Menopause Matters Forum

Menopause Discussion => All things menopause => Topic started by: Noheroicsplease on March 25, 2017, 08:11:59 PM

Title: Will I ever lose the weight from my hips and bum?
Post by: Noheroicsplease on March 25, 2017, 08:11:59 PM
I'm feeling SO blue about the weight gain on my hips and bum. It's been increasing over the past year, since my periods stopped, and doesn't seem to be improving since I started the coil and estrogel.

I try so hard to eat properly, the right foods and portion sizes, do a HITT class 3 x a week, walking a lot, sleeping as much as possible. i don't drink etc.

And then I just get so bored and frustrated that I'm losing a couple of pounds only that I eat everything and then feel awful.

A friend today said that i should accept my new figure as the figure that I'll have for the next chapter of my life. Is that right? Is there nothing I can do?
Title: Re: Will I ever lose the weight from my hips and bum?
Post by: lily on March 25, 2017, 09:20:01 PM
All ladies over a certain age would be fat if this was true. I am post meno and have also put on a lot of weight. I am determined to lose it and have been eating more healthily and swimming. It is starting to work, so I am sure we do not have to accept weight gain as part of it all. It's all about taking in fewer calories and exercising more.
Title: Re: Will I ever lose the weight from my hips and bum?
Post by: peri on March 25, 2017, 09:53:46 PM
Hi noheroicsplease I feel swollen since I had the mirena fitted.  My watch leaves a mark now and it never did before.  I think it's water retention due to the constant progesterone.  Like you I have a good diet and exercise so it is disappointing. I eat less now than I've ever done in an attempt to keep it at bay.  Apart from the weight how are you finding the mirena in general?
Title: Re: Will I ever lose the weight from my hips and bum?
Post by: Dana on March 25, 2017, 10:27:48 PM
Gaining weight does not have to be part of menopause. I've lost 14kg over the last 18 months. Initially I lost weight using Weight Watchers, but that stopped working because that's what happens when you constantly eat a low calorie diet. Your body eventually adapts to those calories and becomes very good at conserving energy and fat.

I can now highly recommend the 5:2 lifestyle, or some call it intermittent fasting. It definitely works and I'm actually eating more on most days of the week than I did with WW. I've lost nearly 5kg in the last 2 months.
Title: Re: Will I ever lose the weight from my hips and bum?
Post by: CLKD on March 26, 2017, 09:34:42 PM
NOPE - if it is middle aged spread  ::) - as oestrogen levels drop so muscles become lax = extra layers which won't go away  >:(.  My apron dropped a few years ago so although I haven't put weight 'on', my belly sags  >:(  ::) .......... don't know about my bum 'cos I don't look ;-).

Fasting doesn't work for everyone, I would be ill if I tried it as I have to eat every 3 hours 24/7.  Or anxiety takes over.  Exercise can certainly help, but I'm lazy  :-X .......... we have threads on lots of exercise regimes here ......... what do you like doing most?  Maybe time to take up a new hobby, i.e. ballet .........
Title: Re: Will I ever lose the weight from my hips and bum?
Post by: peri on March 27, 2017, 07:17:52 AM
I can't fast either, I've tried it, I can't function if I don't eat, little and often works the best for me x
Title: Re: Will I ever lose the weight from my hips and bum?
Post by: Ju Ju on March 27, 2017, 07:38:57 AM
In my 40s, I put on weight and looked decidedly chunky. Then I started having unpleasant reactions to some foods, the major one being wheat. I lost 1st through cutting out wheat from my diet. Then I became insulin resistant and as I have a strong family history of diabetes, I reduced sugar in my diet and lost another stone. I now weigh less than I did in my late teens and twenties. I have a waist, but my tummy isn't as flat. I do not exercise as much as I should, in fact very little recently due to health issues. So diet is a major factor to weight gain in middle age, as the body can no longer accommodate overeating. And muscles become less strong. Even my very slim, exercising DH has a slight paunch now he is 60+. I eat well, but take care as to what I eat. I eat a good breakfast, smaller lunch and dinner. I try not to snack, but.......! DH eats little and often. I do not eat a large dinner and never after 8pm, in order to give my digestive system a chance to do its job. I now feel uncomfortable if I over eat.