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[Gaynoranne]

Wondering why Drs tell us that you won't gain weight on HRT? Also has anyone had the experience of not being able to lose any weight?

[Dancinggirl]

I came off HRT 9 months ago and I've gained weight. While I was on HRT I still had a flat-ish tummy  - now I'm loosing my waistline and gained weight round my hips - all very depressing. I've cut out chocolate and biscuits and any snacks between meals. I eat half a sandwich at lunchtime and a smaller portion at dinner with only a fat free yogurt for pudding. I've upped my exercise - walking and cycling a lot. Don't know what else I can do - I do feel hungry and tired most of the time.
I think we are all different and HRt has a different effect on all of us.
The menopause just keeps on giving!!!!  DG x

[honeybun]

This is from the menu on the left.


Fact

Every year over the age of 40 years - our Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR - the rate at which we burn off calories) slows down. Sadly this means that if we continue to follow our current eating and exercise pattern we will gain a pound a year! How depressing! We need to reduce our intake or increase our exercise to stay the same.

Why do women gain weight at the menopause?

This process, during the menopause, becomes even harder because our bodies want to store the fat for later - a bit like "puppy fat" stored at puberty. We develop "insulin resistance" making our bodies store, rather than burn, calories. What changes is how you handle food due to the increased "insulin resistance". For example , if you eat 1000 calories before the Menopause you will burn 700 of them and maybe store 300. After the Menopause you will store 700 and burn only 300!
HRT can only partly help reverse this process.
NB - Watch out for an underactive thyroid especially if there is a family history.
The only things that can effectively increase your metabolism are activity and exercise.
Therefore, calculate (honestly) what percentage of your day is spent being active (actually on the move) and how much of it sitting, driving and sleeping. Compare that to when you were 40 years old and 30 and 20...! Watch a small child - they are constantly on the go and usually their mothers are too.

Weight distribution

When women gain weight after the Menopause the distribution of where it settles alters. An extra pound before the pre-menopause will settle evenly over hips, bottom, thighs and arms. After the menopause it ALL goes round the middle! Hence the term "middle age spread" or " midriff". A fairly modest weight gain can thus result in a change of dress size.

Muscle mass

Womens muscle mass declines at the Menopause and this causes a drop in the Basal Metabolic Rate. Muscle is efficient at burning calories - that's why it's worth doing resistance work. An increase of 2kg of muscle results in a 10% increase in Basal Metabolic Rate. Developing strong and toned muscles will make the clothes fit better and help you keep the excess pounds off.

Does HRT cause weight gain?

Women often complain that HRT causes them to gain weight. Some women resist taking HRT for fear of weight gain but there is no scientific evidence that HRT causes weight gain. HRT should help you sleep better and therefore feel better, giving you more energy so that you are able to tackle excess pounds by exercising. You are less likely to "comfort eat" if you feel good. However, a very small group of women may develop fluid retention with HRT (up to 10lbs in a month) but much more often it is mild and will settle in 4 to 6 weeks.

Choose the Menopause as a time of life to try and bring out the best in yourself. Take more exercise and eat a healthier diet, this will have the added benefit of helping you cope better with menopausal symptoms.




Honeyb
x

[Gaynoranne]

Thanks for replies ladies I've been going to slimming world for 3 weeks now and so far I've managed to put on 1 1/2lbs? Don't comfort eat and am honest enough to know when I've been piggy and put it all in my diary..
I hope by sticking to it one day it may work lol
Also have to say one of the listed side effects of utrogestan & estradiol is weight gain seriously considering coming off HRT not a happy bunny at the moment

[Hurdity]

One of the side effects that some women have experienced - as honeybun showed in the post on this site - women can react in opposite ways, and it could be you are starting HRT at a time when your metabolism is slowing anyway.

Personally I would rather be a few pounds heavier and derive all the benefits that HRT bring to my long term  health and wellbeing than continue to suffer.

If you are gaining weight in Slimming world then you are obviously eating too many calories of the wrong type for your metablic needs and would perhaps benefit from a different diet! It should be possible to lose weight through slimming world and not go hungry but at the same time if you have to use your own judgment about portion sizes and satiety then there is room for individual "error" .

Undoubtedly your boobs will have greater mass on HRT but this won't contribute much to actual weight. In any case it is not just weight as such that is crucial at menopause - more weight distribution and firmness, as well as muscle mass.

Are you doing plenty of exercise and are you taking your mesurements as well? When I go on a diet and generally now and again I weight myself and measure bust, waist hips and thighs. If you are taking exercise you can actually reduce your measurements while putting on weight through replacement of fat with muscle.

