How to tackle peri-menopause weight gain?

[Allbymyself1]

Hello everyone,
I've been peri menopausal for nearly a year and have gained weight despite my daily diet not changing.
The weight has all settled around my middle. I've always been a hour glass shape - big boobs and hips with a waistline but waist has literally disappeared and I now have quite a rounded stomach.
My usual weight loss diet isn't working, I was wondering if anyone has found a diet that helps with this?

In actually the same boat. No real wisdom to impart but watching carefully in case anyone else does....

Will follow this with interest, despite having not much of value to contribute. I’m trying 16:8, for health reasons as much as anything, but really miss morning tea with milk.

16:8 (2 meals a day) keeps my weight stable.
plus running and being generally active.

I am quite active; minimum of 10,000 steps a day, on an exercise class day that can go up to 20,000+, walk to work and back instead of taking the car, 2 hour long exercise classes a week as well as general running around after 4 children!
I've always eaten only 2 meals a day.
I reduced my carb intake several years ago to lose weight and this has always worked amazingly for me - if I've put on a little bit of weight I just cut the carbs for a month but it's not working now! 😢

Pleased to see this thread here, less pleased about the reason. It feels as if I’ve put weight on every week recently

What I do:

16:8 (I have been skipping breakfast since before this was a "thing")
Log calories every day and keep to a deficit of between 200 and 500 per day
Vigorous exercise at least 6 days a week - time varies between 45 and 90 mins - emphasis on using heavy weights
Keep carbs on the low side
Get enough sleep

I lost weight doing the 5:2 diet a couple of years ago, although I have put on about 8lbs since lockdown due to inactivity and boredom eating. Will be back on it from tomorrow though!

I am peri-menopausal and I couldn't get the scales to move. I tried calorie counting, SW, intermittent fasting 16:8 & 5:2. Nothing was working. There has been an avalanche of info in the media the last few weeks about menopause and I heard a dietician saying that fasting is not good at this age as it messes with hormonal balance. She said to eat little and often and up protein.

I started three weeks ago as follows;
8am - Protein Shake
11am - Greek yogurt & berries
1.30pm - Sandwich using thins, or high protein wrap
3.30 - couple of babybels or hummous or other high protein snack
6.00 - Dinner with small portion of carbs, minimum 25g protein
8.00 - another protein snack, eg apple with peanut butter, hummous, you & berries etc.
For the first time in over 2 years the scale has moved and I'm down 7lbs as of today. I weigh every day and now I look forward to getting up and hopping on the scales. I was tempted to actually throw the scales away!
I've been putting what I eat into MyFitnessPal just to keep an eye on calories and I am averaging 1,500 cals a day and I'm never hungry. If I'm peckish I'm sticking to the high protein snacks and making sure I don't leave more than 3 hours between a meal or a snack.
I hope this might help some of ye out there :-)

Thanks @schiedel. What kind of protein apart from the examples you mention? Have you any examples of dinners?

For dinners I’m aiming for 25g protein so today I had chicken breast with roasted Mediterranean veg and half pouch of whole grain rice. Meat for two legs ie chicken and turkey is supposed to be better. I had chopped chicken salad yesterday with two small roast potatoes. I’m eating a lot of turkey rashers which are surprisingly nice and 6g protein. Babybels are good. Greek yogurt also. I’m aiming for whole foods like raw nuts whole grain rice, whole grain bread etc. It’s on the lap of the gods how long I stick to it but seeing the scale moving after it not budging in so long has really perked me up. I’ve cut right back on coffee too. I hope this helps.

Wow, well done schiedel, that's fantastic to hear !!
That seems such a lot to eat yet its obviously working!
I had a banana and handful of grapes at 10ish then I've just had a protein yoghurt now as I was feeling peckish. Dinner will be roasted veg with a lamb steak. I've also tried to drink more water today.
Have you noticed the weight loss physically or is it only because of the scales that you know you've lost weight?
I'm just desperate for my waist to reappear - I have a wedding (hopefully) to go to in 3 months!

Have had the same issue. I cut out bread, pasta and rice. It was slow but im back in a size 10. i still have a stomach though.

Forgot to add, i learned to love massive, massive salads and walking at least 7 miles most days.

