I am also in menopause and have found it very difficult to lose weight until I started the fast diet two and a half weeks ago, I am on my fifth fast day today. I lost 3lbs in the first ten days. I have not weighed myself since as I am a bit nervous to. I am waiting until the end of next week but I do feel a lot thinner and my clothes feel much better. I think it works but maybe more slowly during monopause.

As a postmenopausal nurse I am not an expert on this but have a few thoughts…

As far as I know there is no reason, physiologically, why women should not lose weight in and around the menopause. However,there are a lot of things going on in the body during this time which I think slows things up.

I can recommend books/website s by Dr Marilyn Glenville for coping with menopause and good advice.

Women of 50ish often have a lot going on in their lives-children leaving home/or accepting maybe that never going to have children… parents becoming elderly..and the physical symptoms of menopause.

I think its really important to stay physically active and with 5:2 eating weight loss should happen. It seems that a lot of contributors are expecting very quick weight loss..a steady one -two pounds a week over time really adds up and stays off.

Also would say once through the menopause life is much easier!
best wishes.

I started dieting 6 weeks ago and am in the midst of menopause. I am definitely finder it harder to lose weight than in my younger days, but have increased my exercise levels which has given me at 1.00 – 1.6kg loss each week. Maye it is a metabolism problem, but the extra exercise has definitely helped.

I’m on Day 22 today and have lost around 4 kilos though I had just completed a 6 week 10,000 steps a day challenge the week before. I find the 5:2 diet easier to achieve than the steps as on bad days I was jogging up to 4000 steps at night either in front of the TV or next to the bed before I could get in!
I am just through the menopause and am determined to reach my goal of 63 kilos which will be a 10% weight loss but I seem to have stuck at just under 66kgs.
I found drinks without milk were what I missed most so I use 1% fat milk 2 or 3 times a day in drinks and then have a 150 calorie lunch and save the rest of the calories for tea. I’m also trying to spend 1 or 2 days a week fasting overnight between 6pm and 10am to see if that helps.
We ladies of a certain age can lose weight so don’t give up, you will get there.

Today is my first day and I’m post menopausal and have found it really difficult to lose weight the conventional way (I’ve always been able to in the past). However, I’ve recently started taking tablets for underactive thyroid and wondered if this has anything to do with it – If anyone can offer advice I’d very much welcome it!

Hi LivBetr

How about an exercise bike ? I love to cycle outdoors but as this winter has been so awful i bought myself a cheap exercise bike to keep up the cycling. I also have a friend that has quite severe arthritis and what helps her is to keep to quite alkaline foods and she certainly noticed the difference. Forgive me if you have tried that and it wasn’t for you.

I am fifty and I want to lose at least 60 lbs (although I could stand to lose ~90 lbs) because…
…I am menopausal with hot flashes (5-10 a day) that wake me up at night and cause me to avoid going outside during steamy weather.
…I am losing flexibility and strength in my back/hips/knees. I get terribly stiff when I sit for a period of time.
…I have been rather sedentary for a few years, because it is uncomfortable to move.

It seems like most people here aren’t trying to lose this much weight. Any thoughts or recommendations? I’m starting tomorrow and will add exercise (walking) as well.

Hi fifty plus, I’m 51 and noticing the aches/pains and stiffness too. I really need to lose around 50lb. My work doesn’t help, I sit a lot during the day working in the family business, and evenings I make wedding cakes! Fatal!

Just started so I’ll keep progress posted.

Good luck,
Lisa x

Hi,

I just want to give some hope to menopausal ladies reading this thread. I’m 53 and currently going through the menopause myself. I started 5:2 in February and by mid June I had lost 2 stones. I started out on 5:2 and then switched to 4:3 and had consistent weight loss (and I didn’t do any extra exercise). By mid June I hit a plateau and even though I switched to ADF I didn’t see any further weight loss. I have just come back from holiday where I managed to maintain my weight and am now back on 5:2 though it’s too soon to tell if it’s working again.

