Menopause and losing weight?

[3sweeties]

How does menopause effect your ability to lose body fat/weight? I have a friend who is 52 and is convinced she can doing anything about the wieght she has been gaining. I suggested she try adding weight traing to her walking routine and cleaning up her diet a bit. She is an educated lady and researches and writes books. She's convinced that her lack of estrogen is the reason why.

[Strive2Define]

Although I am only 43, I am currently going through this myself and it IS possible to lose weight but I will say it is much more diffcult for me now than say it was a year ago and I find and most others in this same situation that I have talked to, all agree that we must really stay on top of our diet and exercise and REALLY watch our simple carb intake.It could very well be her low estrogen levels hindering her weight loss...I currently cycle on and off of HRT ( the lowest dosage of prempro available, which I am finding isn't enough as of late..it has been 4 months since my last cycle) but I too find that the lower my estrogen levels the harder it does seem to be to get it off AND the easier it is for my body to want to store it..but, and this could just simply be coincidental but I have found that all of th ewomen I know who are NOT taking any type of HRT seem to store excess fat around the middle whereas the ones who are supplementing w/ HRT don't seem to have as much of a problem w/ the apple storage pattern.I feel all of your suggestions were very valid.


ps..edited to add: I would be interested in hearing a response to this from someone who has more knowledge int his area.All I know for sure is, it sure does suck to be a woman as you get older and notice how everything bad that happens to women has a male reference..
MEN opause
MENustration
HYS terectomy

:censor:

[CraveMuscle]

try growth hormone and testosterone.

estrogen isn't the only thing that changes as women age.

[3sweeties]

Although I am only 43, I will be 43 in July. I worry that I'll start gaing weight in that apple pattern. My friend doesn't believe in using HRT, she is using some type of natural estrogen cream.

[Strive2Define]

Originally posted by 3sweeties@May 5 2006, 11:38 PM
I will be 43 in July. I worry that I'll start gaing weight in that apple pattern. My friend doesn't believe in using HRT, she is using some type of natural estrogen cream.
If she had the number and intensity of hot flashes I have, she might just change her mind about the HRT...mine get so bad that they can come approx. every 10 minutes all day and night..I said to hell with that and decided I would take my chances w/ the breast cancer.It just was not possible to have that experience, run on no sleep because of it and continue to have a family.

[smuggie]

Originally posted by 3sweeties@May 5 2006, 11:38 PM
I will be 43 in July. I worry that I'll start gaing weight in that apple pattern. My friend doesn't believe in using HRT, she is using some type of natural estrogen cream.
I got in the best shape of my life at 43 (two years ago) and have maintained it.

Diet, diet, diet.

[jaleena]

I can't say anything about menopause, I'm entirely too young for that, but I may have some insight into the lack of estrogen part. I've been on DepoProvera for 3yrs now, which is supposed to crash the body's natural hormone production and cause near-zero levels of estrogen, and it hasn't caused me any weight/fat problems. Sure I can still gain fat, but that's from diet, and it's easier for me to lose it than it ever was before the injections.

[Cindy Day]

Some women aren't getting the fats they need to support their hormones that their bodies produce. While a woman may need HRT as she enters into meno, the bioidentical compounds work against the hot flashes the same as premarin and well, going natural means you don't have to injest pregnant horse pee to get relief. Others want to maintain their crappy diet and blame their body fat on something else. It's gotten harder for me to lose bodyfat as I've gotten older, but it still comes down to diet (assuming one has had their endocrine numbers checked out).

