I just cannot lose my peri stomach ( and boobs)

[Gladiator552]

Hi all, honestly how does one get rid of that barrel shape look?! I’ve always been slim without effort until I was about 40. Now im a tight size 14. Im 44 now
im on HRT, active, I do something every day 10000 steps a day
I haven’t had a drink in 3 months
healthy meals- protein rich
today was Greek yoghurt with flaxseed, raspberries and chia seeds at 10am after fasting for 13 hours
then lunch was two scrambled eggs with spinach, smokerel mackerel, kale, cucumber and mixed beans salad- just a plate full no dressing
banana
hsndful of nuts
then 45 mins weights in gym, resistance machines
also had a three mile walk
dinner one plate of pasta with olives and pesto as need to food shop soon
I did have 3 small biscuits
I also swam an hour this week, a 3 mile run and walking the dog. Will have another swim and weights this week. I also do 5-10 mins core here and there
I have always been fairly active but upped my strength training as want to change my “doughy middle”
my arms and legs are fairly slim and toned, it’s just my matronly boobs and huge bloated belly I hate. I just cannot seem to lose any weight and it’s really getting me down I cannot seem to get any results or wear what I want without looking frumpy.I hate myself when I see me in the gym mirrors
anyone still reading has any advise please?

Everyone is different. Eating healthily with loads of fruit, veg, and keeping your diet alkaline is one important factor in preventing osteoporosis. It's not as simple as 'staying a size 8' or getting osteoporosis.

There is research that shows that women who are fat are just as vulnerable to osteoporosis because the fat cells interfere with the turn-over of new bone.

From a research paper in 2020.

Mechanical loading, as expected, has positive effects on bone health, but this may not suffice in obese individuals. Accumulating data suggest that obesity has a negative impact on bone health. Low-grade systemic inflammation is probably harmful to the bone due to up-regulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines and/or increased leptin production, observed in obesity.

There's no point comparing OPs food list to yours without any context - are you same height, same frame?

I was really meaning allowing for sufficient calcium sources and fibre sources in the diet rather than bone loading.

Of course people can put on weight ( which I prefer to saying rather than “becoming fat”) can do so by eating simple carbs and other low nutrition foods; but the point really ( and which I think the poster above was making) was that if you ate the recommended quantities suggested to safeguard against some of these conditions, the diet would look quite different to some of the posts here listing how little they need to consume in order to prioritise their dress size. It is perhaps on my mind as I know someone who has recently been diagnosed with bowel cancer who has been a fan of a complex carb shunning keto diet .

I don't often wade in on threads like this as to my mind lots of MNers have some kind of disordered eating

I am 50s and from age 45 have upped my cardio and weight/resistance training/exercise

It has taken years of gentle transformation to lose body fat and gain muscle

It is not an overnight thing or even something you can do in a few months...

It takes a few years of cutting back alcohol and sugar (still having treats though) and I eat a (shocking?!) 2500 cakes or so a day

By thinking about fuelling my body with quality nutrition rather than "denying myself treats" I feel it's been a positive journey and I can still enjoy food and a few Proseccos with friends

Reading about 1200 cals or 1 cherry tomato makes me weep for you

2500 cakes a day? lucky you!

You are right about sustained weights and cardio, I think.I Gaining muscle appears to be key ( I have none).

I have very successfully worked walking into my life, now I need to find a way to do the rest of it. Maybe by the end of the year.

I think this is very balanced and sensible - apart from the 2,500 cakes a day which I’ll treat as a typo! 🎂 🧁 🍰

We just seem to need a lot less calories when we reach menopause, no matter how active we are.

A few thoughts:
Mackerel is good for us but quite oily.

Two eggs is already 300+ calories.
Chia and any seeds are like nuts, quite high in fat.
Pesto is oily, and pasta tends to soak it up so we are having more than we think.
Pasta is obviously very high in carbs.

And finally.....how big are your plates?

Back in the 1960s/1970s a dinner plate was about 23cm. Todays dinner plates are about 28-30cm.

People back then managed fine on those smaller portions, walked and cycled more, not everyone had a car and if they did it was usually one car per household and there would be walks to the shops for top up shops.

It is tricky fitting in all the things we are meant to eat in a day for health, but I think it's about the portion sizes. 5 different veg could be a spoonful of each. Come to think of it, my mum had table spoons for dishing up portions, which were bigger than today's dessert spoons but not as big as a serving spoon!

2500 cakes typo for cals (auto correct()

I'm in a similar position to some of you. I'm a healthy BMI, but feel like I have a huge stomach. I've always been a size 10. I'm 41, quite short, with thin arms/legs but look pregnant.

I track my food on Nutracheck and never go over 1200 calories (often lower) but am not losing any weight and not seeing any change in my tummy fat.

