Can hormones play a part in weight loss?

I am an 65 year old young lady. Do hormones keep you from losing weight at my age? Never had a hot flash. Wouldn't of know I went through menopause, but now I get hot,cold, grouchy, all the symptoms. I'm also stuck on the scale. Any help appreciated.

Hi brendastar11,

I can only share with you what I experienced.  I am so close to 60 I can hear it knocking LOL  After 11 years I had a weight regain and got it off by old fashion bumping up the protein, going back to the basics and moving.  

So unless you have a history with menopause being an issue I think you will be ok

I had my first surgery at 45 and my revision at 53 and in menopause.  And I was a revision from a very malabsorptive procedure to less malabsorption.

I fully expected a slow loss but I was pleasantly surprised to see that I lost weight faster then I did after the first surgery.

So while I am sure it is true that age (and previous WLS) plays a role in the rate of weight loss we have it doesn't have to mean failure.

I also wasn't too sure I was in menopause because I had a hysterectomy years ago but I finally figured out that I must have.  I was lucky though in that my symptoms weren't that bad and totally manageable.  

In fact, I think my revision helped with my symptoms because before I had the revision I was having hot flashes and was always uncomfortable.  I think that losing weight (and the resulting estrogen dump) was kind of like a natural hormone replacement because my symptoms have been almost non existent since then.

I think, if you are in menopause it may make a difference.  Some people are in menopause for 5-7 years.  I was about 3 years.  I had all the symptoms.  I lived with a fan in every room.  That phase ended a year ago.  I lost about 25 pounds in the 2 months before surgery doing Atkins and excercising about 2-3 hours a day.  I am 3 weeks post surgery.  I have lost 14 pounds.  That will probably be it for the month.  I am in the famous "3 week stall".  I will be 58 in September. I've heard that our fat has a lot of hormones stored and you may experience hormone dumping while your body uses the fat for fuel.

I was hoping that all the "horror stories" of metabolism slowing and weight gain during menopause were just people using menopause as an excuse for being lazy about their eating OR that it was just a small part of the reported problems with weight gain.

Unfortunately, I have been experiencing the very real slowing metabolism as the hormone levels drop, as are most of my friends who are the same age (53).  All of us have noticed weight creep (or more significant gain) despite active efforts to eat less.  

That doesn't mean it is hopeless, though.  I gained some weight after having both of my knees replaced 9 months apart and a very hectic work schedule (so making some bad food choices) in the intervening months, but I have lost about half of that regain. Unfortunately, I have had to really cut down calories and have had to eliminate almost all non-protein (dairy, bean) carbs -- just a few vegetables allowed, and almost no fruit -- and limit even the protein carbs.  

If the scale is stuck, I would recommend tracking your food intake for a week to see where your carbs are coming from and how many calories you are consuming, and then look for ways to significantly cut the carbs and somewhat reduce the calories.

Lora

What would be a days menu for you? I'm not a big meat eater. I do eat a couple pieces of fruit a day, Greek yogurt,beans in a vegtable soup I make. I need a new plan! Help.

Lora and I are both birthday twins (same month and year) and menopause twins lol.  I am battling regain (18lbs lost), and have to be super strict, but at 11 years out, still lose 1.5 to 2 lbs per week, although it is slowing.

I still sparingly eat dairy carbs, but definitely no fruit, and really only eat meat, fish, salad and vegetables.  

Getting old sucks - and while the menopause symptoms are disappearing (flashes etc) thank goodness, I am pretty sure the crappy metabolism is here to stay!!

Thank you for your input. I'll try to watch the carbs. 

As my "twin", Kim, said, while I have been working on dropping a few pounds, I have been eating almost no fruit (which has been really hard during the summer because I love fruit!)... usually a maximum of three times a week, and usually berries or a small banana.  

I eat small meals/snacks 6 times a day to keep my blood sugar stable.  A typical day's menu for me right now might be

B - Greek yogurt or SF hot chocolate w/protein powder added; a scrambled egg (and maybe a piece of bacon or ham) on weekends; occasional banana

S1 - cheese stick and half serving of almonds or Greek yogurt if I didn't have it for breakfast

L - deli meat and cheese rollup (I normally would have it as a half-sandwich (on half a slice of bread) when not trying to lose), or tuna or chicken salad

S2 - cheese stick, boiled egg, or some nuts if I didn't have any earlier

D - this varies a LOT, but is basically about 3-4 ounces of some type of protein (usually chicken or beef, but occasionally some type of seafood or something bean-based) and a small amount of veggies

S3 - yogurt, cheese, a slice of deli meat, or a small portion of leftover protein from dinner; occasionally a serving of fruit

I have only been losing an average of a pound a week (some weeks it is more, some weeks it is none), but the scale IS going down. 

Lora

Your doc can do a simple blood test to tell whether you're in or post menopausal.  I was post when I had surgery and I lost just fine.  Not particularly speedy, but not particularly slow either.