[Someday]

I am a lurker from O2 who will come out of lurk mode to comment on this thread. I am 52, going through the beginning of menopause but I am not on HRT. From my experience, it is harder to lose weight, whether due to a slower metabolism or low estrogen, the net result is the same. I noticed, while doing a lot of reading on the topic, that many comment that the weight gain is something women can do nothing about due to the hormonal depletion. One of the books I read described an insulin response to the low estrogen, which caused carb cravings, as one of the results women can't help. Since I grew up in a family with diabetics, the desription sounded exactly the same as the insulin issues for diabetics. After reading many, many books and speaking with my doctor, I decided that weight gain is a "choice", not an unalterable result of menopause. Since it is difficult to lose weight, it is much easier for some to believe that they don't have a choice, I have "chosen" to fight the battle of the bulge, no matter how difficult it may be. I am sure that various medical conditions may result in weight gain which is uncontrollable for some, and I am not suggesting otherwise, I merely wanted to say that we all need to recognize an excuse from a choice and act accordingly.

[Strive2Define]

Originally posted by Someday@May 6 2006, 08:23 AM
I am a lurker from O2 who will come out of lurk mode to comment on this thread. I am 52, going through the beginning of menopause but I am not on HRT. From my experience, it is harder to lose weight, whether due to a slower metabolism or low estrogen, the net result is the same. I noticed, while doing a lot of reading on the topic, that many comment that the weight gain is something women can do nothing about due to the hormonal depletion. One of the books I read described an insulin response to the low estrogen, which caused carb cravings, as one of the results women can't help. Since I grew up in a family with diabetics, the desription sounded exactly the same as the insulin issues for diabetics. After reading many, many books and speaking with my doctor, I decided that weight gain is a "choice", not an unalterable result of menopause. Since it is difficult to lose weight, it is much easier for some to believe that they don't have a choice, I have "chosen" to fight the battle of the bulge, no matter how difficult it may be. I am sure that various medical conditions may result in weight gain which is uncontrollable for some, and I am not suggesting otherwise, I merely wanted to say that we all need to recognize an excuse from a choice and act accordingly.
Well I have to say this entire thing just baffles me ..these type of compunds seem to be so contradictory.......most people gain weight on BC..or so they say..doesn't that boost your estrogen levels?
I am sure I need to raise my estrogen levles but I am almost afraid to due to the weight increase thing.
I am not saying that itis any means impossible to lose weight and keep it off..this has been an ongoing thing for me (perimenopause) since before I turned 40 and in that time I have lost 122 lbs...all naturally, simply thru good nutrition and exercise but I will say that trying to lose this last 10 lbs has been almost virtually impossible but I have not given up. I tend to think maybe this has more to do with my diet and more specifically NOT eating enough of the right things.

[BlueTuna]

Hi - this is my first post here. I agree with Someday that, while it may be more difficult to lose weight as we age, to some extent it's a choice. I'm 50 - I started getting really bad night sweats about 18 months ago, but they stopped when I cut all sugar and simple carbs from my diet. I'm now super-strict with my diet and my bodyfat % is under 17%.


One of the books I read described an insulin response to the low estrogen, which caused carb cravings, as one of the results women can't help. Since I grew up in a family with diabetics, the desription sounded exactly the same as the insulin issues for diabetics.
Exactly - the carb cravings can be caused by eating simple carbs in the first place, which when eaten to excess can cause diabetes. (My mother is diabetic.)

I haven't had any other menopause symptoms to date. I did start investigating HRT but read that it can cause weight gain. :o That's the last thing I need! Does anyone know about that?

[Strive2Define]

Blue, I am not certain about the weight gain. I do know I am a few lbs heavier since I started taking the prempro BUT when I went back in for that first intial visit after the first 3 months, I had not gained any ..sooo, I would think that if I were going to it would have been most noticeble in the first 3 months..I think the few lbs that the scale is up is from muscle..it has been a couple of years and my weight is only up about 5-6 lbs

[BlueTuna]

That's interesting, S2D - I wouldn't complain about gaining a few pounds of muscle! ;)

[3sweeties]

I'm 50 - I started getting really bad night sweats about 18 months ago, but they stopped when I cut all sugar and simple carbs from my diet. I'm now super-strict with my diet and my bodyfat % is under 17%.
That is awesome. When I turned 40, I really thought it was going to be all downhill. I'm really excited about staying in good shape after meeting the ladies here who are in the over 40 crowd and looking fantastic! :flex: