Moan about menopausal weight loss

[Holluschickie]

I just want to vent about how fucking hard it is. Please no suggestions.
I already have a near perfect diet, tracking calories, zero UPF, drink 1 glass of wine a month at most, lift weights and work out 4 times a week, low carb, 30 plants a week, walk over 10 k steps a day, blah blah blah. And yet I have lost just 1 kg in the last month. It's so hard and involves so much self-denial. Particularly so as I am Asian and have genetic insulin resistance, and therefore all the excess weight goes to my belly.

Please don't suggest WLI as I am not yet at the BMI needed for those. ( though who knows, I may get there soon). Maybe I should just stop trying, put on weight and get Mounjaro ( will qualify at a BMI of 27)

You should be eating the fat though @Holluschickie that will help keep you full and will give you energy

Some responses:
@EmeraldRoulette I am in no way muscular. In fact, my tummy is so big that elderly ladies think I am pregnant and stand up for me on the Tube! And as an Asian, I need to keep BMI down as I am on the border of pre-diabetic thanks to the insulin resistance. Trying hard to build muscle though.

@MantaKay No coconut milk in my curries. Just an onion tomato garlic base. Tofu: could eat more certainly. Today lunch is a salad with halloumi and dinner is baked aubergines with feta.

I wonder if this slow level of weight loss is something I have to accept post menopause. If I can sustain even a loss of 2 lbs/ 1 kg a month, I can be my target weight in 6- 8 months.

I agree it’s awful and so frustrating! I’ve found that fasting is really helpful with insulin resistance; fasting also means you don’t have to be so ruthless about evening food and I find I’m less hungry than if I eat breakfast or lunch. At the moment I’m getting back to fasting until the afternoon which makes me feel so much healthier and makes my gut feel a lot better. As am interim stage I’m eating apples for lunch, lots of water, drink tea… but hardly any carbs in the evening. When I stick to the fasting and the sensible low carb high protein no upfs etc I can lose a steady kilo a week. The disadvantage is that it does go back on if you relax too much but I can maintain easily even with some treats as long as I have A fasting window of some kind.

I do fast but I can only manage 16: 8. Eat by 7 pm and next meal by 11 or 12 am usually.

Can I recommend Rose Elliot’s book:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Vegetarian-Low-Carb-Diet-weightloss-vegetarians/dp/074992649X

She also has a really good recipe book that goes with it.

Both will help you understand the principles of a low carb diet, within ‘confines’ of a vegetarian diet.

One other thing, though - if you’re bloated such that people think you’re pregnant, have you seen your GP? I don’t want to worry you, but that is something that deserves to be checked out, as it may be something other than weight gain.

Oh thanks @BIWI will have a look at that. We eat all and every vegetable so that will be useful.

I have had a thorough private checkup for ovarian cancer and other nasty things with all the tests.They found numerous fibroids, which is why I got a hysterectomy. But now crept back again. So I have to accept it's weight gain and loss of muscle.
Just going to keep on keeping on for a year or so and see how I am then.

I haven’t found it any harder to lose weight post menopause- and I’m a type 1 diabetic. But calorie deficit is key and I weigh everything and include oil I cook and any sauces like ketchup or mustard. I’ve lost 12kg in ten weeks just calorie counting. Mounjaro mostly works by making you eat less.

Wow that's incredible weight loss. How much did you weigh when you started, may I ask? Type 1 diabetic is tough!

Some of the replies on here have made me laugh. Cut out your 6 cashew nuts OP, it's clearly where it's all going wrong 😂. Honestly it is so hard losing weight post menopause with insulin resistance. Your hormones and body are naturally trying to hold on to the fat and will fight you for every gram of it. MJ is amazing because it helps with the insulin resistance so you will lose quickly while eating a similar amount to what you are eating now. You probably won't need a high dose. I've been on it since April and lost 15kg. Never went above 3.75mg. I have insulin resistance and can eat 1200kcal a day and lose nothing (I'm 5'7 and fairly active so that is well under what I should need). With MJ I steadily lost 0.5kg a week on 1200kcal. I'm stopping MJ now and hoping that I can just maintain through tight calorie control but I would not hesitate to start it again if the weight creeps on. It's rubbish.

I found it almost impossible to lose weight whilst on HRT. I had my Mirena removed and lost a stone within a few months.

My male partner has lost weight (a lot of weight, he wasn’t fat before but now I’m worried I might squash him if I fall on him) by fasting every Monday. No food from Sunday about 6pm to 6am Tuesday. Then in the week he does not bother with time restricted eating.
I am too greedy & self-indulgent to do this every week but suspect it might work for us ladies too.
Interestingly he says it has really reset his relationship with food & cut out a lot of ‘food noise’.

I put on a load of weight - a combination of menopause of pandemic inactivity. Was just in the obese category and had high blood pressure. Lost >3 stone doing 5:2 - it was tiring to begin with. I now do an occasional low-calorie day/fast to keep the weight down.

I’ll moan with you! Personally, I’ve found it way more challenging to maintain a healthy weight during perimenopause/menopause. It’s possible for sure, but for me, it takes complete focus. There’s no wiggle room. The minute I take my eye off the ball for even a week, all hell breaks loose. It’s like my body is waiting for any excuse!

I'm frustrated as even though I lost a good amount of weight, my blood pressure remains high, as does my cholesterol. And I"m just not losing anything any more even though I'm trying to be fairly strict, just not quite as much as before. And jogging way more, and arm weights. And still staying stuck. I keep being tempted by these online ads for supplements, either the happy mammoth or the greenleaf ones, as they are supposed to be for this exact problem, but I'm not convinced that the reviews aren't AI, and the science is all a bit sketchy. But when nothing else seems to work, I am tempted.

I'll join you with the moaning and frustration.

Similar age / height / weight / exercise / diet and yet body is just stuck fast.
I've already cut out alcohol, refined sugar, and unnecessary crap from diet.
I calorie count, but can't drop food down any more as I exercise quite a bit (run, weights, pilates) and feel quite light headed if I haven't eaten enough
I've worked v hard at my fitness but so disheartened that my lovely toned defined muscles are just hidden under rolls of stubborn fat - belly, thighs and upper arms - that I just can't shift.
What do we do?!

Just keep going you are going in the right direction.

I know you don’t want advice but if are eating bread then stop because you will not lose any weight eating bread. All the best.

I am Asian and could have written this post
Then started Pause by Six
It’s fantastic affordable with great group support

Just wondering about osteoporosis and food restriction? Is that something to bear in mind? I listened to an interesting Burnt Toast episode about diet and peri/menopause, and how it can be a trigger for disordered eating. I can understand how, when the body changes so much, much like the teenage years, and how this triggers feelings of lack of control.

It totally does!
I came off and immediately lost 7lbs.

Just started it. TBH I put weight on while not in it. Anecdotally lots of friends are on it and some of them have still managed to lose weight so anecdotes work both ways.

48. Hysterectomy last December. On HRT.

I started at weight loss journey June last year. Lost 16lb by December. Had a month off due to hysterectomy and have lost 20lb since January, so it is slow. The one thing I found was that I had to ensure I was in a calorie deficit and start calorie counting because I got stuck at one point.

I still have a minimum of 15lb to lose.

Gosh im 5ft 8 and about 2 stone heavier than you OP! If I was your weight id be delighted 😁 It's so hard though, I was slim in my 20s. 10 years ago I thought i was big and now I wish I was that size again. It's crazy. I've resorted to bloat tablets for my stomach. Hoping they aren't a gimmick. My stomach is so bloated.

Thank you so much OP for this open and refreshing thread, I could have written it myself.

I had started a similar thread previously and got lambasted with the most mind boggling “advice”, instructions and complete lack of grasp on this issue it was a waste of time posting it.

The total and complete useless lack of my body to responding to anything I do, that would 100% work for every other person is beyond frustrating and from a health perspective, worrying.

500-800 nutritionally packed calories a day results in stubborn standstill of loss. ANYTHING above that results in rapid weight gain. Has done for around 5 years now.

I fast, track on MFP, meal plan, very low UPF 2-3 litres of water a day, 2 decaf black coffees a day, zero alcohol,
5 stone overweight.

Been on MJ for 4 months. Month 1 loss of 1 stone! Hooray, first significant loss in over4 years!
Upped dose…. Zero loss, upped gain.. zero loss. ZERO loss, continuing with all the above but even less calories due to nausea, no appetite… zero loss.
Absolutely nothing works.
Im over 55 so have old lady bloods checked regularly at GP, all normal except cholesterol which is raised. (I haven’t eaten meat for over 40 years).

No one gets it. No one. Except you do OP! So thank you x

When I went on HRT I seemed to balloon overnight
Cutting calories did nothing, in the end I came off it and immediately lost half a stone
Also it really massively helps to do some exercise after eating if only 10 min
Might not be practical but even just a short walk will do
I am eating what I like and haven't gained weight as long as I exercise aka Glucose Goddess hack

I am SO with you on this moan!

I am managing to keep my weight down by; eating one meal a day, running between four and five miles a day five times a week, 45 minutes on the exercise bike every day, 3 x 30 minutes of Pilates a week. Also walking the dog, going to work, doing housework. But if my one meal a day consists of anything more than a plain salad or if I dare to eat any bread... bang, on goes at least a couple of pounds.

I'm retiring from work soon and I'm dreading it, because it means I'm going to have to do MORE exercise to counteract the calories I use at work (it's a fairly active job, albeit only three days a week). I cannot do any more exercise, I just can't! And I can't eat any less!