Hello Ladies!


I hope everybody is well. First off, I live in Toronto and it snowed today! I think the kids are really going to have to bundle up for halloween this year. My father owns a tire shop downtown and I had to go for winter tire installation. As I've mentioned in some of my other posts perimenopause has really hit me hard having gained 22lbs in a short period of time. Alas my weight gain has not been even at all. Most of my weight is in my abdomen and stomach area and I just hate it. Anyway while I was in the tire store I couldn't help but notice that my new figure bore a striking resemblance to a lifesize picture of the michelin man. Great! Anyway ladies have any of you noticed what I like to call michelin man syndrome? What did you do to fix the problem? Please help!

Thank-you Ladies
Tara

Anyone?

Absolutely! I feel exactly the same way and can completely relate. My waist measurement is only about 5 inches smaller than my bust, and I've always been known for having big boobs, so you can imagine how embarrassing that is. I put on 27 lbs. in 4 months. I've lost 7 lbs. of that but still have a long way to go. I'd love to start some kind of diet/exercise plan but I can't seem to get motivated to do it. I've always carried my weight in my tummy, but it's ridiculous now.

I can relate.....I've also gained 10 pounds in the last year, and I'm not eating any different than I always have. I HATE it!

I've gotten rid of a lot of weight, but it's very hard work. There's no easy way to do it. I figured out a basic eating plan that I could stick with, allowing for a bit of ice cream and I have to have some chocolate, too. The eating plan is based on Weight Watchers and if I didn't do anything else but stick with it, I would maintain my weight. Then--the hard part. I use a treadmill for race walking for an hour four days a week, and on the other days I take my two dogs for a brisk walk for an hour. So I spend an hour a day walking pretty fast. I lost weight because of the exercise and the eating plan that would maintain my weight without it. I've been doing this now for about two or three years, and my weight is normal. But it takes dedication and hard work, and getting to the gym whether I want to or not. Lots of days I start on the treadmill and just feel tired, like I don't want to do it. But I don't give in and I force myself to get through the hour, like it or not. Once in a while I've felt lightheaded and nauseated, so I do slow down in that case. I know some ladies where I work, and they are all very overweight and about my age. For lunch, they sit in the eating area with their lunches for the whole hour and do nothing but chat. I don't like going out in the cold and the rain to go to the gym, and would much rather just sit at my desk and forget it. But it works--it did for me, and I'm 57 now and have been post-meno for years. It's possible to keep your weight down even after meno.

I do have a membership to the Y but sometimes it is hard to get motivated. I guess I just have to try harder!

Tara, I can also relate. My weight gain was in my stomach and abdomen area too, a part of my body that had never been a problem before meno.


CSugar is absolutely right. I have recently lost 10 lbs. through exercise and by watching my diet very carefully. I also allow treats because I do believe that if you are too strict you are setting yourself up for failure.
I also use a treadmill and my dog regularly drags me for at least a half an hour every day. You do have to work at it. No longer can you diet for a week and lose 5 lbs.
I now have much more energy and just feel so much better about myself. It is possible, I am 55 and almost 3 years post.

Hugs,

Arla.

Tara: I can totally relate. Make SURE it's not your thyroid. When my periods stopped at 45, I put on 20 pounds in the blink of an eye. It was always easy for me to lose weight, so I went on a healthy, 1200 calorie diet and started bought an elliptical machine. After 3 weeks, I stepped on the scale--and hadn't lost even ONE pound. I was devastated.

Turns out I have hypothryodism...Hashimoto's, to be exact. My doctor had told me that my thyroid levels were normal, and even the first endocrinologist I went to insisted that nothing was wrong with me, but I could just tell my body wasn't acting and reacting normally. I went to a teaching hopsital in a large city the next state over...and was finally diagnosed.

Now the weight is slowly coming off...very slowly (as in 1/2-1 lb a week, with some weeks no loss at all), but I'm glad because it'll be more likely to stay off if I lose it slowly.

