Fellow Menopausal Fatties

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Anyone care to join me in trying to lose some weight.

I really need to sort myself out but I seem to have zero willpower. I would love some company.

I will weigh myself tomorrow. There will be tears.

5ft 6. Waist 43in . Has been for years. Everyone agrees I don't look my weight (I am most definitely fat though!) Quite muscular through the biking.
Bike and walk so reasonably fit. Don't smoke or really drink and blood pressure always OK so doc doesn't hassle me about my weight.

I finally started trying to do something about my extra tummy last Monday. Lowering carbs and increasing protein, lost 2.5lb by Friday but went out for a girly day with DD yesterday and had McD's and I gained a whole 1lb. It's torture! I'm 5ft and 10st 12.5. The heaviest I've been apart from pregnancy.

@Rowgtfc72 I don’t have any advice really, you clearly are strong and have lots of muscle (unlike me). It’s just really hard to make real progress.

@Neversaygoodbye yup, so hard to lose 2 lbs but I can gain 3 lbs in one day easily, starting with toast and butter.

Re downloaded the NHS weightloss app. It's worked before.
Also downloaded myfitnesspal to count calories. Swore blind I would never weigh food....

I tried MyFitnessPal but it just made me obsess about food more! I think I am better when busy and just not thinking about food.

Off on holiday and have had to buy new clothes as my old ones still don’t fit despite 6 months of going to the gym twice a week and doing weights. I am definitely more toned but still can’t fit into my old clothes. I am 5 ft 5 and 13 stone and a size 14/16 (depending on where I buy clothes from). I have lots of lovely clothes I just can’t wear 🙁

I don’t eat loads, I’ve cut right back on alcohol, increased protein, but my issue is my sweet tooth….

However going to the gym has meant I feel physically healthier, I don’t get out of breath easily, can do long walks, I feel stronger.

So I'm up 3 lbs after the AI and I have a wedding to attend next week. I'm swapping exercise for prayer.

I've been reading a lot about diets and food recently and been doing the low carb bootcamp on here. I honestly think that's the answer - cut out alcohol/artificial sweeteners (as much as possible)/sugar and go low carb/high fat (so you aren't hungry).

I'm basically eating meat, fish, eggs, limited dairy and nuts (because these are more ish and it's easy to eat too much), butter, lots of green veg, mushrooms, salad. I can still have dressings and sauces but everything must be low carb. I do cheat a bit and have a couple squares of very dark chocolate and an alcohol free gin with low sugar tonic but it seems to be working. Still got a few stones to go but this is better than all the ultra processed stuff I used to eat on low calorie diets that just left me hungry.

I agree @LadyBird1973

Clean eating with high protein is really working for me. Less so on the scales but my body shape has changed and my energy levels, sleep, mood, bowels, productivity, skin and hair are much better.

So much so that when I do pig out I do so knowing I will feel worse for it and willspend the next few days recovering. It's enough to put me off.

Has anyone tried Zoe?

It looks a good idea but I’m wondering whether I just need to work on my will power?

I've signed up for September.

Looking forward to see what works for me.

I'm hoping that seeing the sugar spikes will put me off sugar.

There are a few threads about it on here. I don't think you will lose weight directly but I'm looking for a mindset change to continue and tweak everything that I'm doing now.

I'm a peri menopausal fatty, can I join?

I used to be size 12 and run every day and do triathalons! Now I lie in bed every chance I get with a cuppa. And normalise driving wine a bit too often through the week BECAUSE I AM NOT ALCOHOL DEPENDENT OK?!

I would like to move and do more exercise...but my husband goes on about exercise and lives a life of disciplined weight controlled simplicity. I feel like he's trying to ram it down my throat every time he gently invites me to do exercise with him but then criticises how I do it. He's put me off so I decided to cut of my nose to spite my face. Because I am a sensible adult.

5 days of logging calories. What an eye opener. Reckon I've shaved 1000 calories off a day. Who would have known a birds eye popcorn chicken burger alone without the bun and fries was 360 calories.
I traded that for an egg bun and bowl of veg soup.
And in 5 days I've lost? Nothing😁
I'm thinner though so God knows what's going on.

Hello everyone - I'm a fellow peri menopausal person who has tried a lot of things to lose weight over the years ( weight watchers, low carb, OMAD, even Ozempic). I have generally managed to lose weight on them all .. for a short period.

I've been successfully s-l-o-w-l-y losing weight for the past few months and am now 1 stone down since May.

Very pleased and don't feel deprived, have had celebration meals and a holiday in that time too.

Basic principles are:

• small calorie deficit of 300 kcals ( but I think in weekly terms rather than daily) which helps massively.
• minimum 100g protein and 6-7 fruit veg a day
• tracking in Nutracheck
• introducing resistance training ( I have home dumbbells and mat)
• 12,000 steps a day.

The volume of food I eat means it doesn't feel restrictive - which is really the secret to managing this over the long term. And as weight loss is slow, my body isn't sending hunger signals up to safeguard itself.

I've got another 12 pounds to reach my goal - happy for it to be slow.

I also accept that I will need to monitor my food in some way for life to maintain. There can be no 'on plan' / 'off plan' mentality - just eating sustainably overall for life and allowing life events ( celebrations / holidays ) to happen too( you've got to live!).

Hope helpful.