I would definitely keep up with the HRT - not sure how old you are and where in meno?

Hurdity x

[Joyce]

I have to say it does take effort to lose the weight. I lost almost 2 stones last year by watching how much I ate & swimming. I'm no great swimmer by the way. Exercising tailed off a bit over last few months so weight started creeping up again. Now back at swimming to shift a few pounds before going on holiday. You do have to be quite strict with yourself, but cliché I know, if  I can anyone can.

[Gaynoranne]

Having been to meno clinic (lovely dr) I am trying gel and utrogestan after having had femseven conti and also tried angelique and another patch (can't think which one) I don't tolerate progesterone that well but as you know have to have it oh and I'm 52 and been in this road for 2 ish years.

[Rowan]

HRT does make you put on weight, estrogen is lipogenic, also progesterone to a certain extent if it is combined, its testosterone in men and women that curbs weight gain and helps muscle mass.

Estrogen alone made me put on weight, though surprisingly when I was on the "Pill" I was very slender.

Its a myth that it helps you keep your waistline too.

Since I lowered my estrogen to a minimum I have lost weight in my tummy area and no problems. In fact I am more off estrogen then on it.

Sugar and Stress are  the main culprits for women gaining weight and unfortunately estrogen can make you crave carbs and sugar. 

Another reason for gaining weight is a low thyroid which estrogen has an interaction with, as well as curbing what little testosterone we have after menopause, though some women are lucky enough for their ovaries to still produce some as well as estrogen, along with the adrenals.

Using hormones won't make you lose weight more easily and they can make you gain, its really the old method of calories in and energy expanded that works ( exercise) , concentrating on proteins, good fats, fruit and veg etc. and less of sugar and refined grains,

[CLKD]

we need calories to burn off calories so Dancinggiril, you may not be eating enough!

I have now developed a belly, due to laxity of muscles which hold up the tummy area - laxity is common in menopause  I'm also getting lazy with my posture, noted this morning when walking past a shop window  .  I haven't exercised, other than gardening, for 18 months  - lost impetus now that I don't have a dog.  (long story short  ).

Remember - our bodies don't expand over-night so we won't lose weight suddenly.  Denying ourselves of stuff we enjoy doesn't work either, but enjoying a treat once a week is a great mood booster.  Cutting down what you eat can help.  Grazing stops that need to go to the fridge.  I also found that after my main meal, if I wait for 20 mins., I often don't want a phd because my main meal has moved into the apparent gap 

Breakfast is the MOST important meal of the day!

[renee]

Hi Gaynoranne,

I tend to put on more weight without HRT as I'm too tired to exercise etc.

I also have an under active thyroid so I can put on weight very easily, I take HRT and thyroxine and with those two combined I feel more energetic which in turn makes me want to go out walking. Which in turn helps my overall well being. Xx

[Gaynoranne]

Thanks for all your replies ladies Really struggling to lose any weight at all.  I had no idea that oestrogen could be the culprit not the progesterone.  At the moment I am on oestrogen gel 2 pumps per day do you think I could drop it to perhaps 1 pump a day or is it a case of trial and error?  I have also developed hives which are really annoying and very itchy, I usually get these if I take painkillers. which can be a problem if I get cramps (not taken any for a long time so the current bout of hives has nothing to do with painkillers!) Anyway I ramble on....Thanks again for your replies off I pop to get the clothes hanging on the cross trainer put away!

[honeybun]

Hives could be due to the really  hot and humid weather.

Re weight loss. We can blame whatever we want but what we take in compared to what we burn off is responsible for weight loss or gain.
I am on conti HRT and have never been over weight.....however I really have to work at what happened naturally years ago.
Metabolism changes no matter what we do so either you cut back further than your diet sheet suggests or you up your activity.
I try to do a combo of both.
I have had three sections so my belly was flabby anyway so that will never change so it's a case of much much smaller portions and a lot of walking for me.

After a while it's just habit. I never eat cakes or biscuits, little sugar and only a very little bread. I have up butter years ago and when I am hungry I drink water.
To start with it was very hard but given the fact I am quite small every pound looks like two.
I don't want to be wee and dumpy so I work hard on not eating anything that puts on weight.



Honeyb
x

[Gaynoranne]

Hi honeyb thanks for your suggestion re hives. It's not heat though have had idiopathic urticaria for years now.  I've now come to the se conclusion - I'm lazy n need to up excercise cut backing what's eaten n generally work at myself - wish me luck!