Peri and stoutness/bloating

[Thelastempressofconstantinople]

I am getting very down about the area that used to be my stomach.

I think the problem - which is rapidly getting worse - is partly subcutaneous fat, which I store there, as opposed to legs/arms, and partly bloating.

I can’t wear lots of things in my wardrobe and have to buy clothes that are out of proportion to the rest of my body to make it possible to do them up! Plus my middle area area feels puffy and uncomfortable.

I wondered if anyone had any diet (foods to avoid, in particular) or exercise tips for coping with bloating and fat gain in peri. I’m a single mother with a full time job and I’m not going to embark on an intensive exercise regime or some hard core deliciously Ella style regime. Particularly since I am already a semi vegan whole foods eater!

Any peri bloating and weight tips appreciated.

No sugar or processed foods works for me. It’s really tough but my metabolism has dropped. I need much fewer calories.

I exercise a lot to try gain muscle & burn more.

You could look at doing some weights at home?

Hardly any refined carbs works.

That means you cut out all the white rice, pasta, bread, cakes, biscuits, pastry. Also cut out sugar (if you buy bottled pasta sauces, ready meals, drinks, fruit yoghurts, they have loads of sugar in too.)

Make your diet:
fresh fish and lean meat
full fat dairy but not too much
fruit
veg- 5- 7 portions a day

If you are semi veggie my guess is you might be eating a lot of carbs (pasta?) and cheese? (high in calories)

Thank you. Yes, lots of pasta. Would wholemeal pasta be ok though do you think? Rye bread?

Watching with interest...I am veggie and have the same problem. I've become huge in my middle area over the last 2 years. Really really disproportionately so! 😫

I've been reading about probiotics and menopause - according to one site:

Probiotics can reduce weight imbalance- There is a high chance of abnormal increase of weight, due to slower metabolism during menopause. Probiotics provide proper fat metabolism, thus preventing these weight fluctuations.

Also this article is interesting:

genneve.com/five-supplements-women-menopause-consider/

I'm going to give it a shot, I'd like to know if anyone has tried this longer term and found any benefit? Worth a go - they need to be good ones as some apparently cheaper ones aren't effective.

I'm here too....posted about it recently on here and have since been to docs to rule out anything sinister that could be causing the bloating. It is utterly demoralising as I have always taken pride in having a good body and I have taken good care of it with diet and exercise. Now I am at this stage of life I feel it is has all gone to pot! I feel bloated, no longer got a flat tummy and I feel quite lardy and blobby. I am certainly not eating more and am very aware of calorie intake and calorie output. I will look at the link chipsandgin and see if that is sometnign I could do.

Thanks chips.
I know your feelings thespian. Am trying to deal with them by stopping myself every time I find myself thinking something bad about my tummy, and saying to myself- right, would you make that comment to a friend? If your best friend walked in a swimsuit, would you say to her, really, it’s so disappointing, you should be ashamed of how you’ve let yourself go? You look awful compared to everyone else. You should try just eating porridge for a few weeks. No, I wouldn’t say that. If someone did, I would think they were insane. That helps a bit.

@chips
Probiotics are essential for gut health but so are pre-biotics. These can be found in certain foods that promote the growth of our own intestinal good bacteria.

Probiotics can reduce weight imbalance- There is a high chance of abnormal increase of weight, due to slower metabolism during menopause. Probiotics provide proper fat metabolism, thus preventing these weight fluctuations.

Sorry but that is nonsense. what is 'weight imbalance'? Where is the evidence that probiotics provide 'fat metabolism'? Fat is excess calories .

The link is (sorry!) just a very basic look at diet and written by a journalist who was employed by the makers of a vaginal moisturiser.

(I write about health as a medical author so I can easily spot the real science and the journo features!)

The basic fact is that metabolism slows down as we get older - in men and women. Most of us need to eat half or a third fewer calories because of this and also because we are more sedentary.

Probiotics promote gut health and their main role is to prevent inflammation in the gut because inflammation is the cause of most chronic disease from cancer to heart disease. They won't control weight gain.

Agree with Queen. The sad fact is peri means far fewer calories needed. What I eat now is what I would have eaten to get visible abs 5 years ago.

