Advice for keeping off the weight in menopause

I feel that a lot of weight issues after the menopause are due to increased insulin sensitivity, or even insulin resistance. As we age, our bodies don't function quite as well as when we were younger, and if you add to that a more sedentary lifestyle, while eating the same amounts of foods, that inevitably leads to weight gain. Insulin is known as the "fat hormone" in that excess insulin is stored in fat cells, which leads to insulin resistance, whereby all the cells of the body start to resist insulin. This is the reason that there is now concern over the "Diabetes explosion" we are constantly hearing about. The way to counteract insulin resistance is by eating fewer high carbohydrate foods - because carbohydrates = glucose in the blood.
I started eating Low Carb High Fat just over a year ago, and lost 19 lbs within 9 months, something I had never been able to do just with less food. I feel much better for it, and although still a bit heavier than I would like, I shall continue with this way of eating for life.
And a bonus of not being at risk of Diabetes!

muddynails Your story is exactly mine and I shared your puzzlement about weight gain and I too disagree with sarahjanewhitney. The mechanistic belief that energy in equals energy out has long been outdated.

It is now known that there is considerable variation in how people metabolise their food intake and other factors like hormones, each individuals biome and many other factors can affect the efficiency of the system.

It is tired old medical cop out in so many things, to blame the patient when anything from medication to changed life styles don't work as the book tells them.

ps I'm not really expecting to lose weight but why oh why am I still gaining weight,

sarahelenwhitney, read your comments with interest, prior to the menopause I never put on weight (ok a pound here and there) I had a sedentary lifestyle, working in an office and sitting down all day and apart from dashing here and there as most working mums do and the housework of course,I never had any exercise, I moved into another house recently with decorating, a very run down garden to get up together a husband (of the old school)I do most of it, and a dog to walk I still do not lose weight, I eat cereal for breakfast and have an evening meal no dessert, the very occasional piece of cake or choclate bar any explanation gratefully recieved

Don't put yourself in a diet as such, just east good whole foods. Cut out rubbish with the odd treat. Up your water intake and take up some sort of exercise that you enjoy. For women to get leaner you have to use weights, and no you won't turn into a body builder.

HRT helps and I use a Fitbit to monitor my activity. I aim for over 10,000 steps a day and often do many more. I never, ever let up on my diet as weight gained when one is older is much harder to shift. I don't go to the gym but walk for about an hour a day and use my housework and gardening as part of a fitness regime. I weigh myself about three times a week and, if I have put on a pound, cut down until it is off again.

It is all pretty horrible as other people don't stint themselves and I have resolved never to complain about what I decided myself to do. Christmas is possibly the worst time as I maintain my 'programme' while ohers don't. However, I eat what I want in moderation and never have to resort to massive and self denying cut backs. I don't have a post Christmas or holiday diet because I am on a sort of monitoring diet all the time.

Antonia I profoundly disagree with you. As you get older, your spines shrinks and you get shorter, which is why women (and men) thicken around the waist, but weight gain is not inevitable. When I think back to my childhood very few elderly women were fat, in fact I seem to remember them as being anything but overweight. Even in my parents generation, obesity in the elderly was rare.

Having lost the weight I gained and developed an enjoyable eating pattern and lifestyle that means it stays off, I am unmoved by all the medical hectoring, as for social pressures, I have spent my life telling them where to go and that is not going to change now.

I am fit, healthy in my mid-70s and on no medication of any kind. If I believe the news item today that reported that on average older people spend the last quarter of their lives with health problem, my current life expectancy is 92 and rising. What not to like?

ChillGill. You are what you eat. The menopause will not make you put on weight.If you have always had the tendency to put on weight if you as much as look at a bar of choc then you will be the same during and after the menopause.There is always the chance if the MP gives you days where you feel a bit low to open the biscuit or cake tin for some comfort food.Don't as if you start to put on weight you will excuse yourself that it is the MP when it isn't.Its your lack of will power.

