Peri menopausal weight loss

[alwaysfactor50]

I have always been slim, for a lot of my life I have been underweight but now although I am within correct BMI I am chubby around the middle.

How quickly by calorie counting can I see results, I weighed today and after being strict I've actually put on a pound. I know weight fluctuates a lot but it's a bit annoying!!

Any tips to keep focused gratefully received

I've always been slim. Then I hit menopause and now I look like a potato.

That is exactly what I am- a potato!! Good (albeit depressing) description

How have you decided on your calories a day? How are you recording and monitoring your intake. How frequently are you weighing yourself. What exercise do you do?

The quality of your calories is extremely important. Cut down on highly processed carbs, also known as UPFs, and increase your protein intake. That ensures the weight you lose is not lean mass but actual excess fat. In addition, amino acids from protein are used to maintain your skin, hair, nails, bones (not just muscle mass) which is very important in peri/menopause - oh, and protein makes you feel more satiated. Win-win!

Carbs aren't the only ultra processed foods.

Not all, but the majority: www.bbc.co.uk/food/articles/what_is_ultra-processed_food

@WeAreTheHeroes I'm using my fitness pal and also trying to cut out as many processed foods as possible. I'm doing ok at the moment after a blip at a bbq on Saturday.

Oh and to add I was weighing myself daily which may not be a good thing!!

@LighterHeart I have recently turned vegetarian (have always eaten less meat than my family but am now going for it properly and I'm finding it hard to get enough protein in my diet. In fact I was going to make 'chickpea tuna' yesterday but actually ate tuna due to it having more protein and me knowing I wouldn't have had enough for the day!

Hi OP. How many calories do you have my fitness pal set to? I'm 47 and bang in the middle of peri. I have mine set to 1200 per day which I stick to (mostly) from Mon to Fri. The weekends are a different story!

I would not advise weighing every day but once per week on the same day, at same time.

I'm 47 and lose/maintain my weight effortlessly with intermittent fasting (16/8). I'm actually slimmer than I've ever been and I find it so easy. Throughout my teens, 20s and 30s I'd diet and calorie count but could never maintain it and always felt hungry. Now I don't calorie count or diet. I eat healthily and have treats but all within an 8 hour window.

@FMSucks I'm on 1400
I'm 5'7 (don't know if that makes a difference) and much less and I feel very peculiar.

I will stop weighing each day!

@SallyWD after a holiday I used to IF and when I get back to work after the holidays it tends to happen naturally as I don't often eat breakfast on a work morning

How have you decided on 1400 calories other than you feel funny eating less? You need to consume fewer calories than your TDEE which takes into consideration your activity levels in order to lose weight. What exercise do you do? 1400 a day is quite low. I would hazard a guess that you aren't weighing/measuring/recording your food and drink intake accurately and therefore aren't in a calorie deficit. You might be consuming more than you think when you have a weekend off, etc - still record what you have when you do that. It's a simple fact that eating fewer calories than your body needs will result in weight loss. Some things can slow weight loss, but they won't stop it altogether.

It's also a simple fact that we tend to become less active as we get older. If you up your activity levels it's good for your heart and will help with weight loss although 90% of weight loss is down to diet.

I'm late 49 and have lost a stone recently. I'd like to lose another 10 lbs or so, but because I do weights sessions three or more times a week I'm less hung up on the scale weight if I can lose body fat and inches. After that first stone, things have really slowed, but I'm determined. I've said weeks before we go away and at the beginning of 2020 I vowed I would not be fat and middle aged. I'd like to be in my best shape ever for my 50th birthday.

That should say I've got six weeks!

Similar situation. Entered peri-menopause about 2 years ago and since then I've taken on the approximate dimensions of a small bouncy castle.

I'm using the NHS weight loss app. It doesn't have much of a calorie database but it's ad-free and simple to use. So far so good - have lost 11 lb since April.

@WeAreTheHeroes I looked at the TDEE calendar my maintenance if sedentary is 1546 and light exercise 1772. I'm quite active so am probably between the two!!

I try and overestimate calories if possible so if I'm sharing a dish of food with dh he'll have just over half and me under but I'll put the calories for half in to my fitness pal.

I could be missing something though, I'll be careful for the next week checking.

Feel same was ballerina now look like egg on legs and follow a healthy diet plus three ballet classes per week, one Bodypump and walk everywhere. Feel so ashamed and self-conscious.

Same problem here, until I stopped eating lunch. I now weigh less than I used to. I think I hit by accident on the fasting solution mentioned upthread by @SallyWD. Basically I am fasting from breakfast to dinner (two biscuits with green tea at tea-time) and if I'm desperate I will munch on veggies or a small piece of cheese, but no carb-rich foods. Then I fast again until breakfast. My diet still includes the occasional pizza, but is heavy on veggies and sea-food, I allow myself a brownie as a treat every three days, and I drink a lot of water (aiming for 2 l, a day). I very rarely weigh myself, as one's weight naturally fluctuates a lot; I go by how my clothes fit. I have a chronic illness so walking is my main exercise and not always possible, but it has still worked for me. It was hard at first—until the weight started dropping off!

Calories 1800per day
Vegetarian but aim for 100g protein a day

Fasting is bad for menopause, 3 meals a day
15000 steps a day, 3 strength classes a week

3ltrs of water
8 hours sleep

15 mins daylight as soon as I get up, no coffee on an empty stomach, no coffee after 2pm