Weight gain

[hon12]

I keep gaining weight since hitting the menopause. I walk at least five miles every day, dont eat as much as i use to. I have always been around 8 stone and not I am 10 stone and rising. I have a very stressful job and dont have time to do any other exercise. My knees ache all the time. I dont know if its water retention? any one experience that? i have tried slimfast - did not work and now i am looking at using cider vingar any one tried that. None of my clothes fit. I dont drink or smoke. Seriously i feel like s....t. Help please ):

My weight spiralled totally out of control during the menopause and I put on a stone a year. Tred everything. Terrible joint pain generally and knee pain because of the extra weight.
In the end I got a gastric band fitted on 0% credit and it's kept inflated really tight by the specialist nurse. I literally cannot eat more than tiny amounts now.
Even then the weight loss is fairly slow. Menopause seems to have changed my metabolic rate.
I'd be 20 stone by now if I didn't have the band. It's really saved my life.

It's hard at menopause. Try the free My Fitness Pal I am 52 and lost steadily a pound each week gone from 10st4 to 9st8 since end of May on 1200 calories a day you can choose to eat your exercise calories or not you put your age weight activity levels and goal weight in and it calculates your allowance depending on how fast you want results it's my go-to for weight loss good luck

Its very strange i was always very slim thoughout my life, hit menopause and weight gain. My best friend the opposite she has hit menopause and looks great, no weight gain. I have tried low carb, slimfast, i have really restricted my calories it made no difference to my weight. I walk a lot most days on average 5 miles i even walk upto 10 miles a day sometimes. Dont get it. Dont drink, smoke eat probably less than 1500 calories a day. Eat hardly any bread, no pasta no potatoes.lots of fruit and veg. Funny thing is i am 56 and getting bigger my husband of 33 years and 60 is getting thinner with no effort.

Maybe check thyroid function

You might be eating more than you think so the only way is to work out exactly what you consume.

Walking 5 miles is not actually going to shift that many calories. I used a tool to work out the cals used on a fast 3 mile uphill walk I do and it was about 200 cals. That's equal to 2 biscuits or a slice and a bit of bread.

You are also going to have a much slower metabolism now so will need less food.

The fact is that weight gain is too much in and too little out. Maybe your portions are a bit too big, you eat 200 extra cals a day maybe (which will soon add up to a lot of weight in a year).

I read somewhere that 2 biscuits a day for a year = 1 stone gained if energy output is unchanged.

Get some 'fat scales' , work out your basal metabolic rate (cals needed to exist in a day with no activity) and see what that shows.

You also need to do resistance training to build muscle. We lose a pound of muscle a year after 40. Muscle burns more calories . You could use dumbells or bands at home even for just 30 mins a day- squats, lunges, etc.

I've had to watch my weight all my life but always managed to get it back to the weight I wanted if it creeped up. Even when I tried hrt last year and put on 1/2 stone in no time despite doing everything to avoid it as I knew it was a side effect, I managed to get it back down. But this year, now full on menopausal, I see my waist expend despite increasing the exercise and it seemed nothing I did made any difference.

Then I read an article that the best way to lose weight after 50 was to do strength training rather than endurance. So I gave up my 10k run and cycles and started a HIT class and stated to work on the machines. 3 weeks on and no only am I definitely getting more toned, the weight is finally starting to shift again.

I know it's hard to fit it in when working FT, but the cessions are only 45 minutes each, so not taking that much time away, but it's an intense 45 mns.

Resurrecting this thread from a couple of weeks ago, as I seem to be turning into a barrel!

I'm 50 and haven't had a period since March now, so I'm guessing that I'm rapidly heading towards the menopause. I do get a few hot flushes, but they seem manageable at the moment and I mostly feel well, but I am packing weight on around my middle, which for someone who has been an hour glass all my life is a bit scary.

I am reasonably fit, and do 4 hour long cardio gym sessions a week. I'm going to look at weights now too, but I'm wondering how the hell I shift this portly gut that is appearing around my middle.

Anyone else got any thoughts or suggestions?

Having poopooed HRT, I'm wondering if that would help (yes, I am that vain!)? Anyone had any experience of it helping with weight distribution?