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?

Well done op. I think it’s pretty likely you are right that you were over eating. It’s easily done and I don’t often go as low as 1400, but if I do - genuinely do ( not just mean to!) - the weight does come off quite fast.

You need to be careful to try to maintain a balance. Too much intensive exercise can be a stressor to the body, increasing cortisol which is a fat storage hormone.

I hate to say it but those 3 biscuits will add up! Eating too much of anything, even healthy foods can add excess calories.

Building up to lifting heavier weights is your friend.

As is remembering to make take for relaxing / calming activities. Makes sure you're getting plenty of sleep.

Low carb definitely helps with my meno belly and it has balanced my blood sugars so I no longer get the wibbly wobbly "need to eat now" moments that I've had all my life previously. My dad was T2 diabetic so it was always a concern.

We moved to low carb when OH was diagnosed with T2 diabetes in 2020. I lost a stone that I put in on my 40's and I realised they I felt much better. I also oddly found I didn't miss white carbs. Except crisps, don't get between me and a family sized packet of crisps 😁.

We eat lots of complex carbs now and I definitely feel better for it. At one point when my dad was in hospital I ended up practically living out of the car and was eating pasties, sandwiches etc. My peri gynae symptoms got much much worse, I ended up on the 2 week pathway and they could see no reason for the pelvic pain. I dropped back onto low carb and the pain went away. Stress may have been a factor as well, but I feel very different when I eat this way.

Getting the right HRT balance also helps, a lot of my belly appears to be fluid. I dropped 3kg in a few days when I started on oestrogen patches. My body clearly likes it!

As for clothes, definitely wear the bikini on holiday, who cares! Elastic waists are your friend (along with velcro sandals in place of those fiddly buckles in the wrong place for my varifocals 🤣) . My friend and I bemoan what we have become from the cute teenagers we were what seems like only yesterday. But we're still here and rocking it - just a bit more slowly, with more creaky joints 🤣

I was about to post that! But I think it's also true that what we think of as a moderate amount of food - i.e. what we ate in our 30s when we were a size 10 - is going to make us a barrel-shaped size 14 now. I'm in the same boat as the OP. I have a couple of colleagues in their early 20s and I can't believe how much food they pack away at lunchtime, it's the equivalent of two or three substantial meals each. Yet the girl is slender and the boy is really skinny. I eat vastly less and I'm fat - but I'm also more than twice their age (47). I think I need to radically rethink my diet, even though I feel like I'm not eating very much.