Hi RoundRobin

I did have my thyroid checked a couple of months ago and my results were normal. However after reading many posts about misdiagnosis I'm beginning to think I should get it re-tested. I have had alot of symtoms such as nightsweats, thinning hair, very dry skin, etc. I have a doctor's appt. tomorrow and I think I am going to get hormone and thyroid levels checked. My aunt's been on thyroid medication for a year and she's finally lost the weight she put on. Thank-you everyone for your advice!

Take care
Tara

Boy, ain't that the truth! Remember the days when if you wanted to lose 5lbs, you just watched it for a couple days, and 5lbs were gone?? Now it takes a month to lose 5lbs, and a weekend to put on 10!!

I struggle with this also. My goal is to lose 20lbs by March. That is when I need to buy a dress for my daughters wedding. I stay on 1200 calories for days, I don't lose a pound, I get discouraged and then binge eat for a couple days!! RR is right... the slower the better.. this time I am STICKING to it... no more bingeing. I'm not even going to weigh myself for 30 days, as I get discouraged by the scale! I'm so impatient! I've needed to work on being more patient, so this is the test! I am determined to be fabulous for this wedding, and it's 10 days before my 50th. So I WILL be fabulous at 50!!

XOXOXOXOXOX

Also... today I was thinking about all the poor people around the world, who are grateful for a bowl of rice a day!! I need to not be so cavalier about all the choices I have. Chocolate Chip or Rocky Road?? How insignificant in the world is ice-cream?? Puhleeeeze! I should be GRATEFUL for 1200 calories a day!!

I need to eat to live, not live to eat!!

XOXOXOXOXOXOX

I need to eat to live, not live to eat!!

XOXOXOXOXOXOX
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Well said!

Well my sister calls me CHUPA CHUP you know the round lollypops! thats my shape, all around the gut and bum!

I have had my thyroid removed and partly blame that for my collosal size!

I weigh in at 112 kilos, i guess most here use pounds, well there's 2.2 pounds in a kilo and DON'T even ask me to work it out as i will faint!

I love those lollipops! That picture looks like my derriere. Ha ha!

LOL

ha ha even better!

I read someone on this site refer to the big tummy we all seem to get during peri as an "estrogen apron". Doesn't that paint a pretty picture?

I have had success in the past with losing weight. But it takes determination and -- in my case anyway -- a reason to lose it. I can do it if I have a concrete reason for doing so, with a goal date, such as a vacation. But lose just to lose? Not enough motivation for me. I have learned that diet and exercise go hand in hand -- cutting calories takes off pounds, exercise loses inches. So you can lose weight be be flabby or be firmer but still weigh more than you want. Of course, in reality we shouldn't be paying attention to lbs. to begin with, but rather how we look and feel. But we've been so trained to look at that number on the dial. Shame on us!

I moving to the country next week. No traffic, no smog, living on a dirt road, with a mother who even at 67 is a whirlwind. If I don't lose weight after a few weeks living with her, it's not EVER coming off. Last time I was at her house, she was splitting wood (with a mechanical woodsplitter, not an ax thank god) and had me loading the split pieces on a trailer. A few weeks of that and I'll be skinny as a stick.

Elder -- I did the math on the kilo/lbs difference and you don't weigh much more than I do. So no need to feel bad about it.

Thank-you ladies for all of your advice it was very helpful. I've come to the conclusion that I am simply going to have to try harder and stay motivated to lose weight. I am setting a goal of 30lbs by April. I think that it is very doable.

Thanks again ladies and hugs to all
Tara

Awww thanks Webalina i've found the older i get the harder it is to carry around though

Hi Tara,
I am having a weight problem too. I have been gaining about 2 pounds a week and nothing I do will get it off. I do aerobic exercise everyday, I eat a balanced healthy diet. I don't binge or overeate, I count calories, yet the weight still creeps up. My pounds are centralized around my mid-section, thighs and behind. I bounce and jiggle when I walk. My feet ache from carrying the extra weight. My doctor says nothing is wrong with me, blood work is okay, etc. I look forward to reading what other women do to keep off the weight.
MaryB26

I haven't had a period in six weeks so I'm wondering if this is it. I know about 1 to 2 weeks before I would start I would have a huge appetite and couldn't get enough to eat. Then I would start and I would have no appetite for about two weeks. I wished I knew how to harness the hormones that caused me to not be hungry! Even now there are days I'm fine and days I just eat all day, it's so frustrating. The fat in the upper belly is driving me nuts. All we hear are reports of how bad it is for our heart and health but it seems that's the favorite place my fat wants to be.