5:2 diet is brilliant. DH and I have done this for about 5 years now - we have adapted it a bit to suit our lifestyle etc but both seem to stay at a weight which is right for us. We found that we weren't as hungry on the five 'eating' days on this diet - it really helped to reduce appetite. We both do a fair amount of exercise and generally eat healthily too, rarely snacking, apart from fruit. If there is just you - or 2 of you - in the house, and you don't have to cook a big meal for others, then the 5 2 is very easy.

Don't do what I did - move to the West country as a svelte-again 8st 4lbs (those cream teas won't eat themselves) and learn to drive - therefore driving to places instead of walking which put me back up to 10st 5lb at the last count.
I've always been 'apple shaped' and I need to watch this. I've found that cutting out the treats and snacks works, also smaller meals. A bit miserable it has to be said (no more crisps, cakes, bacon butties), joyless even, but it should work. With more discipline I hope it'll work for me again.
The trouble is that being good is so boring and after a while it becomes difficult to continue the self-denial.

I can second Rowantree with her comments about Slimming World. I only lose a small about each weeks now I am post menopause but my blood sugars are way down on where they were. I have already gone from taking 4 pills a day to 1 to control my glucose/insulin and in 12 weeks, I have lost 10% of my bodyweight. The best bit is that, once you get your head round what you can eat to assist weight loss, it is a delicious way of eating. I've done every diet known to man, Atkins, LighterLife, Cambridge, Pills, Weightwatchers; you name it, I've done it! This is the only one I can see will be easy to stay on for life, if need be. On low carb diets (great for managing diabetes) it is so difficult to stick to long term. VLCD's lose weight fantastically fast if you can stick to them but you end up putting it all back on and more when you start eating again. Pills are addictive and make you feel terrible. I found WeightWatchers far to high in sugar.
Hope that helps.

Hi ChillGill. I feel your pain! At least, I did a few years ago...... Every now and again in the posts you will see 'change your eating habits AND eat less'. I'm afraid that's pretty much the accurate method. Think I've said here before that I successfully lost 3 plus stones and it has stayed off BUT my daily food intake is now minuscule by comparison to the amount I consumed (unnecessarily but joyfully, of course!) then. I'm not too good on 'healthy' but I do try (ugh!). I eat little and often. My exercise is not as good as it should be either, in fact, you seem to be much better than me at this. I think one of my major benefits was the move to drinking water instead of my favourite fizzy pop. Didn't care for water much but got round that by trying fizzy and now I love it. I still see my past indulgences in the shops, of course and look wistfully but no longer with any sort of desire. I feel better mentally and physically this way but it was NOT at all easy at the start. In my humble opinion there's no quick fix but maybe a kick start of one of the 'diets' will give encouragement. Good luck!

Lyndie Sat 15-Jul-17 11:22:47 Dogs are women's best friend!

Estrogen levels drop... waist goes thicker. Lower metabolism. Laws of nature.

I am OK with not having a girly figure now, but I have a decent shape, am not overweight and exercise with a lot of walking. I look at old pics of myself and just sigh... I had my day, and the young things of today will be just like me someday in the future unless they go for liposuction all the time. I do NOT want to end up tucked and stuffed like Sharon Osborne. Too high a price to pay, financially and emotionally.

The middle waist fat does have to be watched because of the risks of disease, diabetes, heart disease, stroke, high blood pressure some cancers.

disciplined*

Antonia you are hardly overweight so you are doing something right
I weigh at least 3 stone overweight and this as happened gradually since the menopause (which I had early at 47)
In the past when I have gained weight I increased walking but this has not worked this time so I joined Boogie bounce!
It is not easy far from it I cannot form words for at least ten minutes when it has finished but the weight is slowly coming off and I am toning up too!
Slimming world did not really work for me as I was not disaplined enough.

For me, I just started eating a balanced diet at each meal without giving anything up...apart from biscuits/cakes...and it has worked for me. Lost 1.5 stone at the start and I have remained at this for nearly 3 years. I don't want to lose any further weight, so I have the odd biscuit to balance it...that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it!! Hoorah!

My Fitness Pal (MFP) works well once you have mastered how to log calories and food you consume during the day. I seem to have reached a plateau with my weight loss and am beginning to think that I need to accept that my natural body weight is now half a stone heavier than before the menopause. Anyway I don't think that it suits older women to be too thin - it tends to age them. However that is just my opinion. My sister (she lives in France) is doing this with me and that's good motivation to keep going. We check each other's MFP diaries, share recipes, etc. You can also import onto the MFP app any recipes you use and it will work out calories for you. You can aso scan barcodes in and it will show you the calorie and nutritional values.

