How to lose post meno weight

[Scoutingforducks]

Hello lovely people

Went through the menopause in my mid 30s, now finally through.it and I cannot shift the weight. No amount of.walking, other exercises, and.healthy eating will shift it.
It's.really getting me down.
I don't want weight loss infections, too many side effects and I probably dont qualify.
I just want to be a size 14 again instead of an 18.
Any advice would be most helpful.

The sad reality is, we need a lot less calories.

work out your TDEE, that’s the amount of calories to stay as you are, and reduce that amount by 20% to get a weight loss calorie target.

Weigh and log everything accurately on My Fitness Pal or similar (don’t log exercise, it massively overestimates the calories burned and gives you the calories back to eat for some reason so stalls weight loss).

I was getting bigger and bigger throughout peri and was miserable. Sticking to a calorie target (doesn’t matter how healthy your food is if it’s too many calories!) helped me lose 4 stone meno weight gain. It’s been life changing tbh. Once you hit your target weight you increase to your TDEE maintenance calories, so it’s not low calories forever, but my TDEE is still only 1,700. Any more than that and the weight piles on!

Here’s the tdee link

https://tdeecalculator.net

Brilliant Thank you 😊

Ill have a look now.

@NotAntisocialJustSelectivelySocial
Just put today's.meals.into the calorie counter and I'm not eating enough!! I always thought.i over ate.

I agree with other replies. It comes down to eating less, I'm afraid. I've lost 9lbs slowly since Feb this year, and kept it off, by aiming for about 1500 calories a day. Read the calorie content of what you eat. I allow myself limitless salad and veg, and plenty of fruit, but cakes, biscuits, crisps and sweet treats are a thing of the past. As we get older we just don't need as much. I see it as a pretty stark choice - do I want that biscuit or do I want to be slimmer? I can't have both.
I also have an active job and walk lots and do stretches, and still it's a slow process. But stick with it and it works.

If you're not eating enough that could also stall weight loss as well as obviously eating too much. I stick to a calorie deficit and I also do cardio at the gym and weights to strengthen my muscles. Admittedly im using a tool alongside all this (mounjaro). Also bear in mind it can be harder to lose weight during peri and after menopause due to all sorts including hormones so sometimes we dont have the choice but to use a helping hand. Also just to add I have no side effects with mounjaro and have been sticking to clean eating and drinking plenty of water, that is another thing you need to be aiming for 2-3L of water a day because if you dont drink enough your body will hold onto it. Also with the weather being hot lately that wont be helping the heat can cause water retention too.
Anyway just want to say good luck in your weight loss journey I was a size 18 and now down to a 14 and only started my weight loss journey on 14th Feb this year and have lost a total of 2 and a half stone so far. Anyway you can do it best of luck xx

What finally worked for me was eating only between 12pm and 7pm. Low fat. Lean protein and vegetables, yoghurt, fruit, rice cakes. With Mocca type Nescafé sachets in between.

Mounjaro and lots of protein is the only thing that’s shifted my menopause and endo belly

I’d just get your thyroid checked, just to eliminate that

i take mounjaro with almost no side effects - just very mild nausea for 24 hours, not enough to be a problem

The pancreatitis scare is interesting! I’ve had it very badly 10 years ago. The rate of jabbers getting it is in line with the general population getting it. Obesity is an indicator for pancreatitis

obesity carries way more health risks - I had long chats with my gp before starting and he told me that I was more at risk being obese

if it’s not for you then obvs don’t jab but it is one tool to consider

I have to do a 16 hour fast daily. And hugely cut down what I eat.

So I don't eat or drink anything but water between 6pm and 10am 5 days a week.

Breakfast is smallish bowl of Greek yoghurt, defrosted cherries, 4 walnuts, a tablespon if chia seeds and a teaspoon of honey and a cup of tea. (350 cals)

Lunch is 2 boiled eggs or left over chicken and a big bowl of salad with no dressing and a biscuit. (400ish)

3om cup of tea and a biscuit or little bit of cake 50 to 150 cals)

5.30pm dinner or around 600 cals (100s of recipes)
About 1300 to 1500 cals.

Plus I walk 10,000 plus steps daily as an absolute bare minimum, play netball and football 3 times a week, garden lots and do weight bearing exercising about 10 mins a day.

Sorry but weighing food before eating it and counting every calorie sounds like the fads of the 1980’s!
Better options in my opinion are;

Intermittent fasting as per poster above.

Indulge for one meal, say dinner but have an apple for breakfast and veg soup for lunch.

Weight training and spin classes.

I have been following 'healthy ketosis' which is intermittent fasting and the ketogenic diet. Its very important to recognise how our hormonal changes impact. My aim daily is to get into a state of ketosis where my body burns fat rather than glucose, muscle and bone. This is achieved through very low carb (high protein, lots of fibre, healthy fats) AND fasting. Advice to properly reset for post meno women was one meal a day....so I have worked up to that. I now just eat an evening meal with my family. I have lost 1kg/week which is steady. The first few days are tought but then the gnawing hungry stops - bizarely it is only activated again the moment I eat.

