Menopause weight gain

I might add that I weigh 11st 2lbs which is 5lbs less thsn when I was 55.
I have been 10st 2lbs but looked haggard. My weight is mostly muscle mass as I have done a lot of gig rowing and small amounts of weightlifting in the past and have a lot of upper body strength.
I like my weight and the way it sits on me. I'm 5-7.

My son is a doctor. He used to nag me about my weight. At 5ft 4 I weighed about 12 stone. Now I am 78, I weigh 12 and a half stone. I asked him why he has not mentioned my weight for a couple of years. He said it is now thought that a bit of extra weight after the age of 70 is good. He is a bean like his wife and kids. But of course they are a lot younger.

I blame the red wine for my weight gain! Seriously though! I think my weight gain is a combination of age (66), probably the menopause, lack of exercise - since retiring four years ago I seem to sit on my a**e much more, playing on the iPad instead of always being on the move when I was working - and a weakness for the vino tinto!! I don’t eat much and if I do eat a big meal, feel uncomfortable and bloated. Because my stomach is now a lot bigger, I sometimes worry that I have ovarian cancer, but I did get myself checked a few years ago and all was well. I used to be able to eat what I liked and if I gained few pounds, could lose them by eating less for a few days. My weight is roughly the same as it was 15 years ago, but it has just shifted itself around so that now I have thinner arms and legs, very slim hips but bigger boobs and the fat belly. Some days I feel like a Michelin man/woman! I am sure if I took more exercise and drank less, I might be able to slim down the tummy............. Each week I think I will take more exercise, but I am a great one for putting things off!

At 40 ish I went from size 14 to 16 and was shocked but more comfortable. Menopause at 50 ish by which time I was in size 18 and then a few years later sliding into 20. Now back to 18 but would like to be size 14 again. I'm 5ft 3 inch. Still have flushes aged 65 and I'm losing my hair gradually. I exercise lots and eat lots of veg. Cutting out bread and potatoes helps but it's hard to do.

I was a size 12 when young and after having 3 children very close together, I ended up having a hysterectomy in my 40’s. Quite an early menopause, was on HRT gel, and I went up to a 14 then a 16. I struggled with this, am only 5’ 3” and I felt lethargic etc so took action ! I’m a veggie, my diet is healthy and I control my choc cravings to weekends only ! I ate less and moved more and slowly but surely the weight started shifting. I never eat between 7pm and about 11am ( mini fast) and I really find that helps me. We all have differing metabolisms and I think we have to find what suits our own bodies best.

No - lost it and felt a complete new lease of life. Periods always were - painful, heavy, unpredictable, horribly mood affecting, bloating/tender etc etc! Only felt OK for a couple of weeks a month - ie it messed up my life from 13 to 50. Now SO happy to live without feeling I'm walking uphill into the wind. Only happy now that it did not make me kill myself. Never any help from doctor "It'll be better,- when you are older, after you've had a baby, these things happen to women".

I didnt put any weight on during the menopause, always been 8-8 1/2 stone but have gone down to 7, under stress, i, easily lose it usually but the last 6-7 months have gone up to 9 stone, i think because of less exercise, and sitting more, in winter
I have a little dog, but she is getting old and doesnt want to walk as much, so less walking even,
I am starting a healthier diet after the weekend, no good starting until then as sons come for sunday dinner, so will be cooking, so monday it will start

In my twenties thirties and forties I went from a size 8 in clothes to a perfect size 10. I am 5 foot 2 inches so was a perfect weight for my height. I never seemed to put weight on and could eat anything. Then I had breast cancer in my late forties and immediately went into the menopause. I eat very sensibly now but the weight has crept on me especially round my stomach and am now a dress size 14 to 16. In the past I used to always weigh about 8 stone and now weigh 10 and a half stone. I find it very hard to lose this extra weight.

I slowed down when I was 70, but at 78 I can still pack a good meal when the fit takes me. It's my times of eating that have changed.
My metabolism was always off the richter scale, being a wiry individual and always on the go. My dinners would have melted the heart of a labourer !

Always remained at 9 and a half stone no matter what I ate or the quantity and after all these years I've only gained half a stone making me now 10 stone, which to me is better than losing.

