Weight Gain & Menopause - Changing Food Plan? Cutting out Sugar ?

[Tillyboo]

I have put on probably nearly 2st in the past year since I started the Menopause (no period for a year so I am guessing I'm in full flow ?) and it's mostly sitting around my middle.

Has anyone had any success with changing to a food plan such as Slimming World ? I have Fybromyalgia too so have to be careful in terms of exercise but I walk a lot and never seem to sit on my bum during the day !

Any help and advice would be gratefully received, I feel fat, ugly and nothing fits me anymore. I used to be so slim and never used to dread shopping. Now, I absolutely hate it and never look in mirrors anymore.

I've never used any slimming 'plan' and have been lucky, if that is the right word, to keep an eye on my weight and weigh no more than I did in my 20s. I think we all need to accept that as we get older we need less food and less of the carbs. I stick pretty much to the Paleo diet, which means eating lots of high quality protein (I don't like red meat anyway), fruit and veg, a little Greek yoghurt ( no sugar) and very little carb. I also avoid sugar and my total sugar intake in a day is probably less than a teaspoon. I think another term for it is the 'clean' diet. Maybe have a look into it and see if it would fit with your lifestyle?

Tillyboo - Have you had your thyroid levels tested? Weight gain and fibromyalgia symptoms can be indicative of undiagnosed thyroid problems due to the kind of testing (or not) that is available. A friend of mine has fibromyalgia syndrome and underactive thyroid which was not diagnosed through the normal NHS testing and in the end she had to go for private referral. She is now heaps better, has lost weight, although still suffers some fibromyalgia - but not as severely.

Hi, I've been suspicious of an underactive thyroid but GP tested and said all OK but I'm well aware the normal test is not conclusive. How would I go about getting a private test ?

I really don't know much about this - only from this friend of mine. I would ask a Q in the main health section as there is bound to be someone who has gone down this route. Otherwise Google? The main thing is firstly to know the actual TSH reading you had - and if you have had blood tests in the past - can you compare this reading with your current one? Also the ref ranges for what is normal - as with other hormones do not necessarily correspond to symptoms. Many women have mild hypothyroid but fall within normal range. I believe the normal range in UK is 0.4 - 4.5. In US some specialists suggest that any reading above 2.75 should be looked at. I did read somewhere recently, some of those who are being treated for hypothyroidism, some doctors suggest that some patients do not feel well until their TSH is below 2. A bit of a discrepancy there with the refe range of "normality. Mine for example is now 2.97 but has risen over the past 2 years so could be an issue and explain the tiredness ( and weight loss difficulty) that I experience.

Also TSH is only an indication of thyroid function. Some people have a problem converting T4 to T3 (the active hormone) so replacing with standard thyroixine may not always be the solution.

Have a look at thyroid uk website - also for discussion about thyroid and fibromyalgia. www.thyroiduk.org.uk/

So many women are fobbed off with conditions such as fibromyalgia, ME, chronic fatigue syndrome, without adequate hormone testing and treatment. Oestrogen deficiency and testosterone deficiency can give rise to unexplained symptoms of all these conditions, and doctors are too ready to give this as a "diagnosis" with women left to languish with these debilitating symptoms. I know of women with both these hormones deficiencies who were given a diagnisos of fibro or chronic fatigue when hormone deficiency was the actual problem giving rise to the spectrum of symptoms.

Thank you Bellaciao, very interesting. I will hop over to thyroid uk. I do believe my thyroid is the problem, I have a small goiter too but have been told it's of no concern.

Do pursue this - there are so many women with obvious underactive thyroid symptoms whose doctors are telling them they don't need to be treated because of so called "normal" blood tests. if you have a goitre, have put on weight and are extremely tired with fibro aches and pains you sound like a classic case. You can also measure basal temperature on waking. Feeling cold is also a symptom. Normal changes in metabolism aside it is not normal to put on 2 st in a year if you haven't changed much else in your life - although if you've been eating the same amount since becoming menopausal this will contribute to weight gain to some extent.