In a podcast with Jimmy Moore about her new low carb book "Diet 101," Jenny Ruhl says that during menopause a layer of fat often develops under a woman's skin of her torso (subcataneous fat) and that this is rarely lost when the woman loses weight. Her basis for this statement is not a scientific study, but is observations of herself and of other women on the internet who have lost weight after menopause. She says that much of this fat remains even if the post-menopausal woman reaches her goal weight and that it is almost impossible to lose.

I'm curious as to whether women here who lost the bulk of their excess weight after menopause and reached goal or near goal have also experienced this.

I'm 55 years old and believe that I am finally post-menopausal as my last period was over a year ago. I've lost about 25 pounds in the last year and am almost at a BMI of less than 25, which would be in the "normal" weight range. I could still stand to lose another 10-20 pounds, however. I have a layer of fat that I can feel under my skin on my belly, back, and ribs. In 2002-2004, when I was about 5 pounds heavier than my present weight, this subcataneous fat wasn't there. It's only appeared in the past few years and, so far, it hasn't gone away with my recent weight loss. Abdominal exercises aren't helping it either, although my belly in general is getting smaller with exercise.

I'm hoping that there are post-menopausal women here who can tell me that their subcataneous fat did go away or reduce substantially.

I think that's common for formerly fat people in general. I know I've seen folks without their shirts that have lost loads of weigh and there's still quite a lot of subcutaneous fat that makes the skin drape oddly.

Belly fat and menopause......

Fat is extremely estrogenic, particularly belly fat. We already know that from all the threads and posts about someones period going wonky as they lose weight.

So why do perimenopausal and menopausal women seem to overnight develop the "meno-pot"? As the ovaries begin to diminish and stop their production of estrogen the body because it is a great evolutionary survivor recognizes that the body is becoming low if not depleted in estrogen. The body can't make the ovaries work any more so the body develops a nice layer of fat....belly fat....which is estrogenic. Mildy estrogenic, but still estrogenic such the same. This belly fat never is able to produce estrogen like the ovaries, but it will try. Usually getting bigger as menopause progresses.

Does this happen to everyone....no, but more often than not, take a closer look at menopausal women--even if they are extremely skinny, they still may have a "menopot".

Hormone replacement can help but it doesn't resolve it.

I'm 52. Using bHRT for the past 3 years. My menopot is smaller than it was 40 pounds ago, but I still have one. Sometimes you just have to accept....I'm NEVER going to have the body that I had when I was 30...today...I can accept that.

HTH

Lisa

PS--I say....wear clothes that flatter and have a man that likes to rest his head on it

Oy......such a hot topic for me.
I'm now 62 yrs old, started my weight loss this last time at 54 yrs and hit menopause officially that year. So, I've been in menopause for 8 yrs now. I now have a menopot that I didn't have prior...and its getting bigger.

I also had to hernia surgery this past February. The surgeon told me that fat had migrated from my back into my groin and pushed through a weakness in the wall. I gave him permission to take as much fat as he could when he fixed the hernia.
So although I keep my weight consistent, my body is changing. I do Pilates twice a week, working my core hard.
Let me just say this....getting old SUCKS!
Sorry if this doesn't help you but it is my honest experience.

There must be a reason why this happens.

I have to wonder biologically what is going on.

Oh...BTW....I forgot to add.

After my last slew of blood and saliva tests.... I AM OFFICIALLY MENOPAUSAL.

It wasn't a surprise but it was a bit of a shock to read it on the lab report. Yep. FSH and LH is officially in the crapper.

I haven't used hormone replacement of any kind. Other than the menopot and a few hot flashes (not many and early on), I haven't had any problems with menopause. As far as I know, I haven't had any mood swings or emotional issues that were out of the ordinary.

So, you might do just fine without HRT, freckles.

I agree with Judy - it does really suck!! My fat took a major shift the past couple of months. Sad.

I've been thinking of doing IF but then I get mixed info on it regarding women.

Has JUDD worked for you Nancy??

Nancy--those are the same people who say...oh don't take a statin...here take some red rice yeast instead---ahhhhh....still has the same end effect. Same thing with hormone replacement...OMG....don't take hormone replacement!!!! but here...take some red clover, dong quai, black cohosh....ahhhhh....still the same end effect.

IF?....I've been doing a form of IF forever....I follow my own natural eating pattern which is high octane coffee in the morning (espresso with 1/2&1/2, coconut oil and MCT oil) Eat a meal around 11-12, and then eat again around 5. No snacks. This is my preferred schedule but some days I'm really hungry or some days I'm not. Instead of being caught up in an IF schedule--my advice would be to ascertain what your own personal eating cycle feels like and follow that.

I tried JUDD--didn't work for me in any way, shape, or form. I think you have to experiement with multiple things until you find what works with your physiology and personality the best.

I am SO happy to hear the two of you say this! All the women I know are taking HRT's and it was worrying me a bit for when I get there.



I totally agree with this. I've begun to settle into my own form of IF too, without trying and really without knowing much about a formal approach. I just end up eating two good meals most days because that's just how it works out for me.