I understand. I look at myself in the mirror and I don't look all that big. But walking around I feel like I'm 10 times bigger than the scale says. I was always a fast walker -- people told me I look like I running everywhere I go -- but not anymore. I walk like a fat woman, and I'm tired of it. Gonna get the weight off ladies. Really. I am. Honest.

Hi Mary- sounds like you're doing everything right! Maybe you should keep a food journal? Write down everything you eat. Maybe your consuming more calories that you realize?? I only suggest this, because I found that I was consuming about 500+ calories a day MORE than I thought... a glass of juice, a glass of milk, a glass of wine, a handful of sunflower seeds, the creamer in my coffee, the occasional Starbucks.... Of course not all of these in ONE day, but randomly throughout the week. I thought I was consuming 1200-1400 calories a day, and after keeping a journal (I keep a little notepad in my purse) I found it was closer to 2000, and sometimes more! Those little buggers (calories!) can sneak in there when you least expect them!!

Hi Leanne

I think that a food journal is a fabulous idea. I too tend to forget about alot of the beverages that I fill up on are full of calories. A personal trainer at the Y reminded me that juice nowadays has just as much sugar as pop. I think I am going to try to get in eight glasses of water a day it should help with the weight and water retention.
Thanks
Tara

I've tried to keep a food journal, and you'd be amazed at how much extra stuff you put in your mouth that you don't realize. That broken cookie in the bottom of the bag you're about to throw in the trash counts! But I find it makes me obsess about food even more than I already do.

Or the nibbles you take while cooking!! Yes, it made me obsess about food more but only for a few days. After that I would look back and be PROUD of the lower caloric intake. But I understand we all have our own relationship with food, and we need to find what works for us.

Well, this may be unpopular, but it works for me. I don't weigh myself, and I don't look in the mirror. Too much negative feedback, like WHY didn't I lose more; I could have sworn I lost five pounds this week, and it's only one and a quarter, so I think maybe I should try weighing myself again tomorrow, or at another time of day, or I look in the mirror and think, "I thought I looked way better than that by now; I've been watching everything; what's going on??" This is usually followed by a hopeless feeling and then I just decide to eat anything I'd like again. Nope, I don't need the feedback and the vicious circle going on and on. I just go by how my clothes fit, and try to forget it. Let some time go by, stay on your eating plan and try to get some exercise, and get busy with other things. Try it for a month. Put the scale away, forget about it, and get busy with other stuff. I know it's hard. They have recommended a food journal, but Web is right--it just keeps what you're eating on your mind all the time, and I had a lot more success if I just tried to forget it, but still do the eating plan, and let time go by. Then you'll put something on that used to be tight, and it's loser. There's no joyful feeling quite like that.

The advice about the scale sounds good. Sometimes I weigh myself everyday and it can be depressing. I think for the next month I will avoid weighing myself altogether.

SO TRUE!!!! I TRY to avoid the scale for 30 days at a time, I'm not always successful, but I do try. If you're still getting your period, don't even LOOK at the scale the 7 days before!!

I like writing my food down in my little notepad, because sometimes I see a lot of things on there and it reminds me that I'm not starving to death! LOL I think of the game players in Survivor and think how lucky they would be to be me! I know that sounds so stupid, but it helps me! But whatever works for you is the right thing to do!

I know this may sound stupid to those who are trying to lose weight,but the hunger pains start subsiding after about 3 days of very strict dieting....and those 3 days are very rough....but after that it gets easier.

Well my scales went out the window, i got on the buggers and they said " ONE AT A TIME PLEASE "
anyone want a second hand pair of scales?

I keep trying to lose weight, but it keeps finding me!

Okay ladies I'm feeling brave today. I think I am going to hit the gym and go for a swim after. Wish me luck!

Elder how did you get a picture of me? LOL

LMAO!!! it reminded me of myself a little!




Couldn't resist putting this one up, i'm sure this will give us all hope!

OMG! elder!!!!