It's a shame but, healthy eating is not the same as eating for weight loss. You need to track your calories and be in deficit for it to work.
Download a calorie counter and work out your tdee. And then do your best!
Good luck.

The only way I can lose weight post menopause is to eat 500 calories less than my maintenance calories, which comes to 1500 for me. I have cut processed sugar, which makes a massive difference and I became less bloated quite quickly. I eat a couple of pieces of fruit as sugar and most of my calories come from unprocessed foods. I walk 10000 steps minimum, and on a daily walk I pick up the pace, not a leisurely stroll. I do 3 weight sessions a week. Can start off at home with small dumbbells and find plans for upper and lower body and all over body online. The gym helped me massively. If you can build up to 1 cardio session, whatever you enjoy and Pilates, yoga or stretching is amazing. You have to properly count calories, don’t estimate quantities. Hope everything goes well for you x

I’m peri menopause and the only thing that has worked for me at this stage is reducing my white carbs and sugar substantially. I eat alot more protein and veg/salad and stay away from bread, and white carbs. I do have a bit of brown carbs. I have lost 1.5 stone doing this having recently failed to lose via calorie counting and slimming world.

Look up TeamRH on fb it’s a no bullshit way of losing weight , calories in / out . Loads of support

Something I've always wanted an answer to is why if it is calories in/out, do conditions like thyroid make it more difficult/impossible to lose weight. And changes like menopause. It had to be more than that.

Im fat as well, perimenopausal, on HRT. I am also very fit. Have 2 horses, do 15k steps a day, ride 4 or 5 times a week, pilates at least twice a week. My limbs are very toned, and my arse but I have massive boobs and a fat belly.

If I reduce calories to around 1200/1300 it makes a difference for a few weeks then loss stops. The most successful diet I have done in recent years was no UPFs, low sugar, high fat, no white bread. Lost 2 stone over 6 months. But was eating loads of calories. Omelette with cheese for lunch, salads covered in home made dressing, jacket spuds with cheese and butter, steaks, chicken with the skin on etc.

So it has to be more complicated than in/out. If hormonal conditions and the type of food has such an impact surely some people wont lose on in/out dieting.

I think it has to do with inflammation of the body too

the quality of the food matters. You need to meet your nutritional needs.

I stopped and reversed the middle age weight gain by doing more exercise but also by eating mostly good quality foods, more fruit and veg but also potatoes, rice, fish, nuts. Don’t even count calories, just eat old fashioned foods (eg a fried egg sandwich (sourdough bread from the baker), fresh fruit , salad with new potatoes and tuna, home made curry with rice

no crazy stuff, normal satisfying meals, no calorie counting, just eating good food 3x a day…. and no alcohol (sorry)

alcohol really lays down the belly fat!

I’m peri and also have an under active thyroid.
The only thing that is working for me is several methods in one.

i fast 8pm to 12pm every day, sometimes longer
i break my fast with a meal replacement shake such as a slim fast shake.
I then eat dinner in the evening and make sure everything is weighed and tracked in MyFitnessPal and is around my TDEE.

I’m still only losing about half a kilo a week, but it’s no longer going up!

Maybe one day, or you’ve counted wrong.

if you under ate your calories everyday, consistently you would not be overweight.

get out of denial.

I am over weight. I try to lose weight. But at least I acknowledge I know that I eat too much!!

or rather I don’t exercise enough for the amount I like to eat! When I exercise more I find it fairly easy to lose weight.

@Scoutingforducks showing solidarity here, peri here, 98kg. Nothing seems to shift it. I don't eat badly, 20k steps a day. I've been trying things like following the Glucose Goddess tips or reducing portion sizes etc but zilch.

A friend has lost 15kg using Mounjaro very easily. No exercise. I can see why people use it.

If you are a size 18 you will almost certainly qualify for Mounjaro. Have you calculated your BMI?

While exercise has been found to only play a tiny role in losing weight it has a massive role in keeping off what we do lose. In particular muscle keeps our hunger signalling healthy (I have simplified but the info is out there if you want to know more).

Many diets cause us to lose muscle alongside fat, all the more so in menopause so however you choose to lose weight in terms of food think about having good protein levels and adding some strength training in alongside it, otherwise you are likely to regain more fat and have an even harder time losing it again and end up in a cycle of weight gain.

Hi OP. I am at the same life stage as you. In January I joined slimming world and since then I’ve lost 15kg. In the last two months, since the weight came off, I’ve joined a running club and now run every weekend sometimes 5, sometimes 10k, and I’m continuing to follow slimming world. Ive recently added weight training too. Just a few dumbbells and I do it every morning. It’s a slow, steady weight loss but it has worked for me. I’m probably in the best shape I’ve been for decades. Good luck.