Perimenopause and weight loss
 

Anyone going through early menopause or perimenopause and trying to lose weight or has lost alot of weight? I'm 44 years old and having serious hormone issues and difficulty losing weight.

Any suggestions or certain program that works well?

Hi Healthy :wave: Welcome to 3FC... the best site on the net for support, IMO!

I'm 47 and started perimenopause at around 44 . In the last year I've lost weight finally but it has taken alot of experimenting to get there . Plus it has NOT been easy it's taken a lot of work.

My experience is that I had to start exercising seriously and intensely and watching every morsel I eat basically.

Firstly I never did cardio, my favorite was/still is weight training, but I decided I needed to up the ante so I started doing cardio for 20 minutes at an intensity level of 9 at least. Now I run for 40 minutes at an intensity level of 7-8... It has taken me almost a year to get up to this level. For my weight training I just started being more serious about it but I didn't change that much, for me it was the cardio...

The second and most important aspect was the food. I eat as unprocessed as possible, eat oatmeal, eggwhites, cottage cheese, chicken, lean meats, brown rice, lots of veggies, limited amounts of fruits and choose lo GI fruits such as strawberries apples... I rarely eat anything white, such as rice or pasta, and never eat white bread. I try to keep my calorie intake between 1500-1800, disperse it throughout the day into 5-6 meals, eat every 2.5-3 hours. At each meal I eat a portion of protein and a portion of carbs... Eating often has kept my insulin level in check, I don't feel ravenous anymore when the next meal comes around.

I truly attribute this way of eating to keeping my hormone levels even... I've barely had any mood swings in the last year although unfortunately I've started the hot flashes in the last 6 months but they aren't too bad ...

I hope this helps... Come join us either at the Maintainers or the Ladies Who Lift Board many of us are going through the same things...

I hope this helps... TTFN...:wave: