Weight gain/ body changes

I have dropped from 5ft2ins to 5ft.

The cause, lifelong steroids and osteoporosis.

I have become much heavier due to various medications and unable to walk far due to RA and Heart issues.
The one positive, until recently, I have looked younger than my age.

I no longer fret about something I can't change and just try to look the best I can.

OMG yes! I have chaged from pear to apple shape. I used to be a size 14 now I am an 18 (though this is recent as I put on a stone recently as I broke my shouder and couldn't exercise, was a 16). It is depressing - not only have I put n 2 stone in the last 20 years but it looks so much more unsightly round the tummy plus being a health risk. I am dieting and exercising again but it is slow going at this age. Back in size 18 jeans today, at least they are comfortable!

Well ladies, our fat deposits will hopefully have an up side in this cold weather!!

I'm still on the thin side, yet my waist seems to have disappeared entirely with ageing. The female shape has gone, I'm like a tube. My arms and legs are thinner, stomach fatter, boobs and bum lower and flatter. Hey, ho, that's old age for you!

I am 78and just can't shift the weight.I hit the menopause at 53 and the fat just suddenly appeared and will not go away no matter how much I diet or exercise.I am 4ft 10 and used to weigh 6 stone with a very petite figure to match. Now I am 8 stone 10 and it will not go down.
I have COPD and on daily steroid inhalers which do not help with weight loss.
I gave up dieting three months ago after having a Pulmonary Embolus. I thought why suffer when I might not be here tomorrow, enjoy life when I have still got it.

When it comes to my weight I always think of that latent heat of vaporisation thing we learned at school and realised that the reason I struggled to get my weight under 9st was that 9st was the weight I was meant to be. My daughter, who is a keen runner, has just sold her cross trainer because she was short of room but I pointed out that running is good cardiovascular exercise but won’t tone up her body. I wish I could have had it but the sideways movement on the knees is impossible with the arthritis I have in one of them. It was only the machines at the gym that toned me up but I stopped going there for fear of catching covid there. My waist is now 29 inches and I can’t comprehend how I could have once had a 19 inch waist: I think I must have been grossly underweight. Mind you I now have a bust: something I would have dreamed of in my youth, the only time I had one back then was when I was pregnant.

Eat cake - Skinny people are easier to kidnap - so it says on my garden centre cake display!
I’m lucky to be 5’5” but not so lucky being over 12stone. My 34B bust is long gone, my waist is thicker and my legs are still long, but much fatter. I’m 71, fairly fit and console myself that should I fall, I might just bounce!

My first batch of home made mince pies haven't helped today lol.

Is weight gain really good for people suffering from osteoporosis?

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Yes it does seem a shame to be slammed with body dysmorphia in the last years of our life, we should be able to be relaxed about what seems to be a normal phenomena and learn to enjoy our life and sod out weight.

I’m trying hard to do just that.

Well, I'm not alone:-)
I guess we focus on our health.
I have heard weight is good for Osteoporosis and I have that too.

I have come to the conclusion (I’m 75 put on 2 stone after the menopause) that nature somehow pads us out after the menopause for whatever reason, as it seems to happen to everyone or nearly everyone. I am 5 7 and 12st 10 classified as overweight, although the bmi thing seems to be thrown aside now.

I have been that weight now for about 20 years, it may move + or- 2-3 lb but remains constant. I have tried continuous diets and find I have to cut out food by a ridiculous amount.

One thing though is that at my health check ups etc the nurse/doctor never mention my weight and if I ask they simply say just don’t put on any more which is no problem because I never do.

I seemed to reach a plateau and that’s it. I guess if I do start to lose it it means I’m getting really old or really ill!!

Bless you Purplepixie, you sound lovely, and your husband probably enjoys your curves. Sense of humour is paramount, and you sound like you have masses of that?

It may be a little consolation but my Granny used to say that when a woman reaches a certain age, she needs a bit of weight about her!
I have put weight on around my waist and lower abdomen. I still have skinny legs.
I have tried dieting and power walking to no avail.
I don't know what the answer is.

I’m 5’ 3”, 69 years old, 12.5 stone and fed up! I was 8 stone until I hit the menopause at the age of 54 and I have struggled since then to get the weight off. My boobs are massive and so is my waist yet I have always had skinny hips. I look a mess and it gets me down. At my last drs visit the nurse said I needed to lose about 2.5 stone to be healthy but it is impossible. I walk 2-3 miles 4-5 days per week. Eat healthy. Dont smoke or drink so what the hell do I do now? I feel your pain but I have no answer, sorry. My DH is like a skinny little rabbit and I feel like Mrs Blobby who has just ate the Diddy men and been invaded by aliens. Sending you love and hugs. ? ?

Poppyred

Yes unfortunately it’s down to our hormones. I put on weight around my middle and bust without realising as I hadn’t changed my diet. I eat a very healthy keto diet but unless I eat 800 calories or under find it impossible to lose weight. Luckily I have no health problems so far and count my blessings that I’m still here. I’m mid 60s.

Same here Poppyred I thought I was the only one!

SynchroSwimmer

I too despair, have cut out so many foods for 2 years, ultra low carbs, low fat, exercising, but still not losing (and maybe even gaining)

It is so depressing, I want to preserve my health but nothing I do is working.

All the broccoli, courgette, watercress and everynplate of vegetables or salad over the last month has had zero result.

I see yesterday a lady over on MN said that no amount of exercise post menopause had any effect now on her weight, and is the same with me.

Exhausted from all the exercise, missing meals, leaving long gaps between, waiting till I feel really hungry, drinking water - and just no results.

I’m the same SynchroSwimmer. However if I stick to 800 calories the weight does come off but very very slowly.... The thing is it’s very hard to stick to.

I'm actually lighter than I was in my 50s and early 60s and have dropped a dress size but I am a different shape. I have a max weight and if I hit it I do the 5/2 diet until I lose the extra weight but although it does just take me longer, I can get rid of some of the weight round my middle. Annoyingly I also have to take a tablet now which does lower my metabolism and I understand our metabolism does slow as we age. It's a bit of a bore but I'm not quite ready to give in. For me the 5/2 diet works best.

I too despair, have cut out so many foods for 2 years, ultra low carbs, low fat, exercising, but still not losing (and maybe even gaining)

It is so depressing, I want to preserve my health but nothing I do is working.

All the broccoli, courgette, watercress and everynplate of vegetables or salad over the last month has had zero result.

I see yesterday a lady over on MN said that no amount of exercise post menopause had any effect now on her weight, and is the same with me.

Exhausted from all the exercise, missing meals, leaving long gaps between, waiting till I feel really hungry, drinking water - and just no results.

slwoolfson it might be worth getting your thyroid levels checked.
Weight gain can be caused by an under active thyroid.
I put on weight in my 50’s & thought it was just one of those things. But a routine blood test showed up thyroid deficiency.
15 years later I’m the same weight & size I was in my early 20’s.

I stopped wearing a bra as no one sees me during lockdown. I went to put it on on Easter Monday and couldn't do it up.?

I'm very similar to you poppyred although that is not the reason for my name on here! Gravity has taken over with me its all sinking south. I was a conference pear who has become a comice. The important thing as you say swoolfson is to eat healthily and keep moving but most of all enjoy the life we have.

Yes unfortunately it’s down to our hormones. I put on weight around my middle and bust without realising as I hadn’t changed my diet. I eat a very healthy keto diet but unless I eat 800 calories or under find it impossible to lose weight. Luckily I have no health problems so far and count my blessings that I’m still here. I’m mid 60s.