Judging by the amount of people hitting plateaus it would seem that after a while the body adjusts to the different way of eating so I’m hoping that following my going back to 7:0 eating on holiday and now back home restarting 5:2, I will give my metabolism the kick-start It needs.
.
But to menopausal ladies – I had no problems whatsoever in losing weight and my fast days got easier and easier. Even if I don’t lose any more weight, I’m thrilled with my loss to date and my new body. What else have we got to lose?

Hi Misty, not sure if this will help you, but I found I didn’t lose anything if I did the fast diet with only one day in between; however, if I did it with a couple of day in between like on a Monday and Thursday then I lost a little bit of weight.

I do keep plateauing, and my weight sticks for a while so I tend to mix it up with a week or two off and then go back to the fast diet, and it seems to kick start a small weight loss again. It isn’t ideal, but at least my weight is going in the right direction!

Good luck!

To all the women reading this thread I send warm wishes. Embrace those hot flushes, girls.

I’m celebrating 10kg lost today – a big landmark for me as 15kg overall is my goal. However, I’m a terrible dieter and have terrible willpower and terrible habits. The trick for me has been to concentrate not on the food itself but on consumption – by that I mean I decided to buy minimal amounts of food and run down the stores in the cupboard and stop baking. I go out for coffee with chums instead of all-you-can-eat buffets. I try and plan my life around things other than meals (that is a big change for me!). I don’t beat myself up for the slip ups, just get back on the horse the next day.

My experience with osteo-arthritis increasing around menopause was that it really discouraged me from the exercise I’d previously enjoyed. Riding a bike, even a stationary one, got hard on my hips, and bushwalking even harder on my knees, so I stopped. Between ages 50 and 56 my weight went up about 10kg.

However, I had a real revelation earlier this year when I went for a five hour hike. I was well dosed up in advance on ibuprofen, and it was an easy gradient. I was buggered in the evening, utterly exhausted, and expected to really suffer the next day – but in fact I felt wonderful. Losing weight and exercising make my arthritis much less painful and easier to live with.

For me 5:2 works, slowly but significantly, and I’ve managed to get back to my age 50 weight. It makes sense. There are 10kg less of me to lug around. Now I’m trying to lose another 5 or 6 kg to get to a good ‘fighting weight’ for my long and fit future.

I want to get off weight in one week without fasting

please helps

or somebody recommends me for where to look for

PLEASE!!!!!!!

Sadly you can’t offset the exercise against your fasting cals.

Thanks Everyone for sharing your experience – I am happy for those who could lose weight by this diet, but unfortunately so far not so much luck in my case.

The most annoying thing about Menopause is the way it sneaks upon you.
One day you lose lots of weight by simply reducing your normal calory-intake
to a still tolerable level meanwhile increasing your exercise a bit, but the next day you notice that the reduced calories will make you gain massive amounts of weight even at increased levels of exercise.
(Note, I do eat very healthily, as also confirmed by my doctor, and I went through profound medical tests and everything looks fine, so no extra reasons for this misery other than menopause itself.)

Then I was thrilled to find out about this 5:2 regime, and I decided to follow it, as a last resort, in the hopes that it will deliver the change I have been hoping for. Since all my med results are perfect, hoping nothing else than “only” losing weight. I did so mostly because I hate the idea to exchange my entire wardrobe.

Yet, after one month now doing 5:2 I can see no noticeable results. The only time I experience any “change” is after 18 hours strict fasting, ie during the time when I get into the cell-repair mode, and I suppose my temporary relief is due to the loss of water during this time.

In addition to doing 5:2 I exercise at least 1/2 hour each day (average 3/4 hrs on an exercise bike) plus do the HIT three times a week, as suggested. But no avail. In fact only while I am fasting I feel a little lighter and look somewhat thinner, but my weight remains constant. As soon as I put some food into my mouth, my usual weight restores itself. After the fasting days I often feel even heavier than before.

