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Menopaused weight

By February 13, 2008 - 6:34pm
 
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That's what I've been calling it! Sometime in my mid-40's, I started going through the "change of life." Whereas I had weighed 110 lbs at most, the weight started creeping up. At first, that was okay, because, well, let's just say my childhood nickname (that stuck through college) was "Bones."

However, by the time I hit age 50, I had ballooned to 135 lbs, topping at 156 by age 54. My primary care physician suggested I eat more fruits and veggies. Since I was already on a whole foods/organic regimen and eat so many fresh fruits and veggies that I feel like a walking garden, the advice made no sense. To top things off, I cannot tolerate HRT, the hot flashes and night sweats were driving me nuts and nothing I tried to lose weight was working. I even joined a weight loss clinic (totally unsuccessful).

The last resort was to up my physical activity, so I joined a marathon training program. The funny thing was that the nutritional requirements collided with the weight loss clinic's plan, so guess which one was dropped, hahaha! Now, although I haven't yet reached my goal weight, and it has taken the better part of the last 3 years, I am finally seeing the scale drop. Nowadays, I fluctuate between 144 and 139, depending upon how indulgent I've been at the sushi bar or how well I've hydrated. My goal weight is a comfortable 125.

So, I'm still having a hard time getting the weight under control. My body shape has changed a little, emphasis on "little," with all my training, and I have been able to drop a size (although it's still more comfortable to wear the double digits than the single digit size jeans, stretch of course). Other mitigating circumstances, like lupus, are contributing factors, I'm sure. But, it's very frustrating to be told to do what I'm already doing and not getting the results I want. I call myself the slow fat runner!

What's a slow fat runner to do? Have any other women seen results from changing their lifestyle? What am I missing?

Add a Comment1 Comments

It's great you're taking such an active role in your health. While I haven't quite hit menopause, I can certainly relate to weight gain. Put on a few pounds in my early 30s that I wasn't quite able to shake. And I was always pretty active (cycling, hiking, yoga) so decided to ramp up my activity a bit.

Tried running as well (ran a half-marathon in just over two hours and was training for a full when I broke my foot) but found that even as I ran, was still putting on weight. (My theory now is that I would run in the morning and eat all day - Hey, I exercised, right?)

Then a trip to Europe late last year turned into an aha moment for me in terms of my weight. When I got home, I found that I had lost four pounds. (I celebrated by eating tiramisu) We were in constant motion -- walking all the time so that made sense. My husband and I kept up the activity (walking for an hour instead of running for 30 minutes) and that seemed to help me drop a few more pounds.

I certainly miss the high of running, and wonder if I'm getting the cardiovascular activity I need by walking but found it was more helpful for me in terms of maintaining/losing weight.

February 14, 2008 - 9:27am
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