Sudden onset of middle age spread - how to get rid of it!

[AlwaysTheGoodGirl]

I'm new to the exercise board so apologies if this has already been done to death, but having always been skinny, body of a 12 year old boy basically, as soon as I hit 46 I developed a podgy tummy and I don't like it at all. When I sit down, my tummy sits on my legs like when you're six months pregnant. I run once a week for about 6-7 miles, but I need an exercise regime to work on the bulge. I've seen all the abs and crunches and wall pilates videos on instagram, but not sure how useful they really are. Any advice welcome. Even if it's to tell me this is all perimenopause related water retention and that I'm stuffed. At least I'll know!

Diet i reckon. Because I do 6 gym classes a week, 3 mile walk everyday and 35 mile bike rides at the weekend and I have it. Decided I’ve got to cut food drastically.

I think you could be right. I've had a McDonald's breakfast (not normal for me but I did it), cup of tea and three biscuits, a banana, two ham cheese and tomato sandwiches and a Bounty so far today, and I'm starting to get hungry again. This amount of food would not have had any affect on me a year ago, but I feel like I can't do this anymore if my weight gain is anything to go by 😣

Unfortunately drastically need to cut the calories that your used too. I used to eat whatever I wanted and whilst an inch or two more than I wanted it was ok.
I did a bmr calculation and discovered I was massively over eating 😳 gutted! Apparently as you get older you need less food…. who knew!
I have been logging everything onto my fitness pal and and in three weeks have lost just under 2kg!

I’m currently dieting and I’m trying to get my head round it but as far as I can figure out that type of food will always leave you feel hungry. You need protein to keep you feeling fuller for longer and avoid stuff which will make your blood sugar spike up and drop because then you get cravings.

so lots of eggs, chicken. Volume eating so massive portions of veg and salad. I’m currently trying to get a list of easy, nice recipes together and finding tiktok quite useful for this.

I’m the same age btw and I know exactly what you mean about how a few years ago eating the way you used to wasn’t an issue.

Cut out all processed foods and you will be fine

(You've had quite a lot of processed foods today 😂)

Yes, I found that I needed to eat less. It's a very common phenomenon (for both sexes, but with women it tends to arrive all in a bang with the menopause, rather than the slower process for men who don't have a hormonal shift of that magnitude)

Upping your exercise is of course a good thing in itself, but it's not the solution to the underlying issue

I have found with perimenopause that I now have to cut out pretty much all snacks. I don't drink much but if you do, that's another thing to reduce. Stick to three healthy meals a day as your general habit.

I seemed to stop eating at age 38 & didn't lose weight at all.
Doesn't sound like much exercise you're doing. OP.

@lljkk Yes I would agree with this, I don't do enough exercise. And this is because I've never needed to, and almost actively avoided exercising because I've always been too skinny and have been desperate to put weight on. But now, boom! Hence the need for advice. I'm always out and about playing with my kids, or here and there looking after people, or doing jobs, so am always on my feet. But it's not proper structured exercise.

You need to eat a lot of protein. More than you would imagine.
Don't eat too little either as that will stress your body. Stress = cortisol incr = body laying down belly fat. So avoid stress generally (easier said than done!).

@Jumbojem No chance of avoiding stress!!! But I am going to take the protein advice. I had salmon, potatoes and broccoli for tea at about 6, and then a hard boiled egg, and have been absolutely starving since about 8! I've managed to stop myself having anything but am about to have some shredded wheat if that's ok 😵‍💫

You need to eat so much less and it’s shit really. Here is my food for last two days

Bran flakes, banana
1 slice whole meal bread with cheese, plain yogurt with handful of bluberries
Stir fried beef with loads of different veg, a tablespoon of rice.

Bran flakes, banana
Tuna and cucumber sandwich, whole meal bread
plain yogurt
small portion of pasta, chicken with multiple veg in a cheese sauce.

All small portions, I probably eat 30% less, walk an hour a day and I weigh more than before menopause.

@Jumbojem interesting about stress, that’s me over last few years as well

Friend of mine says you’ve just got to get used to feeling hungry and kind of embrace it like you feel the burn in a gym class and know it’s doing you good. 🤷‍♀️. I do think that maybe in general we have got too used to eating at the first twinge of hunger and actually maybe that’s meant to be normal for a while until the next meal?

I'm in this jolly boat too :-( it's like I turned 50 and a switch flicked!

I would find it hard to completely give up carbs but I find eating a carb-free evening meal at around 6pm helps. Nothing more after that until breakfast (other than water/tea). I sleep better, feel less sluggish and no stomach bloating.

I have a stubborn stone I'd like to lose which went on over lockdown (which is when I turned 50) and whilst I'm not gaining, I am stuck at this weight which tips me into the 'overweight' category. I am going to have to cut calories somewhere to get it off. Trying to psych myself up!

I think you/you're friend are right @QuintanaRoo

Diet. Since turning 43 I basically have to live on two eggs and a salad a day or else accept being huge. It's miserable either way. I feel genuinely aggrieved by it.

I'm a dog Walker and I walk 3-4 hours a day. I couldn't do much more exercise than that as too tired! And still the ring of fat round my middle gets bigger. It feels very unfair.

Is this your literal diet or are you sort of joking? If you walk three hours a day and eat one meal yet still put on weight that sounds like there may be something medically wrong.

I'm struggling to lose weight post meno but I still eat three meals a day.

I appreciate we are all different but after this meal and a boiled egg it's unlikely I'd feel hungry enough to eat food later on. Or I'd simply ignore any grumbling because you don't need to treat every instance of hunger, especially if you have no health issues and are eating 3 meals a day with a few snacks. It isn't real hunger. Drink water, herbal tea, marmite drink.

If what the poster is saying is accurate, it's likely they need to see a GP. Or they are defying science.

Diet, sadly. And tons of water. When I drink 3l of water a day and fast until 11 or 12, eat more protein and less carbs (I do eat some otherwise I get exhausted) I lose weight and th belly is the first thing to shrink.

No, it's not related to water retention. During perimenopause, many women experience weight gain, particularly around the abdomen due declining oestrogen levels - the fat cells in this area produce oestrogen. It is hard to get rid of it through diet and exercise alone.

Another gift of perimenopause is digestion issues and food intolerances, again due to decline levels of oestrogen in our guts. Remember, from puberty, every single cell in our bodies has oestrogen receptors and why things go awry as our hormone levels change. Stress and raised cortisol levels can also be a factor.

More information here

@tatteddear I know exactly how you feel. You're putting in maximum effort, your day is full with activity, yet still the bulge finds you! I'm not exactly lounging about every evening, and by the time I've done everything that needs doing, I'm knackered, physically and mentally. Very frustrating.

@highfidelity Ah yes, the wind. I am so full of wind all the time, which adds to the bloated look of my middle. I honestly thought that as a lifetime skinny minny, teased at school for being thin, I would avoid all this 😭

I do have advice but it’s annoying to do. Fasting 😬. I have the same issue and I’m back to tackling it with a method that just burns your stomach fat really quickly. I fast until after lunch. For me I’ll eat at around 4pm because of my job but for some people they break the fast till lunch. It honestly works incredibly well but it’s also a little depressing.

What everyone says about it being mostly diet is correct. But I do think you could add a bit of toning and strengthening into your week whether it's weights, Pilates or whatever. I think you will feel better for it and burn more calories too. You could do something simple at home with resistance bands and dumbbells. There's lots of things on YouTube. No idea about the wall Pilates but it keeps repeating on my Instagram like it's trying to tell me something.