Frustrating doesn’t even start to describe the way I feel. I can only sympathise with those women who experience the same.

I am arriving at a new stage when I start to think: fact is, no matter if I do the impossible or not, my body will NEVER be the same as it was when young. So why do I even try. The way we look no longer matters anyway. So what’s the big deal. In this Hollywood-worshipping Narcissistic world only the youth matters, that is the glamorous-looking ones among them, meanwhile women of our age are pretty much considered the scrap of society.

Imho, the only reasonable thing to do is to eat and drink in a healthy way, exercise as feels right, stay relaxed, laugh at the vanities others subscribe to and enjoy whatever is left of one’s life. And yeah, to surrender and buy those bigger size clothes. That’s the way it is 🙂

@goldmoon
“the only reasonable thing to do is to eat and drink in a healthy way, exercise as feels right, stay relaxed, laugh at the vanities others subscribe to and enjoy whatever is left of one’s life. And yeah, to surrender and buy those bigger size clothes. ”

That’s the way it is for you now.

Fundamentally, you’re in the right direction.

Share your success a year from now?

➰

Hi I have been on the 5:2 way of life since the end of July. This was my second go at it, I lost weight the first time but allowed any reason to stop and then just carried on over eating. This time after returning from a holiday I started again. I bought the recipe book, used an app to find out exactly what I was eating and chucked out the old bathroom scales – these were bought as a wedding present over 30 years ago! My initial goal was to get to 13 stone by Christmas, I got there yesterday having lost 35 lbs very pleased with myself.

The next stage is is in half stones with an ultimate aim of being down 2 more stone by next July.

I am post menopausal, do little exercise except to use the stairs at work – all six floors – and have a very stressful job.

BUT I am winning my fight with food. I saw my side view yesterday and could not believe it. I have lost over 6 inches from my waist. I am so excited about it all. My husband and children are really pleased not only in the loss of weight but the health benefits.

Hang in there it does work.

E

Thank you All so very much for your encouraging replies.

Reading your insights and your own experience with this method helped me a lot to re-evaluate my stance on this subject. You have raised several great points and I needed to take my time to collect my thoughts on how to respond. I feel I am a bit stuck in a contradiction: I am not ready yet to give it all up, yet I am not sure if I am motivated enough to keep going with it. The reasons for this is a little complicated and I hope it’s okay if I share them here.

This is actually the very first diet I ever tried to follow, as until recently I could keep my normal weight without any restricted meal plan. When I watched Dr. Mosley’s BBC program I was, and still am, truly impressed with the reported results, especially with the unique health improvements this regime offers.

Firstly I would like to answer the question if I eat ‘too much’ on non-fasting (NF) days. At this point I feel a little confused, because
1) I don’t count calories on NF days, so I can’t tell
2) In my understanding one of the unique benefits of the 5:2 diet is that on NF days it allows us to eat as much as we desire for. This is the main reason why I considered to get into it.
But if I am not allowed to exceed my regular calorie limit on NF days, and am not supposed to allow myself the occasional extra treat, I don’t see the point in the plan. The F days are already challenging enough, and if I can’t compensate the pain with some pleasure by my favourite snacks, including cake, chocolate etc, on the NF days, I just don’t see why bother at all.

Another question is how to go on with counting calories all the time. Since I eat my own home-made meals that I prepare from scratch, to know exactly the amount of calories seems not only cumbersome and time-consuming but downright impossible.
On the F days it’s a no-issue, since I have put together my low-calory menus in advance, so on F days I don’t need to count calories to stay within the limit. But as for the NF days I just follow my usual healthy eating habits, with the occasional extra treats added.

Yet, I don’t think I regularly exceed the allowed amount of calories on NF days.
My point is exactly that I eat less in general – significantly less – than I used to eat in the past. Now I am over 50, post-menopausal, but even 5 years ago when I ate as little as I do at present, I used to be reduced to a skeleton, so to speak. So I am aware my system is essentially different now. As we all know, in our case the hormones play a significant role in the change, which in my experience overrules the calory-count factor. In my case the stress hormones and their effect only add to the default hormonal imbalance.