I’ve only started taking measurements but I’m definitely less bloated and clothes fitting better. I can’t tell you how relieved I am to see a bit of progress. I literally spent the last two years trying hard with no results.
So long story short: have breakfast, eat every three hours. Have as little processed food as possible and get protein where you can.
I was making the mistake of thinking fasting was helping me but if that dietician was right it was just making hormones worse.
I am very active but even with upwards on 20k steps a day there was no change on scale or size.
I hope this helps someone else xx

Those dinners look fab @schniedel

When you reach peri menopause I think you need smaller portions and cut out a few treats. O put weight on then and never lost it. They also found my Thyroid was under active which found by blood test. Putting on weight is one symptom as is tiredness and dry skin/eyes. I used to nod off every time I sat down. Very embarrassing.

16:8, no breakfast. Lots of black coffee. One meal a day spread out over the 8 hours with snacks like cucumbers and eggs/cheese and dark chocolate. My top tip ... sugar free jelly apportioned into little cups to give that sugar shot and extend the fast - I find it suppresses appetite for about an hour and instead of reaching for the crisps, I can reach for the jelly instead.

3-4 days of eating this strictly will see a waist re-appear without the need for too much exercise - I only do 2 minute of exercise a day

I'm struggling with this, which having always been slim is a bit of an
unpleasant shock.

I am finding that Pilates is giving my fat shape at least. Although it does mean I ache a fair bit during the week!

I probably need to give up alcohol more or less.

Schiedel do you think you have reduced calories as well as eating little and often, or do you believe it is purely changing your eating windows that has caused the weight loss?

Lubilou09 - The big change for me is I'm eating a breakfast within half an hour of getting up, I have a protein shake. Then I'm eating every 2.5 to 3 hours, don't let it go past 3 hours. Meal, snack, meal snack. So I'm having something at 8am, 11am, 1.30pm, 4pm, 6.30pm.

I never used to eat in the mornings until 11am.

I've really upped my protein, having minimum 100g protein a day. I'm watching carbs and making sure I'm having wholegrain options. My dinner is half veg, quarter protein and quarter carbs.
I've been really good not having crisps or chocolate, I'm having a protein bar, greek yogurt and berries or oatcakes and peanut butter or a babybel as a snack to stave off hunger. I'm watching fruit too, I don't want to spike sugar levels and max 25g carbs at any meal.

I started at 84.9kgs on 27.4.21 and today I'm 81.7kgs. I'm weighing every day, that works for me, I like to know where I'm at.
I've cut out coffee as much as I can and I'm drinking minimum 2L water.
I hope this helps :-)

I'm also putting what I eat into MFP just to keep an eye on the nutrients, I'm averaging about 1500 calories a day.

Schiedel, thank you, I am interested to know if you have reduced your calories though or if you feel you are eating the same calories as you were before but changing the amount of protein and changing your eating times? Do you think with all the changes you have made that you have reduced your calories too? Intentionally or unintentionally...

You need to look into eating an anti-inflammatory diet.

Same calories more or less. More protein. Less processed food. Eating regularly. I was convinced fasting was the way forward but it did me no favours. I'm quite active and I don't eat back calories burned. Ref no drastic drop in calories of anything I'm eating more consistently if that makes sense.

Hello everyone, how're people getting on. Just a little update. I stopped my regime for a week. I didn't eat regularly and I was eating higher carbs and less protein and the weight loss stopped. I went up a kg in the space of a couple of days. I'm back to the plan again this week and scale moving again. I took measurements and I'm slightly smaller on bust area, no change to waist or hips. I feel that I look leaner though, I really think the high protein diet changes your body shape, I suppose it has to as you're building lean tissue and replacing the blubber!!!
So now to keep at it, thats the hard part. High protein foods are hard to face sometimes, greek yogurt and berries are my saviour because I can't always face cheese or eggs or endless chicken breasts.

I was listening to a podcast on menopause/peri memopause the other day and a dietician said the three things you need to do at this age are: Cut your calories by 500 a day, increase movement and do strength or weight training for 15 mins a day because it helps with bone density and you're building muscle which burns more calories. We store fat differently at this stage of life. Isn't being a woman the gift that just keeps on giving. Not.

If anyone has words of wisdom I'll gladly take them.