What I earth is a 'perfect size 10'?
Other cultures celebrate womanly figures but we seem to discriminate against anything more than a 12 st most.
I am the same height as a friend and we take the same size in clothes but that is where the similarities end.
I'm a stone heavier and my weight is evenly distributed with long legs of the proper ratio to support my upper body...if that makes sense , whereas she has stork-like legs and a tummy and I do not.
Whatever our clothes size it does not reflect our actual weight. It depends on fat, muscle mass and bone density.
I like myself and the way I look and I'm healthy. Ladies, that is a lot better than worrying about a 'perfect' dress size IMO.
Many skinny women look older than their years because they have no fat. A proportionate amount of fat is healthy.
Enjoy life...it shows in your face.

Sorry...should be on and at

As with everything there are conflicting views on weight gain after the menopause. Some say the extra weight protects you from thinning bones etc , but my son who is an orthopaedic surgeon said when I went up 2dress sizes, that the extra weight puts strain on knees and hips. I then cut out sweet things and watched my diet going mainly vegetarian until I was done again to size 10!

I didn't gain much weight around the time of the menopause but the fat did move to my belly. My hips and thighs became slimmer and bum less rounded. I read somewhere that belly fat takes over the production of female hormones from the ovaries, so accepted this as normal.
I have been putting on the pounds since I retired though! Try to stick to the 5:2 diet to keep it under control.

I'm only just going through the menopause if anyone has any tips I'd be grateful

Yes about half a stone I think.

Was always slim and a tad on the light side. Then the menopause, now a completely different shape and difficulty with weight. Like others, its the waist and the belly that seemed to absorb it all. I was told that if I had been on hrt then wouldn't have happened as that seems to control the weight. Maybe should have gone for it.

Cut everything I ate in half when I hit 50....lost a stone (from 11 to 10) and have been 10 ever since ...occasional popping up to 10:4. But i have a think about what I’ve done and it’s usually too much alcohol ,so moderate that ,and back it goes to 10 stone. Happy with that as I’m 5:5 in height. Various medico’s have suggested that 9 to 9 and a half would be better...but as that usually comes from a nurse weighing 16 stones with 3 empty coffee cups sitting on her table I’m not impressed...only with my own lip-biting!

Oh ...and I refused HRT ...totally unnecessary ...just more money for drug companies.

I weigh the same, but body is annoyingly redistributing itself. Belly bigger, but thighs and bum disappearing. And my formerly muscly arms are going quite puny. I should exercise more...

I haven't seen any redistribution of body fat. Just more of it weight for weight because I have shrunk an inch and a half.

I gained weight during the menopause, mainly around my middle. I was also very stressed which could have been a contributory factor. I only managed to shift the weight by doing the 5:2 diet, which has now become my way of life.

I live on a diet and weigh myself three times a week. If I have put in weight I skip a meal. I am extremely careful in the week and sometimes have soup two or three times as my main meal. At the weekends I eat more normally and have some chocolate and Champagne or Cava. I walk five miles a day according to my FitBit.

It is a slog especially as everyone else seems to eat for England.

I'd always managed to stay around the same weight, even after an early hysterectomy at 48 and HRT for 20 years, but that was through constant pressure to look OK at work and with a critical (ex) husband.
As soon as I remarried my lovely DH, the weight piled on. It didn't help that I was ambivalent about losing it: DH: "You're lovely as you are" and my own feminist ideas about being good enough at any weight...
But last year the practice nurse said I was borderline for Diabetes 2 and the shock made me start time-limited eating...Strangely, I couldn't manage the 5-2 Diet which my friend swore by, but got on great with missing breakfast and having two later meals within six hours.
I lost 2.5 stones in four months and now, at 76, I'm happy at the weight I had in my forties.

I don't agree that HRT stops the weight going on your belly. I have been on HRT for 30 years and the extra weight I have put on this year, a stone, has all gone on my belly.

The only reason I have got fat is because I have been comfort eating.

I put on 10lbs during the menopause about 10 years ago. My rib cage seemed to spread out. I have always been extremely slim and could eat plenty. Now I watch what I eat but fortunately I don’t have to diet.