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Old 05-26-20, 07:43 AM  
summer breeze
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Quote:
Originally Posted by desderata View Post
For me, post menopause, losing fat is 90% about the calories, although what I eat obviously matters in terms of health and how satiated I feel. I lost 30+ pounds of fat post menopause, had a terrible 2 years, and 10 lbs crept back on. I’m taking them off now, and it requires strict eating and working out between 300 and 360 minutes a week. The weight didn’t creep back on because of my hormones, it came back because I became very lax about what and how much I ate, and sat too much when I wasn’t working out. We have to consciously move more and eat less after menopause, because our lifestyles tend to become less active. It is possible to lose all the excess fat, but it’s not a lot of fun.
Agree 100% with this! I also lost a lot of fat after menopause, 45 lbs, and some of it has crept back on due to becoming lax with the eating and now with the quarantine, a lot less movement even though I work out now more than ever. Definitely not a lot of fun but I have to be very strict with my eating or the weight creeps back on.
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Old 05-26-20, 07:44 AM  
donnamp
 
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Hi,

I wanted to throw out Pahla B - again, my earlier post focused on her workout style -but she does have a free download about weight loss for "women of a certain age" and she does have a lot of good advice there as well, and, yes, as others have said it does seem to be more about eating the right number of calories than exercise and like exercise, it seems that consistency with calories is also important.

Basically - do nothing to stress your body out....your body doesn't like "surprises" and can react to those surprises with stress and weight gain.

Donna
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Old 05-26-20, 08:05 AM  
Nuggie's Auntie
 
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Originally Posted by donnamp View Post
At first you may feel that you are not going to get results by doing less but for some people that does seem to be the ticket. As Pahla B explains, as we get older, go through peri and meno, our bodies don't recover as quickly as they used to. This is perceived as stress in the body which for some people causes weight gain/inability to lose weight. Additionally, the slower recovery time also may mean that we are able to do fewer workouts if we try to go all out all the time. Pahla's formula seems to be one "push" day a week, two light/active rest days per week and 4 moderate days per week. Although she is very chatty in her videos she does offer lots of encouragement and good information.
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Originally Posted by Demeris View Post
And without going into diet, I will say that not all calories are created equal.
I think I am done with periods. I'm 48, and my mother also stopped at 48, so we trend a little early in my family.

I started gaining weight 3 or 4 years ago. I was always within a 5-10lb range with my weight, pretty much my whole adult life apart from pregnancy/breastfeeding. Then I put on around 15lbs in one winter. That has crept up to closer to 20lbs. this year.

I find the only thing that works for me is intermittent fasting. Also, as Demeris mentioned, not all calories are created equal! I really believe that our hormones determine our weight, it's not just calories in, calories out. And I don't mean sex hormones, but insulin, ghrelin, glucagon, etc. Different foods will affect those hormones differently.

I don't follow his program to the letter, but I have really appreciated the work of Jade Teta. He's written a program called Metabolic Renewal which addresses these issues. His 'muse' for this program was his own mother, who was struggling with weight gain during menopause. He admits he had been very dismissive of women who claimed they were following the plan he had outlined for them, but they were still gaining weight. He assumed they were misreporting their compliance. Once he worked with his mom, he realized his own arrogance! I really appreciated that perspective, because I think a lot of people assume women are just not being compliant with diet and exercise, when really more is going on than we realize.

Basically, he emphasizes the importance of stress reduction. Our unique hormone profiles in this season of life make us very stress reactive, and elevated stress hormone cortisol (again, a hormone!) makes losing weight very difficult. Prolonged intense exercise also elevates cortisol, and like donna says above, we react to stress and recover more slowly as we get older.

What worked when we were younger simply doesn't work anymore. Jade recommends short metabolic workouts ~3x/week, and lots of leisurely movement (slow outdoor walks, especially.) He suggests other stress-reduction techniques.

He also says we have to play around with those recommendations to see what works for us. This is the frustrating part. I'm on a Facebook group for the program, and while I don't follow it closely, I do try to implement some of the principles. It's great to have the support of the group. Some women follow the program to the letter and post that they are frustrated that they aren't getting the results that they want. That's when the community helps them trouble shoot and tweak their diet/exercise/movement, etc. to help them find what works for them.

I think the hardest thing for me has been accepting that what worked before just doesn't work anymore. It's still my instinct to do 60 minute, intense workouts 6 days a week because that's what I enjoy and what gave me good results (in every sense of the word) in the past. But I cannot handle that anymore, in any way.