I am doing reasonably well too. Just back from holiday where I did eat a lot while with family, but didn't overdo it, so only put on a few pounds. Need to get back to a healthy diet and exercise now. I am 5'7 and 10.5 stone now, which I am happy with. I just want to tone up my flabby stomach and put on some muscle. Starting yoga shortly.

I also accept that I will have to watch my weight for life, which doesn't mean dieting but just being sensible.

That’s a really helpful post @missfliss

I’m using nutracheck again and it definitely makes you think about what you are eating.

Did 30 minutes toning yesterday - sole exercise for a few weeks has been dog walking. I really felt it afterwards!

Just been looking at the Pippa Campbell book. She says people are different types when it comes to health/weight, so some people have issues with cortisol or insulin for example. Therefore they need a way of eating that addresses the needs of their 'type'. So I'm thinking maybe Zoe is like that?

I've been on holiday for a week and have put on a pound. Which is not bad really considering what I ate! Well, you can't go to Italy and not have pasta can you? very little wine (felt too hot! Alcohol makes me feeling hotter!) but lots of great food. I did manage to walk more than I expected though, given the heat and my mobility issues. Hurrah for ugly shoes.

Can I join in? I'm post menopausal and size 16. Need to lose at least a stone to feel better. I'd been doing well with intermittent fasting 16:8, but sort of slipped out of doing it a few months ago. I'd lost a stone, but a few lbs have crept back on, so want to nip it in the bud before I gain it all again.

I need to get back in the habit of IF again because it worked better than anything else for me, mainly I think because I stopped snacking on junk in the evenings!

Hi all. Been several weeks since I checked in what with one thing and another. I put a few pounds on over our holiday away but am back on the salads and hoping those will shift. Need to get back to regular exercise tho because there's no excuses really and it does make a difference, especially if I can get my daily steps up and I noticed my legs have lost a lot of muscle tone recently.
@JaffaCake70 your post made me so sad but also I totally feel the same way about my own fat. I see it more since I lost weight and it does get me down as does the slow weight loss. But the others are right, 12lb in 12 weeks is actually really good. Also, I realised I often weigh less mid morning than I do first thing. I have no idea why but I try not to weigh when I first get up now, but check later in the morning. Hang in there. We can do it. I want to try and shift another half stone by Christmas. If I can do that I'll have lost two stone since January. 🤞

Morning!
Just under 15st 1 this morning. And I've lost an inch and a half off my waist ( let's not get excited- it's 42.5in now)
I've almost adjusted to being hungry now.
Upped my game and walking an extra mile a day and appear to be living off egg and salad sandwiches, which I don't actually mind.
Also hadn't realised as my period was late, last week was my normal craving sugar week, and I didn't actually crave sugar!

Hi - can I join again ? Perimenopausal flabby person! I’m just returning from holiday where there has been too much ice cream and red wine. I’m going to start with a month break from alcohol and try to cut carbs - my husband is diet controlled T2D so shouldn’t be that difficult - I just love bread (and sugar) 😳but I don’t think they love me. Will weigh in tomorrow but I have a stone and a tummy to lose and I need accountability.

Well not much movement for me. I just don't think my diet is that bad, although I'm trying to make healthier choices and eating around 1100-1200 calories. I do have the odd treat at the weekend (a cookie or donut on a Saturday) but I don't drink alcohol so a slice of cake is my guilty pleasure. I'm gradually increasing my exercise as this had slipped a bit but at 5ft tall and being a naturally curvy frame (32FF boobs) it just feels like such a struggle. The stone I've put on since starting HRT has just come out of nowhere and doesn't seem to want to shift. I will keep going though as I definitely can't afford to put more weight on.

Honestly to successfully lose weight and keep it off - the key is adherence.

Don't do things that are going to be hard to live by long term.

If you cut calories too low, or rule out whole food groups that you enjoy... you won't be able to do this long term.

I do eat bread most days still - but only a little ( warburtons protein bagel ) - and - if I'm having butter with it I weigh the butter too ( approx 10g). I like bread - I enjoy it and don't feel deprived.
Likewise I have a sweet tooth - most days I have a protein pudding or protein bar.
Not exactly health food, but more a 'treat with benefits'.

Sometimes I go on holiday or have a special meal / night out. That's fine. I don't give up I just enjoy that occasion / meal / holiday and carry on again the next day!

Be prepared for weight loss to take time ( it will take longer and be slower at this age, but it will happen ) and accept that maintenance will look very similiar in many ways. For that reason something you can adhere to is absolutely what is needed.

No, still here, I went away on holiday and came back without having put on any weight, so phew, but I haven't lost since maybe mid to late June. It's good to maintain for a while, your body resets slowly. So, it's slow, but I didn't have the terror of falling of the wagon while I was away, as the platform is a bit wider. Slow and steady. And yeh, slow and steady is slow but my project was to see where healthy sustainable eating for a year left me. My colleague went on a diet 2 months ago and has lost about the same in two months as I have all year!!

I still have a bmi of 26 and I have until 31/12/23 to get my bmi into normal range, that's still my goal. So 7 kilos down ideally 4 more. I have 4 months to lose 3 kilos. Not sure I'll do it, but even to come close will be a success story really.

Starting weight 64kg, goal 57-58kg. Ideally half of it by November when I have a dinner to go to.