I went through the menopause at 47 and am now 62 and although I think I have changed shape I still weigh pretty much the same now as I did then. I was 7st 2oz when I was 17 and I'm still 7st, although if I pig out too much I can go up a few pounds and then I will cut back till I am back down to around 7st again. I honestly don't think exercise does much to get your weight down, although it does keep you fit and gets you toned. I do hula hoop and for the first time since the menopause I've actually got my waist back, which is good! I really think it's all about what you eat and just realising that metabolism does slow down with age and you just have to eat less all the time and not follow all these fad diets as they are hard to follow long term. That's my view on it anyway!

I can only speak for me but HRT and swimming. Now I have a dog so I walk for an hour and a half everyday. I am not skinny but I only eat 2 meals a day and my lunch is very small. Usually one slice of bread and fruit. Obviously there are times I eat more but sticking to the same things most days you know what works. It means I don't lose weight but maintain my weigh.

I don't consider Slimming World a diet as such. For me it's now a way of life. No silly gimmicky products, just healthy food cooked from scratch, simple ingredients, limit fat, refined carbs and sugar but don't cut it out completely unless you want to. Plenty of fresh veggies and fruit and lots of water - and that's more or less it.
Personally I prefer not to have artificial sweeteners and wean myself off sweetened foods rather than substitute them with low-cal alternatives. I no longer have the urge to pig out all the time and my eating habits have changed for the better overall, though holidays and celebrations are usually exceptions.

I'm not as active as I should be, but I do gardening and walk when I can and do a few limbering-up/stretching exercises now and then to keep supple. I'm working on doing more and I think it's important to do far more in order to keep mobile, flexible and retain body strength, preventing muscle atrophy. I think it's best to take a holistic approach to health - not simply in terms of weight loss. Still a work in progress for me but I'm getting there and you will too

Everyone is amazingly different, so what works for someone does not necessarily work for you. What works for you will be found through trial and error. Research has shown that exercise has a smaller effect on weight loss than actually eating less. However, exercise has a very profound effect on health, which is why it becomes essential as we age. Yes, our metabolic rate slows at menopause, and fat is deposited in a different pattern: it is simply part of aging. Michael Mosely's dietary suggestions are easily incorporated for the whole family and for the rest of your life, because it is proper food.

I find that I have had to cut quantity as I age (67), and I minimise all carbohydrates: potatoes, pasta, breads, rice, ie starchy foods, except oats (see below). I also try to limit sugars only to vegetables and fruit, and not too much fruit. Vegetables and fruit supply almost all my carbohydrate needs. However, if I am going to have a particularly active day, as I do do a lot of exercise; or I have difficulties managing blood sugar levels, ie I find myself getting exceptionally tired and irritable at any time; I have oatmeal for breakfast, and oatcakes with meals or snacks, as oats have a fairly low glycaemic index. Good luck!

As weight gain seems to be very common leading up to and after the menopause, is it sensible to think it must be hormone and changed metabolism related.
Do you still gain weight if taking HRT? any one out there had hormone tests and the doctor has helped with replacement therapy. As an eat anything person and not gain weight prior to the menopause I find my doctors guarded attitude of what do you expect at your age disheartening to say the least.

No snacking between meals ...smaller portions ( amazing how plates seem to get larger) and a lot more activity than prior to menopause. I read somewhere years ago that women who don"t have children are less inclined to weight gain after the menopause than women who do. I think that is quite true ...as two family members are still nice and slim (no children) while the rest of us struggle and can be a bit envious of their trim figures. Diets don"t appeal to me..I would rather cut my portions down and do extra gardening and walking. Think diets may work for some people who persevere with them all the time ..but if you stop them your"e back with weight again. As you age whether male or female your body changes as your metabolism slows down , part of the ageing process unfortunately.

Antonia, women aren't 'meant' to do anything but some of us don't want to put on weight, it isn't healthy to be overweight.