No weight loss despite less food

[CrepuscularDesperandum]

Is this because I'm post menopausal? I'm 55 and was eating no differently to the last few years but suddenly put on a stone in weight since last autumn when I became menopausal (currently a humungous 12 stone 12 pounds - the heaviest I've ever been - and am only 5 ft 7 inches. My waist line - my only good feature - has also expanded suddenly by about 4 to 5 inches and I look pregnant and I've always been hourglass shaped - although plump either side of the middle!

So I began to cut down on what I ate. I've never done calorie counting so maybe I'm just eating too much still - but it's less than it was, with only a small treat at the weekend and yet I'm not losing any weight. In fact after a 'small treat at the weekend' I put on a pound in weight. Why?

A typical day's eating is as follows:

Breakfast - 2 cups of mint tea (no sugar), 2 soft boiled eggs and 2 rice cakes with chicken breast. Drink water.
Lunch - small bowl of one spoon of rice with lettuce, chopped tomatoes and onion, a dusting of grated cheese, prawns, drizzled in tiny amount of olive oil and soya sauce. Drink water.
Snack - one apple or one banana.
Dinner - small bowl of one spoon of rice with cooked carrots, asparagus, white cabbage, sweetcorn, broccoli and one piece of baked cod. No sauce. Drink - water.

I don't eat bread or pasta. I don't drink alcohol. I don't have cups of tea of coffee. At the weekend, on 2 consecutive days, I may have 4 squares of a thin chocolate bar and occasionally one cup pf coffee with milk.

Before I started cutting down on food, I'd have more snacks of things like crisps, more carbs like potato and more rice but otherwise eat similarly.

At the weekend, I usually get time to walk (only about 4 to 6 miles)or cycle (about 20 miles off road), otherwise have no time at all to do daily exercise and have a sedentary job.

How many calories am I eating and should I just be cutting down even more? Why does one or two days of weekend treats when I'm actually getting more exercise, result in me putting back on the one pound I sometimes begin to lose during the week?

You have my full sympathy - getting older is rubbish isn't it. I can only suggest cutting out the carbs altogether (which would include chocolate, rice cakes, rice and apples and bananas). You could have raspberries instead which are less sugary and make some carb free muffins to have with your breakfast (using egg and cheese and ground almonds). And maybe using cauliflower rice instead of regular rice.

Your diet, from what you have written sounds very good so I can't give any tips there. Maybe track your calories on my fitness pal to see exactly how many you are eating and how many it thinks you should eat to lose a pound or two per week?

Otherwise, could it be worth getting your thyroid function checked?

I hope you soon start getting the results you want.

Are you well / tired? Maybe get thyroid checked if sudden weight gain?

Crikey, that doesn't sound like much, carbs all healthy etc. No alcohol. No bread. Looks like its around or under 1000 calories.

How long have you been eating like this OP?

Maybe as other posters have said, see your GP and have thyroid checks.

p.s. Low carb muffins sound amazing! (Agree about rice cakes, plus they don't have any nutritional value)

Thanks for the messages. My thyroid is fine and was recently checked along with other blood tests at the GPs. So I know it's not that.

1000 calories doesn't sound too much. I don't have MFP but might give it a try. Even if some days I'm eating a bit more than others, if it's still around 1000 calories, surely I'd not be putting on a pound or remaining the same weight?

Back in my 20s and 30s, on this kind of food intake, I'd be losing about 3 pounds a week and continuing to lose weight whilst on this diet. Now it almost seems as if the minute I eat anything at all, I can feel my waist line expanding and I sometimes wonder whether eating nothing for a week (not that I'd do this), I'd lose nothing at all or just half a pound and then put it all back on - and some - the moment I ate again.

Has anyone who's post menopausal on here, had the same problem? Any success stories that allow healthy eating but also some reasonable weight loss? I've been on this food intake for about 2 months but there are some days when I've eaten a bit more and then if I've seemed to have lost the odd pound, it just goes straight back on immediately.

5:2 is the only thing that has worked for me post menopause. Lost 2 stone and have maintained for 4 years by fasting just the one day a week - upping it to 2 after hols and christmas

Could be you’re not eating enough? 1200 is usually the minimum recommend to lose weight. I started last year with a PT and nutritionist and was on 1200 initially (had 2 1/2 stone to lose), then up to 1400, then 1800. I started this year on 2000 as I’m trying to drop body fat but increase muscle mass. I’m now on 1600. I’m just about to start another thread as I’m struggling! But that’s another story. Try eating something different, I find it kind of ‘shocks’ your body and it will burn fat more efficiently. I always have treats and usually lose more in those weeks.

One reason I found your post interesting OP, is because I am very similar to you, and indeed posted something very similar here a few months ago! I am a very similar age, height and weight. Though my story is slightly different in that I have gained and lost the same 20 pounds (gradually each time) a couple of times over the last 8 years. I am not at my heaviest at the moment, but near it. I would love to lose this 20 pounds finally!

One thing I agree is I have noticed is how quickly weight comes on. Two to three weeks of not paying attention because of some stress in my life (not gorging but certainly some self-indulgence e.g. a bottle of wine at the weekend or a slice of cake or two over the same period) and I can put on 4-5 pounds on, just like that.

I also have the big fat belly thing goin' on!

