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[Noheroicsplease]

This is a more specific question than 'does HRT make you put on weight'...but I've noticed my thighs and buttocks are a fair bit bigger after HRT. I can't decide if this is just the passage of time - I work out a lot and don't eat very much. My stomach is fine, my breasts are bigger, but I def look more pear shaped. Waist is small.

thoughts welcome. I take Estrogel and Utrogestan and Testogel (testosterone might also be encouraging weight gain?)

[joziel]

No, not at all. But if you are eating in a calorie surplus, you're going to gain weight. The fact you're taking HRT is probably why it is going on your butt and not your stomach, where post-menopausal weight gain typically occurs.

T helps with weight gain as it should help muscles - which are metabolic.

Of course you also need to be eating plenty of protein and most women do not. I aim for about 150g of protein/day. I have gained a ton of muscle and lost some fat without even trying.

[Noheroicsplease]

Thanks. I do eat well and not in surplus (I track). I try to aim for 100grm protein a day which I find really hard. How the hell do you get 150grm! What do you eat? I guess it also depends on your size - I'm short and quite petite

[ElkWarning]

Yeah, would love to know your secret to 150mg of protein a day

[Wrensong]

Hi, NHP I can't say I've noticed increased fat on buttocks as a result of HRT, but in my case this would be welcome  !  I do find that both estrogen & testosterone increase the size of my thighs though.  Again this is very welcome for me as I'm underweight, so visibly bulking up a bit makes me feel healthier, as well as improving strength & stamina.  With T it's healthy muscle increase (can see it on arms as well as legs), but with estrogen I tend to retain fluid & notice my legs quite quickly become stick thin when reducing E dose & when off it altogether.  I also pee for England as my E levels reduce - a tell-tale sign that with E for me it's fluid retention.  I'm not suggesting it can't be, but are you sure it's fat gain? 

It's relatively easy for me to judge which sex hormone has which effect on me as I'm long postmenopause, several years post-BSO so no ovaries contributing anything & for past 16 months have been blissfully off progesterone post-hysterectomy.  Due to various ops during the 9 years since I started HRT I've been required to stop taking it for weeks at a time & have also been on & off T & had numerous dose changes of E trying to find best fit.  So all these changes have provided ample opportunity for observation of cause & effect.

I'm also vigilant to try to ensure adequate protein though I don't calculate intake.  A good tip I came across for increasing protein (on an NHS website) is to fortify dairy containing meals, drinks & soups with good old fashioned milk powder.  I add it to porridge, yoghurt, milky drinks & find it's less of a challenge than trying to eat larger amounts of more solid protein.
Wx

[joziel]

So, for 150g of protein...

For breakfast it comes from 170g of 0% fat Greek yoghurt plus a scoop of whey protein stirred in - add anything else you like in terms of fruit and nuts etc as well. I add in 2 scoops of collagen powder also, although that's not a complete protein - but along with everything else is fine. I usually add chia seeds or flaxseeds and soak it all overnight so it's a bit like overnight oats without many oats... It's usually about 60g of protein just for breakfast. Then I do my strength workout immediately after.

Lunch is either fat free cottage cheese or Lightest Philadelphia cheese on corn thins/rice cake thins with tomatoes or fruit of some kind, plus a protein bar.

Dinner involves chicken or turkey mince or breast, or some kind of egg white omelette (you can get cartons of egg whites only, I hate wasting yolks) and then fruit with 0% fat Greek yoghurt and some Halo Top (recommend Golden Blondie flavour!) or Oppo ice-cream.

Recently I've been experimenting with the Ninja Creami and high protein ice-cream home made concoctions.

As I'm coming off thyroid meds at the moment I'm careful not to overeat, probably about 2000 cals/day.

[Noheroicsplease]

Yeah, I use a lot of egg white (although I also eat a lot of eggs, yolks included). I add in whey powders, often.

I try to eat less than 1200cals a day.

Thanks for your input

[bombsh3ll]

I don't think estrogen lays down fat per se, but rather if you were going to store the fat anyway, it results in more metabolically favourable distribution of it ie around the hips and bottom (pear shaped) rather than the unhealthy visceral fat around our abdominal organs (apple shaped).

[joziel]

Noheroics, if you are only eating 1200 calories a day and you are working out a lot and gaining weight, you urgently need to do a reverse diet.

It is very hard to get this information across to women - but I myself was in this situation most of my life.

I was eating hardly anything but, if I ate any more, I gained weight. I felt like I was constantly depriving myself of food - or I would quickly gain the weight. Please don't make the same mistakes I did and live in the misery I lived in.