Can I ask a question to those of you who have seen some progress when doing weights workouts? Do any of you have recommendations of things I can do at home? What size weights do you use? How often do you do weight workouts?

Keen to hear any other tips!

An egg is about 70 - 80 cals, depending on size. Obviously depends how you cook them but if, say, poached in water with a pinch of salt, 300 cals is more like 4 eggs.

I genuinely dont think a couple of eggs and some fish are going to make you fat. If anything they will fill you up and stop you snacking on junk.
i think the issue is complex carbs - pasta, biscuits, what kind of yoghurt and fruit. Op isnt gajning weight on this diet and it’s really healthy and sounds yummy. By doing a few small swaps on the more carby things she might start losing.

Try weight training, heavy

Apologies, I did a quick Google and misread. It did surprise me!

I agree, this thread has extremes indeed.

I’m with you though. In my 50s too. My maintenance cakes 😂 is around 1900 and at 1600 I’ll start losing fat. Strength training has transformed me physically. I do lift heavy/progressive overload/failure. I’ve gained quite a bit of muscle (muscle needs fuel and protein) but I’m not super lean. 5ft 4inches, 61-63 kg, with a waist. Highish protein diet (100-130g), mostly cooked from scratch, no food groups excluded. Eat rice, bread, chocolate, crisps. I aim for satiety so I eat food volume.

Typical day: B - toast, 2 eggs, banana; L - chicken breast, rice/wrap, salad/veg; D - chilli or salmon and rice/homemade oven chips, veg/salad. Snacks: Greek yoghurt, fruit, crushed meringue, more fruit, crisps and chocolate a few times a week. No alcohol.

Tracking calories is the best thing I’ve ever done. It is so easy to over consume without any effort.

I think dropping calories too low is a bad idea as the over restriction can lead to over consumption so there is no net deficit and perhaps even a surplus.

It's not helpful to discuss calories. Everyone is different. We're different statures and heights. My wrists are 13cms and I have to have rings made to measure. What larger women (in height and build) eat would be far too much for me.
I've learned what I can eat and what I can't, it's very healthy (BMI is normal.)

Maybe it’s not helpful for you @JinglingSpringbells but for some people it is an important part of the process if they wish to lose fat.

Good article here on metabolism. Diets simply can't work forever due to human evolution and our bodies do change as we age.

www.healthline.com/nutrition/6-mistakes-that-slow-metabolism

@BurntBroccoli interesting article and certainly chimes with my experience. Good to see TEF and NEAT talked about. Increasing NEAT is so important as we go through life as our daily activity does change drastically over time and we don’t really notice it

When my children were in primary I did about 8k steps on the school run alone.

@mandarindreams
"
Just put this into MyFitnessPal. Approximately 150 calories for the day. 10g of protein. 1% of RDA of Vitamin A. 10% of RDA of calcium. 10% of RDA of iron. Not enough of any of the nutrients you need to function apart from possibly Vitamin C. For months on end.

Maybe your doctor disagrees, but I'd venture that malnutrition is worse for you than carrying an extra stone or so of weight in peri."
Yes think so too. Your body will go into survival mode on that and will function for a while before internal organs start shutting down 😔

Also when people talk about their metabolism, it’s almost as an extrinsic thing whereas in fact we are our metabolism.

Yes it is isn't it. Things like standing at your desk instead of sitting or even sitting up on the sofa instead of lounging on it!
When I park my car I always park the furthest I can from the shop entrance and always use the upstairs loo or vice versa whether I am upstairs or down.

This thread is better than therapy. Does anyone find jeans really uncomfortable these days? I am ashamed to say I am wearing elasticated trousers. Not the Damart variety but I keep M and S and Uniqlo in business.
I miss my jeans though.

I do similar things too. I checked my Fitbit last week before and after doing a small top-up shop at the supermarket - 1.2k steps and it was gentle ambling around having parked at the furthest corner.

And on the thermic effect of food. My colleague at work has been “dieting” but in actuality is restricting her calories then starving and then eating anything available. She’s always saying to me, how can you eat so much? But it’s taken me a good 20 minutes to get through my lunch and she’s gone through a pot noodle, Twix and packet of crisps in less time. She thinks that because the volume of what she’s eaten is less than mine that that is somehow better and “not much food”. Yet she’s had 700 calories/12g protein and is still starving and I’ve had 400 calories/30g protein and stuffed.

That was to @BurntBroccoli

My point was that there are posts here criticising posters for eating too little. One was told they had an eating disorder. Others are told they can't possibly exist on 1200 cals a day as their normal intake, etc etc.

I agree that there are some posts that concern me, in terms of quantities, but they are an extreme.

I belong to the 'Tim Spector school of food science' where you don't count calories (because not all calories are equal in terms of nutrition.) I eat very few carbs, but plenty of other things.