Can a vegetarian, perimenopausal 50 yr old with busy life really lose weight!!

[BlogOnTheTyne]

No time for proper meal prep. for me, these days and with DCs all fussy eaters and myself a vegetarian, the pounds are piling on!

Perimenopausal hormones means that weight loss is really really hard compared to 20 yrs ago and I have the premenstrual bloated look ALL the time.

I tend to eat DCs leftovers (the carbs bits as they eat meat and I don't) and the potato/pasta/rice bits of their meals. Occasionally, I get the time to do veg. - which DCs always resist eating.

Used to eat v v healthy vegetarian meals of lots of raw veg./cooked veg. and fewer carbs and stayed at around 11 stone 3lbs for yrs and yrs. That was when I had endless time to cook/ prep. food. I'm 5ft 7ins and have always accepted I'm the curvaceous body type but always had a v small waistline.

Now, post-DCs, my waistline has expanded and I'm about 12st - the heaviest I've been when not PG.

Any tips for weight loss, for a 50 yr old, when there's never any time for exercise or lengthy food prep.?

My sister is 50 and she has lost two stone with Slimming World...the only thing is that she says now she has lost the initial two stone, she has stopped eeating their meal plans apart fromt the breakfast as she plateued for too long....she now has the breakfast (two pieces of bacon with fat removed, a poached egg and one slice of granary no butter) then she has nothing but muller light fat free yogurt and fruit all day, then at tea time she has a home made vegetable soup....personally I think she's not getting enough of anything...but having said that she isn't too thin yet...and still has some weight to lose...she says the weekly wegh ins have helped her as have the texts she gets in the week from her leader.

Of course you can, but it's harder. I've been losing weight during peri and now full on menopause, but a few years younger than you. I'm not vegetarian, though, but I haven't done any low carb or stuff. I'd direct you to the www.mumsnet.com/Talk/big_slim_whatever_weight_loss_club/1452767-Paul-McKenna-would-be-so-proud-of-us-on-THREAD-9-No-Pain-NO-PAIN-The-Non-Diet-for-those-who-really-want-to-lose-weight-No-calories-no-syns-no-humiliation-just-shedding-stones-amongst-friends, because I've found that slowing down and really thinking about whether I'm hungry or full or not has helped me.

I'd just do lots of veg whether the children eat it or not. Can you make a big vat of soup at the weekend for example? Very filling. Will your kids eat Quorn? Mine quite like it in bolognese or shepherds style pie.

Are you on a tight budget? If not, I'd just buy yourself lots of more appealing salads etc so you can eat them rather than your kids' leftovers.
Good luck!

Thanks for the feedback. I know partly this is about an attitude of mind but also, with perimenopause, hormones like oestrogen can make it harder than usual to lose weight. So I've felt like it's an uphill struggle!

Singersgirl, DCs won't touch soup, bolognese or shepherds pie type foods, unfortunately. However, I think I do need to buy more preprepared salads for myself, as I don't have time to make vegetarian meals for me these days.

The vegetarian issue seems to be making it harder for me, as so many diets suggest lots of protein - usually meaning meat and fish - and I don't eat those.

Anyone on here who's a vegetarian and can give me ideas for slimming, rapid to prepare meals?

Someone once told me that lifelong vegetarians find it harder to lose weight because usually our bodies have accommodated to fewer calories anyway? Is that true? When I look at some 'diets' they seem to involve eating far more than I'd ever normally eat. So I despair of how to lose weight on a 'normal' diet.

It just feels like everything is against me - hormones, age, lack of time and vegetarianism! But I'm sure I'm just being defeatist and making excuses!

I would suggest lentil soup in the winter and hard boiled eggs in the summer as something with protein that you could have handy at all times. I make bean loaf, spiced chick pea patties etc in bulk and freeze in individual portions so that I get some protein when DH and the kids are having meat and 2 veg type meals.

Are you actually sitting down to eat? I get this vision of you eating what the kids leave on their plates as you clear up after them.

Is there anything you can drop in favour of exercising? Exercise is really important.

My DCs aren't keen on lots of things including bolognese but I think DH and I need to model healthy eating so I serve a reasonable amount of meals they fuss at always ensuring there is a component they will eat happily. So when we have bolognese they have a tiny spoonful of sauce and a lot of plain wholewheat pasta with grated cheese. If we have fruit afterwards that's a balanced meal.

It sounds like you want to lose the weight but you are not ready to do it - you've given lots of reasons why you can't lose weight, I just wonder if your head is in the right place....if it is then Paul McKenna's approach would suit you best, it requires no special food prep.

I am 52,perimenopausal and vegetarian. I have gone from 14 stone 11, to 10 stones 9, in a year. I want to lose another stone.
Some of my favourite meals are -
lentil and veg curry
quinoa with stir fried vegetables
cheese omelette with peas and broccoli [plenty of protein there]
nut roast with veg and gravy
lentil burgers/sausages with veg and gravy
lentil stew
Now summer is here I will probably eat more salad. Tonight I am going to have cottage cheese [a good source of protein] with jersey potatoes and salad.
For breakfast I have porridge with skimmed milk, mixed dried fruit and cinammon. As it is now summer I will have sliced banana, low fat greek yoghurt and nuts and honey.
For lunch I usually have a sandwich [wholemeal] or pitta with hoummous, halloumi, egg etc.
Fresh fruit and nuts for snacks.
Personally I don't worry about low carbs/ protein etc. Nor do I count calories, but if you want to take that approach then my fitness pal is a good website.
I just focus on eating healthy homecooked food in smaller portions.
As far as exercise goes I started with extra walking and wii fit. Then I went onto swimming [very time consuming I know]. If time is a problem for you then how about incorporating some exercise into your day? Cycling/walking to work, stairs instead of lift, etc.
Otherwise you need to do something fairly intensive such as the shred, in order to get good results in a short time.

Cut out carbs, it's the only way. When you eat sugar/carbs your body uses those for energy (but doesn't need it all so you gain) by eating fat and protein your body uses your fat reserves and the fat you eat but it takes a long time to process fat so your body uses more energy to do it. Eat a high fat, high protein, low carb diet with lots of veg. It's fine being veggie doing it theres eggs, cheeses, nuts, cream, butter and a lot of quorn is low carb.

Cutting out carbs isn't the only way . It's just one way, as I have proved. Theres no need to cut out anything. There is also no need to eat quorn or any other meat substitutes.

Ok but a lot of vegetarians do eat quorn and there's nothing wrong with it. How do you know if the op likes quorn or not? Low carb is the healthiest way, eating huge amounts of carbs raises your risk of diabetes and we need fat, all of our cells in our bodies need fat.

krumbum that's just your opinion really. It's not really been proven that a 'low carb' diet is the healthiest. In fact from what I have heard a 'mediterranean diet' is said to be the healthiest and that does include things like rice, pasta etc. The important thing is to eat things in the correct proportions.I eat that way and I am pretty healthy.
You are correct, many vegetarians do eat quorn and meat replacement products, I was just pointing out that there are many other, less processed, foods they can eat - quinoa, beans, pulses etc. If the OP likes quorn etc then she is free to eat them but there are many other alternatives.

All the real research shows low carb Is the healthiest way to eat. Every low fat, high carb diet research has been shown to have discrepancies. The Mediterranean diet is high fat and fairly low carb any way. It benefits big business, crop owners for us to eat huge amounts of carbohydrates so that is promoted but it does not mean it is good for us. Our bodies cannot handle that amount of sugar, that is why so many more people are diabetic. It's not my opinion it's biology.

Thanks for the feedback a few weeks ago. This is getting ridiculous though, as I've seriously cut down on what I eat, am eating really healthily, no junk foods etc and have now PUT ON another 4lbs!!! I can't believe it! If I'd been eating the way I'm now eating at age 20, I'd be practially anorectic!

A typical day now is two cups of tea with milk, a soft bolied egg and 2 rice cakes for bkfast. For lunch, a banana and 2 slices of toast with cheese. For supper, lots of cooked vegetables - or raw veg for a salad and a miniscule amount of rice.

No snacks. No alcohol. Maybe one more cuppa during the day. I've no idea about calorie counting and really don't at all want to become one of those people who gets obsessive about weight/calories etc etc but surely I can't even be eating the daily recommended number of calories, let alone too many, that would explain the continued weight gain?

What it feels like is that those 2 to 5 days before a period, throughout my life, where I might put on a few pounds and then lose straight away once my period started - is actually happening daily (though still got regular periods - just a few days less between them than used to be) with no loss of weight inbetween.

I'm of the school of thought that eating healthily, in moderation is better than say not eating any carbs at all but it's as if when I eat a small food item, I literally put on weight there and then! Could it be water retention? Surely that wouldn't explain such a consistent, steady weight gain though?

Fatlazymummy (which I'm sure you're not btw!), your vegetarian diet sounds similar to mine but like a lot lot more than I'm eating, yet I'm still putting ON weight!

Any further ideas anyone?? Three weeks of healthier and more limited eating is having the opposite effect to what I'd hoped!

Hello. I think you should give weight watchers a go, from what you have just posted it sounds like you aren't eating enough. My mum is about 16 stone and is 62 and has lost 2 stone so far. She swore she was eating well before but weight watchers has really helped her to focus. I am vegetarian and have found it worked wll for me in the past, especially writing everything down and weighing and measuring.

I am breast feeding second child (4m) at the moment so trying to lose weight but sensibly.

yesterday I had porridge (30g with 140ml skimmed milk) for breakfast, homemade very cheap and easy bean soup with slice of bread for
Lunch, then cauliflower and chickpea curry with little bit of rice for supper. Snacks were fruit and nuts and a biscuit.

It is a shame your children won't eat soups as soups are a great way of getting pulses and veggies into you and them. Any way you could get them to try again?