No one should be eating 1200 calories for any longer than 12 weeks at a time, as a diet or cut. If you remain in a low calorie state, your body will adjust and your metabolism will slow down - making it impossible to lose weight.

You need to eat consistently (3 meals a day), enough protein (1g per lb of body weight) and importantly you need to do a reverse diet upwards if you find yourself on a low calorie intake for a prolonged amount of time with a slow metabolism.

With a reverse diet, you increase your calories by 100 every 2 weeks. The increase is so gradual your body doesn't notice it and adjusts to roll with it without gaining weight. So you can end up back on your 2000-2200 maintenance, which is what most women should be eating. If you do want to lose more weight, after a period at maintenance you then cut calories by a few hundred for NO LONGER than 12 wks. You will lose weight before your metabolism can adapt. And so on.

For more information look up the podcast called 'Metabolism and Menopause' and find the episodes on the reverse diet.

Don't eat 1200 calories a day, that's insane and unhealthy - your body will not get the nutrients it needs on that low calorie intake, long-term... plus you will only gain weight... whilst eating nothing. That is what happened to me.

[Noheroicsplease]

Hi. I'm far, far more knowledgeable than you are giving me credit for. Of course, you can't know this, but let me put your mind at rest.

I'm very aware of how metabolism slows, and my 1200 calorie intake is not long term, but to curb the issue in the short-term I seem to be facing with bigger thighs etc as per my post.
 

[joziel]

It's pretty unlikely you know everything covered in the Metabolism and Menopause podcast, and going by your other thread you know everything there is to know about ferritin levels and it was ridiculous of me to give advice on that one too.

As my old school maths teacher used to say - you can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink....

[ElkWarning]

So, for 150g of protein...

For breakfast it comes from 170g of 0% fat Greek yoghurt plus a scoop of whey protein stirred in - add anything else you like in terms of fruit and nuts etc as well. I add in 2 scoops of collagen powder also, although that's not a complete protein - but along with everything else is fine. I usually add chia seeds or flaxseeds and soak it all overnight so it's a bit like overnight oats without many oats... It's usually about 60g of protein just for breakfast. Then I do my strength workout immediately after.

Lunch is either fat free cottage cheese or Lightest Philadelphia cheese on corn thins/rice cake thins with tomatoes or fruit of some kind, plus a protein bar.

Dinner involves chicken or turkey mince or breast, or some kind of egg white omelette (you can get cartons of egg whites only, I hate wasting yolks) and then fruit with 0% fat Greek yoghurt and some Halo Top (recommend Golden Blondie flavour!) or Oppo ice-cream.

Recently I've been experimenting with the Ninja Creami and high protein ice-cream home made concoctions.

As I'm coming off thyroid meds at the moment I'm careful not to overeat, probably about 2000 cals/day.

It's good to get another steer.  I tend to be a bit short on time due to job, but have a similar breakfast (minus the whey powder but + oats and protein drink).  I eat mainly vegan (so much tofu and so many pulses).  For reasons I just don't understand, I've never thought of adding in a protein bar at lunch.

I'm a total Ninja devotee.

Must admit, I tend to agree re: the calories (this is coming from someone who was anorexic for a lot of my life).  For me, now, it's all about the protein and exercise.  I probably consume roughly 2,500 a day, but also I'm on my feet for 8 hours.  Fruit (and carrots) for snacking.

I was thinking about collagen for bone health mainly.

As it goes, I don't think E lays down fat on thighs and buttocks.  I do think lack of muscle can look like fat on thighs and buttocks.

[VioletAquarius]

No one should be eating 1200 calories for any longer than 12 weeks at a time, as a diet or cut. If you remain in a low calorie state, your body will adjust and your metabolism will slow down - making it impossible to lose weight.

Hi Joziel, you seem very knowledgeable, how do you know all this, is it your job?

However, I don't understand how the above quote can be true, as someone who is anorexia still carries on losing weight.

[Kathleen]

Hello ladies.

I understand that our change of shape at post meno is due to our hormone profile becoming more androgenic. Perhaps adding lots of oestrogen reverses this and returns is  to a more feminine body shape?

I don't think weight gain is inevitable on HRT, I haven't put on weight however my body has changed with my breasts and bottom deflated and my tummy more rounded.

I am on a medium dose of Oestrogen but obviously this is nowhere near the lashings of lovely oestrogen my once plump ovaries used to provide! 

Take care ladies.

K.

[Banjo1973]

I am on HRT, I've not had significant weight gain, but none on thighs or bottom (unfortunately). Mainly boobs and belly... making a lot of my wardrobe unwearable, not because they don't fit, but because they make me look like a weeble with my new body shape!!!

Oh the joys of peri