I have mateswhi have put on weight & day but I eat healthily. You may well do but you need far less of it

Agree with the two previous posters. I’m 52 and peri. I’ve always watched my weigh but the first time ever, a couple of years ago I had a BMI of 25. I looked and felt awful and my whole wardrobe looked dreadful on me.
I went on a diet, cut out all highly processed carbs, drank very little alcohol and also watched portion size. I now make sure I do toning and HIIT exercises 3 times a week (Davina McColl DVDs at home) I’m back to a BMI of 21.

As others have said, we need less calories as we get older. It really is that simple, well it isn’t simple it’s bloody annoying but you’ll feel so much healthier if you cut out rubbish food and get a bit of exercise.

@LizzieSiddal that's heartening. I will keep on trying that then. Part of me wondered if this is how I'll stay 😐 Perhaps it can be shifted...

Yes there is hope! I found My Fitnesss Pal very helpful at the beginning.

There is hope of course there i. We’re just moving into a different life phase & have to adjust accordingly. You’ll feel much better for it.

Can I ask, is your fat 'hard' odd question I know but I am peri, put on loads of weight (stress eating and general gluttony) and this time round (life long yo yo dieter) the fat on my stomach is rock hard (worse when in full bloat mode after eating bread/wheat/red wine) whereas previously it was just squishy. It's awful. I am now rotund all over rather than being a curvy hourglass.

@QueenoftheNights - thank you - that's interesting. I was wondering about the 'science' and I've read a few other (quite possibly from similar sources!) articles & wondered what, if any, 'science' was behind it.

Looking at this link it appears that hundreds of studies have been done to see if/what the effect is on obesity and weight loss - with very little indication of any statistically relevant results:

www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2444866416000064

I get the impression though that the study that the media picked up on was the one discussed here (the only one that did have a statistically relevant result - in women only):

www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140128103537.htm
& this one would indicate that the jury is out on their effectiveness altogether (although research is ongoing):

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3056112/

I may have just wasted my £20!!

what have you spent £20 on?

I'd never take any notice ( or much) of something on a site that is a manufacturer's site where they sell products even if the feature is not for that product. And if the feature is written without expert comment from medics or scientists.

There is a huge amount around at the moment on gut health and how the gut impacts on overall health and I believe in that (I've just done a course on it as it happens.)

Prebiotics and probiotics are very good and help our health. But I doubt they can claim to reduce weight. If it was that easy the NHS would dish them out to everyone overweight!

The last link you left is a scientific paper - albeit almost 10 years out of date- but it does look at gut microbes and their role in various diseases. It does not say there is a link with weight loss (as in a means of losing weight.)

From the Science Daily
"Researchers also noted a drop in the appetite-regulating hormone leptin in this group, as well as a lower overall concentration of the intestinal bacteria related to obesity".

Probiotics may reduce the appetite in some way (which in turn would cause weight loss), but the other part is a bit chicken and egg!

I've got these (on offer at our local health food place for £15 or 2x for £20ish - apparently £14 each on Amazon or £29.99 on their website - so a slightly inconsistent pricing model, but they do look good!).

www.nutravita.co.uk/products/nutravita-purebiotics-probiotic-pearls

I think that it encouraging what you mentioned re pro-biotics and gut health as well as the impact of improved gut health on overall health - and is still relevant to the discussion about things we can do to potentially feel better approaching menopause - if not directly related to the bloating issue!

I will try and do my research better though - I do have a bit of a history of being sucked into the latest health fad, with which I have had mixed results in the past, I should know better!

Just be warned when you start taking pre-biotics and /or pro-biotics they can sometimes make gas, bloating worse in the first few days and sometimes even weeks.

If you experience this, cut back on the dosage and build up slowly.

They can work wonders but sometimes people get put off because their symptoms seem to get worse to begin with so they stop taking them.

To get the best results take it slow and be patient.

PamsterWheel not sure , willing (and interested) to corrected, but when I went to see a surgeon about my tum, he said that hard fat was more likely to be visceral, while squishy, the sort you can grab and squeeze, subcutaneous. If so I think that is possibly good news, as although visceral fat is very bad for you health wise, it is apparently more responsive to diet and exercise.