Whats the answer though? I would add a caution re. 5:2 because I think it can exacerbate yo-yo and diet mentality for many people (not all). You can continue to eat rubbish food on it, and even gorge and think you are making progress. I speak from some experience as I did it long before it was fashionable - I got some good results of course. But my diet mentality and everything that comes with that, continued apace and I put most of the weight back on. I think it can work for some people but usually people who have quite structured and / or healthy eating to begin with. For me the book "Binge No More" which I often recommend on here, I believe really helps get to the root of people's different 'diet mentality' issues, and really offers understanding and practical ways to overcome them and get on the road to positive changes.

However, post-menopausal with healthy eating - that sounds like you, so in your case perhaps a version of intermittent fasting would in fact help? The "Dirty Diet" is a 'new' healthy eating approach which I liked and it includes 2-3 days of reduced calories of around 800. So not as extreme as 5:2 with 500. And the approach is overall healthy eating, unlike Mosely's 5:2. As MissCharley suggests, this might give the body a bit of a shake-up and keep it (and your metabolism) on its toes. It would also make room for the odd treat. And also (maybe) the issue that you are eating too little generally overall - though to me your calories look fine. I don't know if this approach would work for you, but since your eating seems stable and healthy to begin with, it might give an extra push?

I do sympathise. It is frustrating when you think just a lost of 20 pounds would do it, but it seems nigh impossible without starvation. I look at women my age who are slim, and suspect they eat very little.

Sorry for essay.

I also read online today, prompted by your post, that a lot of this change is to do with falling oestrogeon levels ... e.g. "Women are more likely to gain excess belly fat, especially deep inside the belly, as they go through perimenopause and into menopause. This is due to the fact that as estrogen levels drop, body fat is redistributed from the hips, thighs and buttocks to the abdomen".

Yes, I think this is so much to do with hormonal changes post menopause. I've been eating less about 5 days a week and then have a little treat at the weekends and then if I've lost even one pound, it all piles back on but I can also put on pound overnight even still eating less. The weight gain round my waist is the most shocking. I used to have a waist of about 28 inches which expanded after having DCs to about 30 inches. Now it's suddenly gone up to 35.5 inches in literally just 6 months!

I don't get time to exercise except at weekends and the thought of eating less food than I do now just feels so little. The idea of eating more calories, as someone suggested here, is attractive but as I seem to pile on the pounds overnight even if I have a tiny piece of chocolate or a spoonful of my DCs spaghetti meal, I expect I'd put on pounds and pounds if I begin to eat more than I do now.

It's as if my body has settled happily into a new shape and weight and won't change. I can try eating different foods as someone suggests - just not sure what?

For those postmenopausal women who've successfully reversed the expanding waist and the increasing weight, how have you done this? Do you need to have loads of time on your hands to do lots of exercise? My days are already completely filled with work etc from 5.40am until 10pm and I can't see where I'd fit in exercise along the way.

Not in your particular situation. However, when I said eat more calories it very much depends what they are. Not all calories/foods are equal; the food you describe (chocolate, spaghetti meal - I’m assuming ready meal? Apologies if wrong) are very calorie dense, but with little nutritional value. Fruit and chocolate for example both contain sugar (and it’s not ‘healthier’ just because it’s from fruit, it still affects the body the same), however fruit has more nutritional benefit as it has fibre and water. Try eating more protein, it’s harder (but not impossible) for the body to convert protein to fat. It’s the main macro in all my meals. Things like 0% fat Greek yoghurt with a few berries or cashew nuts, feels like dessert but takes the craving for sweet stuff away. I often snack on packs of chicken or ham with a babybel, filling and low cal/fat/carbs.

Thanks for the input MissCharleyP. The spaghetti meal is just home cooked spaghetti from dry packs of it - completely plain as the DCs like this - and I only take a few strands literally onto a fork - not anything more than that. It's so frustrating that even a few strands on the end of a fork can increase my weight by a whole pound the next morning!

Chocolate treat would be one or two squares of very thin chocolate once or twice a week. I used to eat nuts but they seemed to make me put on even more weight and I don't eat yoghurt or dairy foods except occasionally a sprinkling of hard cheese.

If I eat more protein - like I sometimes have 2 pieces of baked cod or salmon for my main meal, the extra volume also seems to increase my weight. I eat prawns - just plain from the packet - as a filler for my lunch or a tin of mackerel or sardines in water - not in oil.

I just don't understand why so few calories still make me put on weight. My meals are at 7am, 11.45pm and 6.30pm - so spread across the day. I rarely eat any meat except slices of chicken - never eat processed meat. It all seems the kind of healthy foods most people eat when they 'go on a diet' and the amount too, yet I'm just slowly getting fatter and fatter.

No worries! I would agree with others then and see your GP/Practice Nurse. Exercise will help but weight loss is 80% nutrition. Don't weigh everyday, you can fluctuate by 5lb from one day to the next, try weekly or fortnightly. Your food doesn't seem to be of they type that would put weight on, so there may be another issue. I wish you the best of luck, it must be very frustrating x

1lb (455g) is about one large mug of tea or less then a pint of water. Your hydration bounces around depending on what you eat and drink, so it's likely that gaining or losing 1lb overnight is due to that. So don't panic if you gain weight overnight! Weigh yourself at the same time each time and watch the trend not the actual number. Daily weigh-in can be very disheartening so try to avoid it if you can. Find a close fitting skirt/trousers without any elastication and use those as a guide.
Sorry, can't help with the diet!