Video Fitness Forum  

Go Back   Video Fitness Forum > Video Fitness Reader Forum > General Discussion

Reply
 
Thread Tools Search this Thread Display Modes
Old 05-26-20, 09:44 AM  
Pat58
VF Supporter
 
Pat58's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Connecticut
Sending {{{hugs}}} and condolences to posters who have lost loved ones.

I just wanted to add that maintaining muscle mass is more important than ever during peri and post meno years. There are so many studies about the need to incorporate resistance training to keep up strength and help with bone density. More muscle mass helps to keep your caloric burn higher and so much more.

Kathy Smith has a video, Moving Through Menopause a/k/a something about Boomers - Body Boomers? It's good to watch at least once, she gives good tips and a solid workout covering strength, flexibility and cardio.

Good luck! I hope you find the equation that works for you.

PS - do some balance work often, too.
Pat58 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-20, 10:35 AM  
Izzy
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: West of Chicago in the Illinois Corn Belt
My sympathy to those who lost a parent recently. I can only imagine at such a trying time with so much change around us, to lose a parent or loved one has to be so difficult. I lost my parents exactly one month apart in 2002-2003 and while going through a divorce and to this day it still hurts. Try to be kind to yourself and accept this time as grieving. You need it. Do what you need to do to take care of yourself. All the rest can wait.
__________________
Mary
Izzy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-20, 11:02 AM  
Terry
 
Join Date: Dec 2001
Location: Texas
Menopause gave me non-stop cravings for about 3 years. I minimized weight gain by eating a ton of carrots. I gained 6 pounds of pure fat around my extremely short waistline on a short/small skeletal frame, my feet looked yellow in the sun, and I was pretty much unhappy with a life biochemically driven to think about little else than food. I gained a greater sympathy for those people who are constantly hungry/craving and end up over 500 pounds.

When the "eat-everything-in-site craziness" finally stopped, I lost and regained the extra fat several times until I signed up for a live outdoor boot camp class. One camp was: Week 1 - Endurance with running and high reps / Week 2 - Functional Fitness, Athletic Agility, Heavy Weights / Week 3 Metabolic Conditioning / Week 4 Metabolic Conditioning on Steroids / Week 5 Recovery with just two easy-ish workouts. I went 5 mornings per week during Weeks 1-4 and I attended both sessions for Week 5.

The classes were just as hard as many videos I had in my collection, but my video trainers couldn't see if I was kicking my own butt every day for a solid hour (a full hour; The supposed warmups were just the first minutes of hard work. I quickly learned to arrive 20 minutes early to get in some jogging/walking so that the warmups wouldn’t kill me.)

Since I wasn't about to slack with a non-TV trainer watching and other class members working hard, that 6 pounds was gone in two 5-week camps. I did nothing to change my normal clean-ish eating. The big surprise was that by the end of seven 5-week camps, the extra inch of pregnancy fat I had carried on my thighs for 19 years was gone, and I could do jump tucks for the first time ever.

Significant hot flashes lasted 12 to 13 years with the first 6 years being “volcanic eruptions” that on some days came as six 5-minute slots per hour. My body temp rises at odd times now in Year 15, so sometimes I’m hot when nobody else is, and the temperature increases when I’m trying to sleep are disruptive. I recommend you not look forward to the end of hot flashes because the end might be super far away unless hormone therapy helps you. I focused on air conditioning, eating ice, and using ice packs when attempting to sleep. I tried every recommended supplement I found out about on the Internet but none was helpful to me; just expensive.

My only other symptom was morning cold flashes/shivers for about 4 months the first year. My sister had this symptom also but I think a lot of women never get the joy of this particular menopausal experience.
Terry is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-20, 11:05 AM  
Jane P.
VF Supporter
 
Join Date: Oct 2001
Location: Colorado Springs
I could sense how frustrated you are in your post.

I find I need to do 60 minutes of cardio exercise that keeps me at 70% of my max heart rate for 4 to 6 days a week. You may have different needs.

I agree on getting your thyroid checked. Also it may be time to consult an expert to help tweak your diet if you can afford it. I hope the suggestions here help you out.
__________________
"The two most powerful warriors are patience and time." Leo Tolstoy
Jane P. is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-20, 11:25 AM  
AnnieO
 
Join Date: Dec 2008
I recommend Menopause Taylors Youtube videos. She covers all aspects of menopause including diet and exercise recommendations.
AnnieO is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-20, 11:32 AM  
yogapam
VF Supporter
 
yogapam's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: West coast of Canada, eh. ;)
Sending (((hugs ))) & condolences to Donna & Nuggie’s Auntie.
__________________
*~*Pam*~*

Certified Level 4 Essentrics Instructor - March 2021

Hatha YTT - 2011

Your body keeps an accurate journal regardless of what you write down.....

"Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live."
Jim Rohn

"It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.” - Tony Robbins

Check out my Instagram account, @fitness.ficti0n.inspirati0n
yogapam is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-20, 11:36 AM  
yogapam
VF Supporter
 
yogapam's Avatar
 
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: West coast of Canada, eh. ;)
It’s a tough transition, I went into forced menopause 11 years ago. I didn’t gain a lot of weight, but what I did gain went around the middle. I have lost most of it, it’s mainly about what & how you eat from my experience. Cardio & resistance work definitely help. And I agree that it’s good idea to have your thyroid checked.
__________________
*~*Pam*~*

Certified Level 4 Essentrics Instructor - March 2021

Hatha YTT - 2011

Your body keeps an accurate journal regardless of what you write down.....

"Take care of your body. It's the only place you have to live."
Jim Rohn

"It’s not what we do once in a while that shapes our lives, but what we do consistently.” - Tony Robbins

Check out my Instagram account, @fitness.ficti0n.inspirati0n
yogapam is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-20, 12:51 PM  
Lori_Michigan
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
So sorry Donna and Nuggie's Auntie, sending big hugs!

I honestly could have written every word of this! In 2018, just two summers ago at age 44, I weighed 162 pounds, wore a size 8, 36C bra, and was in the best shape of my life. Now, at age 46, I weigh 189 pounds, and have ballooned up to at least a size 14 elastic pants and now have to wear a 40DD bra. I went through my summer clothes yesterday only to discover that I have to buy a whole new wardrobe since nothing fits.

I started gaining weight about a year and half ago, in the fall of 2018. Then in the spring of 2019 I had a blood clot and low vitamin D and was diagnosed with anemia, and then last summer I had to have my gallbladder out. My good health had just bottomed out. So fast forward to now, and nothing works. I'm still having regularish periods, which are quite heavy, but this month it feels like my estrogen never dropped after my period and I've had a headache for about 10 days straight. My menopot swells every day and I feel like I'm in a constant state of PMS.

All of my weight is literally in my waist and monster boobs. My legs and arms are slim but now my waist is actually larger than my hips! I'm super depressed about it today after trying on clothes that used to fit me well just two years ago. I've spent all day just trying to find elastic waist shorts and capris. Sigh.
Lori_Michigan is online now   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-20, 01:09 PM  
hotncmom
 
Join Date: Jan 2009
I'm also working on losing weight I gained over the last several years in menopause. I've been doing a lot of research and have been reading that managing insulin is the key to losing fat. Every time we eat, our body secretes insulin and you cannot tap into fat stored on your body. Low carb reduces the amount of insulin secreted, but with fasting, it will reduce even more and use the fat on your body as fuel. I have started IF over the last several weeks combined with cleaning up my diet (reducing sugar, bread, high carb and "junk" food plus alcohol) and have lost 10 lbs. so far (in about a month). I was at first resistant to the idea of fasting but then remembered that I never used to eat breakfast until my mid-20's, and when I did start eating breakfast, because I thought it was "healthy", that's when my weight problems began. I can't go into detail (may have already said too much), but Dr. Jason Fung is a great resource. He has some Youtube videos that are very informative. It is easier for me to manage when and how often I eat rather than being really strict about macros. To become more fat adapted, I have been practicing only eating at meal times (no snacking) and not eating from dinner to breakfast for a while. Then I gradually extended the time from dinner to breakfast and finally cut out breakfast altogether. I used to be a person who could not miss a meal and could only go 3-4 hours max between eating, and realized that means I was a sugar burner and was not fat adapted. It was a miserable existence - I was always worried about my next meal and getting stuck without food. Plus, I would get hangry and weak if I didn't eat.

I gained 35 lbs. during the transition and (fortunately?) it's spread out over my body instead of just my belly but my old clothes do not fit and I am very unhappy that my legs, which have always been my best body feature, are flabby and even my calves are big. I am sick of it and want to get back into my cute clothes.

For exercise, I am adding a lot of walking combined with gentle "sculpting" style workouts (body weight and light weights). I have found in the past that HIIT, running or heavier weights spikes my appetite, and I don't really enjoy those type of workouts anyway. I think I have gotten my stress, sleep and cortisol under control, and that has probably helped as well.
hotncmom is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-26-20, 01:21 PM  
Lori_Michigan
 
Join Date: Feb 2014
Nuggie's Auntie, I was just researching Jade Teta's program and was seriously thinking of trying it. Without breaking any rules here, can you share the portions or principles of his program that you're incorporating? I'm thinking of buying it but didn't know if it's worth it or if I should just try to put something similar together myself. Thanks!
Lori_Michigan is online now   Reply With Quote
Reply

Tags
aging, intermittent fasting, menopausal weight gain, menopause, menopot, my fitness pal, myfitnesspal, over 50

Thread Tools Search this Thread
Search this Thread:

Advanced Search
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 07:53 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.3
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
© 2009 Video Fitness