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)

I had my HRT review last week and the nurse agreed that my weight gain was probably caused by my HRT.

I can’t stand the thought of the hot flushes/night sweats/terrible sleep if I come off it, so I’ve halved the dose to see if that helps.

I’m with you. I used to lose weight so easily just by exercising more and eating less - I’ve never had such a healthy diet as I do now or done as much exercise yet I really struggle.

Wish I had some answers!

No wonder so many women are fat when you have to eat barely anything and work out like crazy just to not gain and stay right at top of a healthy bmi 🙄🙄🙄. I am maintaining bmi 24 /25 by skin of my teeth was 22 bmi a couple of years ago with same habits only change has been menopause kicking in. So urgh. Also not quite fat enough to justify the medication.

@Springersrock what collagen are you using, my hair needs some help , I’ve always had amazing hair and now not so much

This supplement - https://www.boots.com/free-soul-marine-collagen-powder-berry-180g-10372610?affwin&utm_source=Redbrain+Ltd-176013&utm_medium=affiliate&utm_campaign=Boots+-+CSS&utm_term=&utm_content=&sv1=affiliate&sv_campaign_id=176013&awc=2041_1763376496_42148fb74b2b611400546b9f6e89a917

I’ve also started taking Biotin - https://www.nutritiongeeks.co/collections/shop-all-supplements/products/biotin

and

https://www.nutritiongeeks.co/collections/shop-all-supplements/products/vitamin-d3-4000iu-k2

Noticed a huge difference in my hair with just the collagen though

@Springersrock thank you , I’ve actually just started the D3+ k2 so will add the other two

Thanks everyone. I said no suggestions but am reading them all anyway in case I have missed something. 🙂

On the weekend, I managed to fit into a pair of jeans that were too tight a couple of months ago. I may be losing some inches even if not much weight on the scales. My tummy seems slightly flatter after doing Russian twists with a kettlebell for a month! It's just such hard work.

I ate some rice over the weekend as was out for dinner- just half a cup- and felt like I was mainlining crack! Shouldn't have to be this way, but I am going to keep plugging away. DH pointed out that if I lose even a kilo a month, I will be at my target weight in 6 months sans WLI. Xmas will get in the way though.

Think fondly of the decades I could eat exactly as I wanted rarely exercised and maintained 9 stone effortlessly not that I weighed myself.

Now I have to IF and exercise like a demon to just stay under 11 stone. Aging is cruel.

I could eat what I wanted till I was 46. 😪

The thing I've seen work time and again, for people who were like you (in meno) and 'nothing was working' is tough, but you need to take out all the processed food, literally no processed food. No shitty carbs. And no sugar - 0.

I dont eat any of these. I eat an Asian diet so there is almost zero UPF because I never grew up eating it. Everything I eat is cooked from scratch except a bit of chocolate maybe once a month. I have never eaten any ready meals, burgers, chips, anything from a packet in my life. Never drunk a fizzy drink. Not even cans! Glass of wine once a month.

I cut out rice, potatoes and rotis, so now eat veggies, eggs, lentils, yoghurt and a bit of fruit. All portion controlled. Honestly, the diet can't get any healthier. It really can't.

I’m with you OP, I eat so much less than I used to and do so much more exercise and weigh the same. I’m down to 2 small meals a day with zero snacking and still 3 kilos over my target. Just can’t shift it.

Oh I will moan with you. I was tick thin in my 30s. I could eat what I wanted and was loving it!

in my mid 40s the weight has crept on slightly but I’m constantly swollen. Water retention everywhere. I don’t look like myself and it is a battle to maintain my weight.

I must be bucking the trend because I've gained weight since coming off HRT! I actually lost quite a lot on it because I felt better, had more energy etc, so sticking to HE was easier. My diet hasn't actually changed that much but perhaps it's the body clinging onto oestrogen for dear life, it is bound up in fat cells apparently. I've decided to have two 500 cal fast days per week to see if that helps. It's how I kickstarted my weight loss a few years ago so I think it might work for me again.

It is frustrating, isn't it? When I was younger I had alot more leeway when it came to weight gain, now it seems to pile on so easily (and all on my middle!).
I always struggling with working out a calorie goal as well as I find if I go too low then everything just stalls anyway.