Since eating significantly less – combined with doing regular exercise – wasn’t enough to restore my normal low weight, I hoped that if I start this program and add two fasting days to my normal days, that would make a difference. But by now I am certain, only a reversed version, a 2:5 diet would deliver some results, or better yet, if I would stop eating altogether, and live only on water and vitamins. And since this is unsustainable in the long run – hence my shattered motivation going with it.

Regarding my off-topic rant on the associated vanities behind one’s motivation in getting into this, or any other diet-plan, I am glad you realised I didn’t mean to offend anyone. I am also affected by the peer pressure associated with the “look great” demand and deep down I was laughing at my own vanity. I was nurtured that way like many of us. I have a mother and two sister in laws in the pathological narcissistic category who never fail to crucify anyone who adds an inch to her waist and who would swear, echoing this narcissistic society’s expectations, that it is our “obligation” to look good. I have been vastly unlucky in this department. In my whole life I have been surrounded with women who are busy with these vanities 24/7. When I was young and thin I used to be the object of their envy, in fact I was fiercely hated for my looks, and now I am being criticized when I am no longer a “spectacle”. I find both ways utterly revolting. I am sick and tired of being always measured by my looks -either in a positive or negative way. I always wanted to be loved instead and appreciated for my real values, while I found mere appearance a no-value at all. Superficial cliché, empty agenda for those who have nothing else to say.

My critical approach to the question why exactly should I keep trying to look great, especially now when it’s time to calm down and relax, may seem somewhat overkill but I don’t think it is.

What the society communicates to us from all channels and in all ways, is that we women are obliged to look young and beautiful (whatever beauty should mean) – even when fulfilling such requirement is clearly insane or impossible. This is why a massive number of teens subject themselves to plastic surgery, in order to feel more apt in society. This is an alarming sign of a profoundly pathological society. Meanwhile astronomic funds are invested into scientific research to discover the “cure” for ageing, as if it was a disease. No, for Pete’s sake, ageing is just normal and natural.

Another thing that triggers me beyond measure: the only “talent” that women are really respected and wanted for – beside mothering children – is our looks. Never mind my many years of studies, ambitions and diligence, my bosses were only interested in something else. The continuing sexual harassment I was subjected to both in Europe and the US, was so extreme that it has eventually made me give up my carrier and to stay at home as a house wife. In consequence all my time, energy and efforts invested to offering real value to society was flushed down.

At the time when I studied in the US, my professors who otherwise were impressed with my academic results, kept explaining to me that the only way that I will make it in society is not by getting a job but by catching a wealthy sugar-daddy. Then I thought it was just weird way of being funny – only much later I understood they meant this as a serious advice.

I apologise for adding my personal story to this topic – I just wanted to show my perspective on the reasons why I feel so unmotivated to follow such a demanding route, especially at my age. We women are abused and taken for granted in so many ways that we no longer notice it, so don’t even question when yet another impossible demand is imposed onto us for no justifiable reason.

But returning to this topic, yes, it would be lovely to have my usual slim self back, to lose that extra 10-15 kg, to feel light in my skin and not hear the cracks in my knee joints when I stand up, but my inner response is a rebellion against sacrificing so much for so little benefits. I have had a very difficult life, filled with trauma and stress since my childhood, and now when I finally can have a break, take a breath, calm down and enjoy life a little, I can’t picture myself stressing over food, freaking out while standing on the scale, counting calories, reaching for a carrot when I would murder a chocolate bar, and breaking my bones via demanding workouts.

