to ask how you lost your menopause related weight gain?

[clippie]

The weight gain seems to have appeared with not much difference to my regular diet. It doesn't shift like it used to. Trousers feel tight and I have developed some rolls around my stomach.

The usual tricks I use to lose weight are not working. I would get rid of any weight gain with intermittent fasting but it is not working this time. I walk at least 10k steps a day and do weight training 4 times a week.

I feel like I am fighting with my hormones which do not want me to lose weight.

Remember when you get a dog spayed you are advised to cut food intake by between a quarter and a third. Sadly we are not that different.

Hormone changes will thicken your waist a bit, sadly the rest is down to us.

Mounjaro.

Can I ask for some examples of your dinners please? By carb, do you mean something like brown rice or wholemeal pasta for example?

Yours is the approach I'm trying to take, after finally accepting I can't carry on eating the way I used to anymore. I have overnight oats with full-fat yoghurt/nuts/seeds/fruit for breakfast, and like you have home-made soups for lunch with beans/lentils - it's surprising just how filling these are - but I'm just a bit stuck with evening meals.

How long did it take you to lose the weight?

Just eat significantly less. I'm on HRT and can lose 1kg a week. I don't eat family meals, just lots of green veg, some avocado, some protein, lots of coffee, lots of water and walking.

You are almost certainly eating more than you should.

It's boring as fuck losing weight, and you should feel like there is no joy in life! But it works, just put your head down.

Exercise is largely irrelevant, though it helps to have some muscle as this burns cals faster.

yes same here. It's so depressing.

I have just turned 50. I used to be able to maintain comfortably at about 8 stone 10/12, and now I can't get below 9 stone 4. Which, yunno, isn't life threatening but it's only going to go up!

I drink alcohol, but have massively cut down, I eat healthily and I exercise every day.

It's just something I will have to get to used to I guess because life is too short to be hungry all the time.

I suddenly ballooned and went into peri at 42. Now 49 and back to the weight I was before. What has helped me: HRT (huge enormous help even when I was on the progesterone only, now on progesterone and oestrogen gel). I am pretty sure this is what has helped the most.

Giving up alcohol completely, game changer. Limiting sugar, don't always manage but no sugar in the evening! . Not snacking late.

I can testify that exercise doesn't affect the actual weight as much as HRT and diet. I have always done loads of exercise, and it makes you feel great but during my ballooning phase I was going on 15 k runs and doing HIIT nearly every day, made no difference to weight.

@TheNeighboursComplainAboutTheNoisesAbove

About a year to lose a stone and a half - but I've only been doing it sort of 80/20 - so most of the time but not all the time! I could have done it quicker...I've got a party in the summer with lots of people I've not seen in a while and that is inspiring me to pay a bit more attention to it.

Dinner tends to be:

Salmon stirfry - lots of veg, home made sauce and brown rice.
Chicken skewers with home made coleslaw (oil and lime dressing and herbs), small jacket potato, some more veg.
SMoked haddock and small amount of mash with lots of green veg.
Prawn Curry with lots of veg, home made coleslaw, dahl, and a small portion of brown rice.
Fish finger tacos - with cabbage, red pepper, salsa, salad on the side.

Started counting protein & fibre, rather than just calories. Gave myself a weekly step target & I aim for 4 workouts a week.

Search for an online calculator to work out what your TDEE is when you’re at your target weight (set your activity level for sedentary). Mine is 1600, so I aim for 140g of protein & 30g of fibre spread across 3 meals.

Of course, some weeks it all goes to shit and I barely move from the sofa and mainline wine and crisps… but one a good day, I follow the steps above.

one thing I forgot is I bought some almond protein powder and put it in my cereal or drinks, or eat half a can of tuna as a snack, and it does make you feel fuller. However as others have said this is not a fun journey. I miss the days of being 18, very slim, literally living off crisps and Lucozade!!!

Thanks so much for the ideas. Your evening meals are all things I enjoy, so I'll try these!

@BigDahliaFan Oh and congrats on the weight loss too!

Noom. Just obeyed it blindly for 6 months or something and lost about 7kg, then I was on HRT so it stayed off.

Mounjaro.

Food noise zapped.

@TheNeighboursComplainAboutTheNoisesAbove thanks. And there's not great secret - mainly I'm just eating my main meal with extra extra veg....and a small amount of carb.

There’s loads of recipes on instagram that are low calorie, high protein but really tasty. Living on miserable bland food is not sustainable. eg. fraser_reynolds (I also have his recipe book. His recipes have a barcode that scan into mfp or nutracheck).

Oh, and tracking everything on an app (I prefer nutracheck to track protein) is a must.

I have no idea if this is actually a correct analogy but when my dog was neutered the vet said to cut his calories by a third straight away. He still put on weight and had to have even less. His weight is now good and stable but on much less food than he used and to have.

I assume that the loss of hormones in menopause is crudely a bit like the dog being neutered and therefore having a lower metabolism and requiring less food

Basically whatever it takes to eat less. In my case calorie counting to prevent mindless snacking (if I eat it I'll have to log it) and intermittent fasting. I still enjoy nice food but much less of it than I used to be able to have. I do weight train as well.

Me too, I recon hot yoga or salsa classes might be the answer, but honestly the menopausal weight gain is the least of my worries.

HRT might work for some women, but it's not the answer for everyone.

Calorie counting. As you age you need less calories. I lose and gain the same half stone a lot, I can lose half a stone in 5-6wks. It’s not easy and I am hungry at first but adapt after a few days / first week. I know i’ll regain, as i’m short and can’t eat much without gaining, but I have a cut off weight where the diet has to start.

I couldn’t shift anything no matter what I did, until my periods finally stopped for good. The yo-yo hormones just seemed to work against me. Now it’s all shut up shop completely, I lost 3 stone in a year doing 16:8 fasting.

Has it worked for you so far? How long have you been on HRT?

Low carb

I've been on HRT for 15 months.
I've only been power walking and cutting out snacks since New Year. I've lost 4lb so quite happy with that

Well done, id be happy with 4lb too. I'm going to try power walking maybe with a backpack and also signing up to the 10K swim in March Cancer Research Challenge.

This just popped up on my Insta lol!

www.instagram.com/reel/C_PoYLeNjXq/?igsh=MXFvbDhqZ3JmOTZ0Zg==