Struggling with peri menopausal weight gain

[HangryPants]

I’m 39 and peri menopausal. I put on two dress sizes in about 8 months and am the largest I’ve ever been in my life.

I decided not to beat myself up, buy the new size clothes rather than be uncomfortable and eat for health. I’ve quit junk sugar and given up my long time Diet Coke affair. I only drink water now, quite happily. I play netball weekly and lift weights three times a week.

Now even my larger clothes are feeling tight. I feel terrible. I feel fat, hot and even bending to do my shoes is an effort. I don’t want to diet, but I feel like this isn’t my body. Is this it for me now?

What did you doctor say about that ?

This thread has made me realise I need to return to the doctors a bit better informed / realistic.

@TheHodgeoftheHedge I've got that mixed feeling of being glad I'm not the only one but sad that I'm not the only one iyswim?

@HangryPants I know EXACTLY what you mean.

I've not been one for drinking since my uni days, never smoked, exercise (lifting and cardio) regularly and always been an 8/10. I've improved my diet in the last six months better than ever before and I've still gone from a 10 to 14 and now pushing a 16.

@Whitegrenache look up Dr Michael Mosley. He's all about intermittent fasting and Mediterranean diet.

I tend to eat to an 8 hour window (i.e. do 8:16) quite naturally.

Hodge I just want to scream "It's not fair!". I've never understood that mentality before, always been a pragmatist, but by god I get it now!

My resistance to getting old and fat is making me so so miserable.

Agree that acceptance is the way to go.
However I won’t go down without a fight, I need to feel that I am doing something to keep it at bay.

I have been 95% plant based diet for 2 years, don’t touch alcohol, walk for exercise.
I monitor with MFP and pedometer.
Drink water only and limit coffee to 3 black coffees a day. Decaf if poss.
I can only have one day of indulgence and I feel it.
It is frustrating and gives me the rage.

There in lies another thread..the anger and rage of the peri meno.

Oh yes fast 5:2 as well and I’m still 3 stone over weight.

@crosser62 your post has inspired me.

Ok, so this month has been about quitting Diet Coke. Before that I quit sugar. "Little and often and sustainable is the way for me". My breakfasts are already healthy so in September I'm going to work on my lunches and make them very vegetabley and zero carb. I'll bed this in for the whole month.

the anger and rage oh. my. god. this.

I have been on & off with Slimming World for over 10 years. I’m 52 now and finding that the half-stone that creeps on is getting harder to shift, but it does if I’m really, really sticking to the plan. I exercise but could do a lot more.
I’m finding that bread & pasta are my main enemies, I bloat quite a bit after eating those. My waist is still there, just about but I feel that I have to be constantly vigilant.

How do you know you're peri-menopausal?
Are these your symptoms, and when did you start getting them?

Hot flashes
Breast tenderness
Worse premenstrual syndrome
Lower sex drive
Fatigue
Irregular periods
Vaginal dryness; discomfort during sex
Urine leakage when coughing or sneezing
Urinary urgency (an urgent need to urinate more frequently)
Mood swings
Trouble sleeping

*list from WebMD for peri-menop. But I don't know if those are the definitive symptoms checklist.

That's pretty much it lljkk. Started with the night sweats about last November but didn't put two and two together at first. Got tested for diabetes about February due to weight gain, irritability... took until about May for me to realise after I'd started getting the hot flushes and brain fog.

But I don't know if those are the definitive symptoms checklist
From my own experience these are the more common symptoms.
I only have three of them but I have others that are linked to peri. Or so my dr tells me.
It took me over a year to realise what was wrong. I then took herbal things like black cohosh and st John's wort and magnesium until I finally gave in and went on HRT. The difference it's made to my quality of life is astounding.
The herbal stuff worked for so long, then the symptoms came back worse than ever. I really was looking at being off work until I could finish menopause entirely. How i would manage without money made me realise HRT was my only option.

Op if you are peri menopause's at 39 that is quite premature and can have a massive impact on your future health. Any gyne worth their salt will highly recommend hrt to protect your bones, heart and brain. It will not delay the menopause that's ridiculous, it will replace the hormones that you should produce naturally at your age not give you extra such as hormonal contraceptives do. Choosing to go through the menopause naturally in your 50s is a valid choice in your 30s and early 40s is nuts.

I'm 47 and peri or even menopausal and the only thing I can do to lose weight is very low carb or keto below 20g of carbs per day, but it's amazing how it works, weight loss, feel brighter, sleep better but if the carbs creep up it doesn't work

whitegrenache I’ve worked my way up to alternate day fasting. I do 500 cals one day, eat sensibly the next, on a continuous loop. I don’t drink so that helps. My waist is now 30cm and my stomach is flat for the first time ever! I took a photo that I’ll attach as I was so surprised this evening that these gym trousers fitted.

30 inches!!! 🥴

@Whitegrenache

Intermittent fasting usually takes the form of having some very low calorie days or fasting for a significant period of each day.

At the end of April I decided to 'do something' about my health and weight and combined calorie watching with 16:8 - I fast from 8pm to midday the next day. This has helped with the calorie control because I skip breakfast but most significantly, the weight loss has been significant. I have lost 3 stone - I now have 2 pounds to lose to get in to the healthy bracket. I started in the obese bracket.

I chose 16:8 because of what I had read about it helping with regulating hormones and preventing metabolism slowing down when reducing calorie in take.

I am calorie watching not counting. This means I am mindful of the calories in what I eat and make sure I chose foods that I can eat enough of to fill me up and not take me over my total daily calorie expenditure. I make sure I have a balanced diet and also can enjoy the things I enjoy.

I am convinced that different things work for different people so I doubt this is a magic bullet for all. Something that works really well for me is that I can eat what I like/ nothing is banned or forbidden (as is the case with low fat or keto diets).

I think the impact of 16-8 for me comes from my body happily burning fat when there isn't food incoming and so I am not getting messages to eat/ feeling starving during the fasting period and my metabolism doesn't seem to have slowed down. The same effect happened with keto (I stopped feeling hungry and didn't over eat) but I missed bread, pasta etc. I never ate a lot of those things but not being able to have them was limiting.

I am interested in where things will go. I see this as a way of eating now, rather than a diet. I guess I'll stop losing weight at some point. If I don't I guess I'd have to actively work to increase my calorie intake - but I can't see that happening. I love not being preoccupied by food and not over eating. I used to do both.

I am 50. I think I am peri menopausal. My periods become more frequent and more painful. I was having aches and pains and trouble sleeping. These last two symptoms have disappeared since the weight loss. I am not sure if the IF helps my sleep (it is supposed to) or if it is the weight loss alone. I used to snore and wake myself up and get stiff in my sleeping positions and needed to shift around to get comfortable - I am sure these issues going are simply because I have less weight.

The only thing that's worked for me is Keto. Fasting and low carb diet. Actually feel much better as well. I've dropped 2 dress sizes in 2 months.

On holiday this week and I've been eating too many carbs and bloating already. Really can see what the wrong types of food do to my weight!

walk for exercise
I walk 70 to 90kms a week but this did nothing to help lose weight. Only HIIT has done it for me.