One woman on the group said, "my body is a stranger to me now, and it's like I have to get to know her again." I couldn't agree with that more!
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Old 05-26-20, 08:13 AM  
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Originally Posted by donnamp View Post
Basically - do nothing to stress your body out....your body doesn't like "surprises" and can react to those surprises with stress and weight gain.

Donna
Yes! I think it also bears mentioning that this is a season of life with lots of stress. Many women in this age group are dealing with children leaving home, supporting older parents, loss. My mother passed away last week. I kept reminding myself to be kind and gentle with myself, that I had suffered a great and fairly sudden loss in the midst of a pandemic, almost as I would talk with a friend. That was really helpful.
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Old 05-26-20, 08:35 AM  
donnamp
 
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Nuggie's Auntie - I'm sorry for your loss. My mom passed away this weekend, it was somewhat sudden, but she had been declining for about a year or so and it was a very tough and stressful year for me and her. I also have a teen-ager and, wow, talk about stress and worry, between the two of them.

Donna
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Old 05-26-20, 08:49 AM  
Scorpio6
 
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Thyroid testing

Many times when doctors tell you your thyroid is normal, it really is not. I know from bitter experience. I don't know if your thyroid testing included the antibodies test, but if not, you need to ask for that. It's what diagnosed my Hashimoto's low thyroid.

Also, unfortunately, many doctors are trying to base everything on the TSH reading and while the charts will show "normal" with higher readings, the thyroid works best when the TSH is at 1.0 and absolutely no higher than 1.5. You also need T3 and T4 readings. A really good website to help you understand thyroid stuff is ForefrontHealth.com.

If you have Hashimoto's, you will not be able to take supplemental iodine. If you have regular low thyroid without Hashimoto's, then you will be able to take it. You are going to have to look at those lab results again, and take a little bit of time to go to the website and educate yourself about thyroid. I feel for you, and wish you the best of luck.
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Old 05-26-20, 08:58 AM  
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Originally Posted by donnamp View Post
Nuggie's Auntie - I'm sorry for your loss. My mom passed away this weekend, it was somewhat sudden, but she had been declining for about a year or so and it was a very tough and stressful year for me and her. I also have a teen-ager and, wow, talk about stress and worry, between the two of them.

Donna
Donna, I'm also sorry for your loss. Losing a mother is really tough. I had heard that it was a 'loss like no other,' and now that it has happened, I concur! My father is devastated. They met when they were 19 and were married for 53 years.
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Old 05-26-20, 09:04 AM  
CabCalloway
 
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donnamp - Deeply sorry for your family's loss. You all will be in our prayers.
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Old 05-26-20, 09:09 AM  
Gale K.
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I agree about monitoring thyroid levels. Menopause can wreak havoc on the thyroid. Flipping Fifty (Deborah Atkinson) has a lot of good info and programs for peri-and-post-menopause. Jade Teta's program as well. Both emphasize shorter workouts, strength training and managing cortisol. If you can find a gyn who specializes in menopause, and who is certified through the Menopause Society, that could be helpful too (I found a good doc this way).
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Old 05-26-20, 09:24 AM  
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((((Auntie)))) ((((Donna))))

I have been post-meno for about four years or so. I'm on hrt because after 2+ years of hot flashes every half hour (24/7), I'd had enough. I had gained over 50 pounds, wasn't sleeping, was too exhausted and stressed to do my job, and had to retire a little earlier than I had planned. It turned out that I did have sleep apnea, probably exacerbated by the weigh gain, so now that I'm following doctor's orders, I am feeling better. The hard part was getting back in the game. I hadn't exercised regularly in so long, had developed some really bad eating habits (I was too tired to prepare healthy food, too tired to care about my health) and I was just too tired to exercise.

My advice: try to develop a daily (or almost daily) routine and keep active throughout your day. My Fitbit reminds me to get at least 250 steps an hour during my day and I think it really helps to keep my metabolism revved. Also, walking is (and has always been) a great way for me to keep the weight off and I've been trying to follow my own advice these past couple of months, especially, since stress and loneliness are calling me to the kitchen more often these days.

Re: the "D" word--per my own experience (I can't speak for anyone else), being too strict with eating choices can lead me to overeat very unhealthy foods in a big way. Perhaps my eating is a bit disordered at times, but, anyway...cutting back gradually and still allowing some 'fun' foods, or eating fun/family meals (getting take out or delivery once in a while?) can cut the monotony of an otherwise strict diet and, while it may slow down weight loss, I feel like I can stick to that for the long term, whereas being too strict all the time always leads to diet failure for me.

HTH and best wishes! We're here for you!

Donna
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