regular runner.

I think I have increased my calories- am hungry all the time.

actually think that is my biggest problem

going to doctors this week to go on hrt, but worried to find out it makes things worse?!

Oh and I believe the weight gain comes from adrenal glands and elevated cortisol levels.

Stress puddles weight gain around our middle.
I'm trying to shift a stone at the moment too🙄so tedious.

I have a couple of friends that haven't gained a pound.
The eat SO LITTLE.
A side plate meal with zero carbs, mostly lean protein and green veg.
They only drink gin with diet tonic, no wine.
No sweets, sugar, WHATSOEVER.
They fast 18 hours a day.
They look good, but it is very very restrictive.
For them it is worth it.