To me any diet is drastic in the sense that it requires severe calorie restriction and that is a huge challenge for me. At any meal, stopping after eating a small portion is excruciating, in a way it is far worse than not eating at all.
I am above 180 cm, my body yells for food as it needs energy to go through the day. During high-school and college years I was into intensive sport, during the summers often 4-6 hours training each day. My system is used to large portions of food to replenish the needed energy, so whenever it is not getting the usual amount of food it thinks something is the matter and holds on to whatever it gets.

This is why I came to realise that my body simply does not allow me to lose weight, unless I literally starve myself to death. I can see and feel my body changing in profound ways, and I am aware I can’t reverse the time, not even by a drastic method like 5:2. Sooner or later, especially above 60, I will have to give up the agenda of slimming down anyway. I know that my body will outsmart me and I won’t be able to maintain the weight I would feel comfortable with.

On a final note, this is of course just me, not this diet. I do believe that we all have our own stories, and in each case to be over fifty is different, albeit a challenging situation, and out motivation to get into it also vary. And my frustration is not per se related to this program. Deep inside I am aware I won’t be motivated enough or capable to keep ANY severe diet plan until the end of my life, so all my sacrifice would eventually be for nothing: I would just spoil the time that I could otherwise enjoy a little.

I am sorry for the length of this post and for the off-topic details – I share them only in the hopes to offer some support to those who might need it.

Thanks so much for reading – will look forward to your thoughts.

goldmoon

Hi Goldmoon

I totally relate to what you say about the insane and cruel demands placed on women as regards “beauty”. Unlike you I have always regarded myself as plain and never put much effort into clothes, makeup etc. Did I miss out in the work and romance stakes as a result? Maybe but on the other hand I have done many things I enjoyed and have good friends and a good partner.

I do fasting mostly for health reasons, if a bit of weight goes then great. I have no fixed idea about what my weight should be other than that the large bellied shape I was in my late fifties was not right. I am about ten pounds lighter than when I began about three months ago. I do not know if I will lose much more, I will carry on and see.

I fast, but I do not count calories. On my feed days I do the old-fashioned thing of cutting out sugars as much as possible and cutting down on starches – bread, rice, baked goods, pasta, potatoes – but that does not mean I never eat them. On fast days I eat nothing because I find it easier for me not to open the flood gates of eating.

I hope you give fasting a bit longer and adapt the regime to best suit you

Hello Stef,

Thank you too for your reply. I wholeheartedly agree that the main reason for considering following this regime is the health-reason, before all else.

As for the rule of thumb for the NF days, I think this is what I referred to as my regular calorie limits. My main issue is NOT how to determine that limit for the NF days, even though that itself sounds challenging, but how to keep counting those calories. Unless I go with the guesstimate method, which I do, I don’t see any other way.

My other main point has been that in our case the hormones play a large part in maintaining our weight, which persists regardless of other factors. It would be another interesting research question if this method can reduce stress hormones.

As for my personal story, thank you for your support and adding your research findings. I think this might be relevant to this topic in the sense that for many of us losing weight is impossible due to reasons that are beyond our control. These are psychological reasons pertaining to our past, present and our prospects for the future. Most of the memory of the past traumas hit us over 50. What I could somehow work myself through the past now manifests in anxiety attacks, and every time I feel such attack my body extends a bit, so to speak.

In such regard we can detect an ongoing victim-blaming scenario: those who were abused by their environment show a tendency to gain weight beyond control, yet there is a tendency to look down on to overweight women. Unfair.

As for another major trauma that I luckily don’t, but many of us share is signified by the staggering divorce rates. It is objective fact that women of our age are indeed exposed to a continuing competition, and many of us even at younger age, lose in that race. Not because we want to compete or because we don’t see ourselves as good enough, but because the society around us pushes us into an endless “competition”. This pathology masked as liberal values has reached the point that it is considered sort of “natural” or “normal” for a man to discard his wife if she fails to stand the comparison with a “better” one (younger, more entertaining, more beautiful, etc)

So in many regards, including the above, “beauty” and the associated “thin” body are seen as “must” imposed onto us by society.

