I don’t understand why I’ve put a stone on!

[Oldcrockpot]

Over the last 2-3 months I’ve gained a few pounds a week for no apparent reason and am a stone heavier! I can’t be pregnant as my periods have been heavy, very irregular and all over the place (this is not new, but they haven’t been as heavy as this since I had the coil about 18 months ago). No notable changes in routine or diet.

Any ideas? Has this happened to anyone and what was it? All my clothes are tight and I feel like a bloater!

(I am 39 and a healthy weight- but now getting to the top end of that! Have the coil and no new medication etc)

How you metabolise food is not down to age, it’s down to the body’s systems that convert the food to energy. Weight gain is not usually down to calories it’s down to metabolism.

Insulin resistance can cause weight gain, pre diabetes, doctors won’t test for it. You’ll have to figure it out for yourself. The weight gain from it will be all over but a lot around the middle.

Not sure what you’re saying really. People blame their ‘metabolism slowing down’ as a reason for weight gain. My point is that our metabolism doesn’t slow down until 60+. Well that’s what the research shows.

Menopause. I don't understand the term 'peri-menopause', which has to mean around the menopause, presumably. The menopause used to mean that point where women's menstruation becomes irregular, heavy/light out of the blue, and then stops. It is definitely a cause of putting on weight.

Same and I am the same age.
I'm 5'3 and 9 stone. I used to be 8.
I walk 10K steps a day, eat well but still have put on a stone and have a big stomach.

Menopause is the exact date 12 months after your last period

It's the point at which it's considered you won't conceive (naturally ) for example

The run up to that is perimenopause ( this stops people unwittingly getting pregnant by mistaking peri for menopause )

And the after is post menopause

superb!!
the definition of inconclusive. (i love it!)
chicken /egg////and wow i never meant that with disrespect...
but
no biscuits/wine/ is really presumptious ...unless your a dietishun specialist with intricte knowledge n no affiliation with olympic/killemonjaro or the entire forums individual age/metabilistics..you oughta mind your advice
some of us...need biscuits n wine
("lighthearted"response)

I was fairly ignorant going into menopause. Looking back this was an obvious sign and experienced the same rapid weight gain (all on the belly). Haven’t found HRt to help either.

Have you been to see a Gynaecologist? Heavy bleeding may be due to fibroids. I had them and put weight on, had heavy periods and in the end (after a few years) chose to have an Hysterectomy.
During those years of agony I had two Myomectomies which relieved the symptoms at that time.

Menopause is when you've not had a period in a year.

Peri-menopause is the period leading up to the menopause, and it can last around a decade for many women.

That's totally irrelevant. Previous generations of women weren't expected to hold down an often onerous full-time job, look after young or adolescent children, cope with elderly relatives, carry most of the domestic load while also trying to maintain a marital relationship with a man going through his own mid-lfe issues when they were approaching or in the thick of menopause. They certainly weren't expected to look the same as they did at 25 either.

In my view (and I speak as someone of 73) life is much harder for women today as far more is expected of us and we rightly expect much more for ourselves too. Older generations only ever talked about menopause - or indeed any other womens' health issues - in hushed tones and never in front of men. The attitude was very much one of 'grin and bear it and don't make a fuss' in much the same way as women were expected to put up with useless, violent and/or abusive husbands and stay in unhappy marriages.

Happily, we are more enlightened now and are demanding the support that enables us to keep the show on the road. When I was going through the most horrendous menopause 20-odd years ago, I felt like punching the face of anyone who came out with the 'women have coped with the change for generations without so much as breaking sweat' shit and I still do. I'm delighted that those now approaching 50 are getting the help they need and that companies are realising that if they want to benefit from the skills and expertise of older women they will have to implement a proper menopause policy.

As to the matter in hand - go to your GP, OP and rule out any health issues before you do anything else.

Yes, but we just used to call it the menopause. Now it's a thing that pharmaceutical firms see they can medicalise so they go for it. Don't like it. Besides, it's as though the (peri)menopause is something that floats round and is not specifically attached to a woman's body. It dehumanises us to aim at a process rather than the whole woman.

I came here to say that.
Now I'll read back to see the updates...

Or, maybe we know more than we used to and women can now access medication and support to help them if they need it? Surely that's a good thing?

Hormones can play havoc on our bodies and they don't even need to be that far out of balance to do so. I have a diagnosed hormonal imbalance and it has an impact on so, so many different things - it's actually quite scary.

But we could access medicines anyway - we just called this phase the menopause.

So you're annoyed that they've added the word "peri"?

@Kittylickingplate when you say avoiding sugar, is that ALL sugar or just obvious chocolate, cakes, biscuits?

All added sugar. What else to you have sugar in except chocolate, cakes and biscuits?

Everyone should avoid added sugar. It is ok in fruits (not fruit juices), but that is it.

I eat lots of fruit, 3-4 pieces a day but nothing with sugar. I use a sugar free maple syrup in my latte. No sauces or jams, no white bread. Sour dough is fine.
You do get used to it.
I also buy No-shu bars if I feel like a treat but they do make you pooh so be careful!
Good luck!