Everyone:

Thank you again for your compassionate replies, for all your great advice and for sharing your results. Based on your replies I decided to keep pressing on with this diet. Later on I will let you know how it goes 🙂
goldmoon

Barbarita,

I am very glad to read your response as well. To be precise, I never considered myself any special, it was merely my environment that made a fuss about it. Especially my narcissistic mother.

I absolutely agree that the so called physical “beauty” should not be a measure and demand in our lives. This demand creates issues for many, boosts the plastic surgery industry, fills up the schedule of the therapists, and creates a total social vacuum for those who do not want to or can’t jump onto the narcissistic wagon.

If we think about it, to either dislike or admire someone’s looks makes no sense whatsoever. We aren’t in the circus, we are not to entertain, especially not by the way we look – and to measure anyone by such “value” is totally unfair towards those who are not born with so called “admirable” features. This is why I always freaked out when anyone treated me as a “spectacle” or when they kindly advised me to go into the model profession. I felt this funny cramp in my stomach.

So you have lost nothing by not sharing this experience. 🙂 It is also a sort of abuse, the reverse side of the medal, and it is downright against the real values we humans can offer. Including in romance!

Sylvestra,

I am really sorry that you interpret my perspective as negative about people over 50/60/70. My meaning is actually the opposite. I do believe that to become overweight beyond 50 is to be considered normal in our abnormal society.

I don’t see ageing as negative at all, so I am more willing to go with whatever it takes, rather than putting all the efforts into trying to reverse the process. In my view the fret about ageing is over-rated, and I am aware that the health reasons are only part of the attempts to stop and reverse the process.

If people were so uninterested in the “beauty” aspect of ageing, then plastic surgery would not be a leading industry. The only difference is that some of us admit the peer pressure, others don’t.

Maybe you are above this social standard, which I wholeheartedly appreciate, but I am strongly affected by it, mostly because of my narcissistic mother. One can’t erase the effects of an entire upbringing upon a single command, and I grew up under the constant requirement to look great and be thin, otherwise my mother made ugly remarks about my too fat cheeks.

So on a conscious level I loathe the idea that I am affected by this demand, on a subconscious level I do want to comply, which creates a tremendous stress for me and manifests in putting on more weight.

The same is true about other kind of past traumas, which I haven’t mentioned here, only a small part of it: one can’t just erase these, at least the physical body will keep manifesting their effects. As I mentioned in another comment my lack of motivation comes from my EXPERIENCE that I am one of those who can’t control my weight, and I am certain it is because of the stress-effects. I was so shocked to see how unresponsive my system is to reduced calories and exercise that I seriously suspected a thyroid issue, but, to my surprise and relief, the respective tests came out normal.

But as I noted earlier, I will still keep trying this diet. It seems to me now if this method can significantly lower cortisol-levels, then I do have a chance.

Why not give us a days worth of your menus on fast and non-fast days. That way, we can all pull together and help you. No one wants you to fail.

What’s for breakfast, lunch, snacks, dinner?

Let’s solve this together.

Quote: “You have no idea what you are talking about. Are you kidding me? I’ve worked in law for over 21 years and have taken on foreign and domestic companies, single-handedly. I am very much informed about legal rights. After 21 years, I think I should know a little something about the law, but you construe my opinion as a personal attack on you and you couldn’t be further from the truth. I’ve read the other comments and they were pretty blunt, yet you “thanked” them. I find YOU pretty judgmental yourself. and think you should have used this energy at that company who mistreated you and not at me. In America, if you’re mistreated, you will find someone (more times than not) to assist you. But, you will probably tell me I don’t know that, either.

If you don’t want anyone’s help, then stop complaining. If the plan isn’t working for you, then stop the plan. I’m not your enemy. Please maintain the focus on the 5:2 plan and not bring a family dysfunction in as a topic. That is a subject for a mental health professional; not a weight-loss forum.

Why subject your family to judgment? No one wants to see you fail, but you.