Thank you so much! I've been doing heavy weight training and cardio 6 days a week alternating weights and cardio..I just feel thicker. And clothes are a little tight..my quads and my thighs are a bit saggy but firm im losing my firmness lol..I diet right and eat healthy im just shocked about this chang within the last 3 or 4 months
Sounds like you're doing the right things. Sometimes I feel like I look bigger all over from all the heavy weight work and I know I haven't lost any weight according to the scale. In fact the scale seems to be stuck at 133-134 pounds and I'm 5 ft 6 in tall. I have to keep telling myself not to fixate on a certain number, which is hard to do because I'd love to weigh 129. Yeah, goofy, I know its just a number lol.
HI! No I haven't got those checked yet bit will eventually
I just can't make up my mind ..do I continue doing heavy weight work ( I want to keep my great muscle definition in my upper body..but like I said I just feel thicker my clothes are tighter;(..Or should I try like the "Tank top rotation or more high reps metabolic etc..Im so lost;(...Thank you guys for responding to this..very helpful
Wow! Thank you for everything you've shared! I was the one in an older post that talked about using natural progesterone cream. I use Emerita Pro-Gest fragrance free. I use 1/4 tsp in the morning and 1/4 tsp at night, rotating where I put it. I'll do day and night splits of left lower arm, right lower arm, left upper arm, right upper arm, left inner thigh, right inner thigh, left breast, right breast, neck & chest, and Lower abs so I don't saturate the same spot over and over. After 25 days, I take a 5 day break and start over. I have a logbook because I otherwise couldn't remember where I put it last.I made a huge difference by changing my diet. I thought I'd been eating healthy (FDA recommended diet), but I had no energy as I got older. We changed to a clean eating dietary lifestyle in order to try to help my husband's health. It worked. I ate the same way, just because there was no reason not to. I ended up with more energy and I lost weight. The weight loss was a problem, because I tend to run underweight. I'd developed a "pouch" though, so my skinny little body had been carrying a few extra pounds right out front - where everybody could see it. Well, it went away. I was a cardio junkie, so I couldn't get the weight back on. The way we were eating (no chemicals, additives, fillers, etc.) in our food just wouldn't allow me to gain, no matter how much I tried to eat. So, I cut back on the cardio (to 1 anaerobic and 2 steady state a week) and added strength training (from zero to 2 days a week). That helped me gain some muscle, which made me look and feel healthier and just made me feel like I looked better (I know, it's vain). The weight in my belly started to come back a bit as perimenopause continued, so I kept eating clean, but went more plant-based, which by the way is not salads. I now cook from more cultures than I even knew existed! I also went from working my abs twice a week to 3 times a week. I hate ab work, so I only do 10 minutes each time, but it turned out to be just enough. I'm 52 and have a 6 pack!. Thanks Cathe! Anyways, at the beginning, I used to never take a rest day. When I reduced my cardio and added strength, I tried taking one a week, but it didn't work for me, so I changed it to a recovery day. Then, a couple of years ago, I added another recovery day. Well, it's mostly recovery. I do a short walking video, my 3rd ab workout of the week, and follow it with a 20 minute stretch. My other recovery day is spent on relaxing, so I generally do Classical Stretch/Essentrics and a Tai Chi video, where the focus is on breathing, relaxing, etc., but encourages movement and mobility. I suspect that I'm at the tail end of perimenopause, so there's a good chance that my body will need me to make more changes in the near future. Right now, though, my body is happy with what I'm doing. The only symptoms I'm still suffering from are insomnia and brain fog. The brain fog improved quite a bit when I added the 2nd recovery day, but I'd like my whole brain back all of the time. lol My body, right now, looks better than it ever has. I've always been small framed and in fairly good shape, but I have muscle definition now. I don't feel like I'm as strong as I was when I was younger, but I'm hoping to get there. I am stronger than I was a couple of years ago. I don't know if any of this will help you, because one thing I've learned is that everybody's body is different. What I'm doing right now is working for me at this stage of my life. It was trial and error. I described what ended up working for me. I didn't tell you all of things I tried that failed miserably (like increasing strength training without increasing protein intake - whoops, that didn't go so well). lol Anyways, I hope you find what works for you. You don't feel like what you're dong is working anymore, so my advice is to change it and see what works. Listen to your body. It will tell you if you're headed the wrong direction. It will also let you know when you've hit the sweet spot.
I received mine about a week ago, and I'd learned through my research that I needed to apply it to different places, so I've been doing that. I want to thank you for your post about it. I'm hoping it helps with the stuff that exercise and nutrition aren't dealing with. I knew I was supposed to take breaks from progesterone cream, but I hadn't figured out (brain fog) how I was going to keep track. So, thanks again! I'm going to borrow your log book idea.
It's kind of early to tell, but I think my brain fog might already be getting a tad better. I'm hoping progesterone helps with my sleep once I've been on it long enough. I've tried quite a few natural supplements. Sometimes they help for awhile, but not long term. Somebody on another post mentioned Lion's Mane, which I haven't tried. I've done some research on it, so I think I'll try adding that if the progesterone doesn't help with the sleep. I learned a long time ago to only make one change at a time. If I make too many changes, I don't know what worked and what didn't. It might be all in my head, but I swear my skin is less dry since I started the progesterone. I've only been applying it in the a.m., because I don't know my hormone levels. My doctor said there's no use testing my hormone levels, since I'm allergic to ingredients in HRT. So, I'm starting off slow, because I don't know what I'm high or low in. I gave up on doctors. 3 doctors, and none will test my hormones. Just because I can't take their medications doesn't mean I don't have the right to know what's going on with my body. I always assumed lab tests were to keep the patient informed - not just the doctor. I was beyond frustrated. Slowly but surely, though, I've found changes I can make that have helped me. You gals and your suggestions have been making this transition go a lot smoother than if I'd had to handle it on my own.
Thank you! I didn't realize the reason for twice a day. I put mine on in the morning, so I'm not likely to see much difference in my insomnia without the evening application. The reason I did it only once a day is that I have a LOT of allergies and reactions to meds. Like your mom, I was unable to take birth control pills. I tried the birth control shot and ended up hospitalized, but I was so bad off that I don't remember much about that. I can't even take most over the counter medications (decongestants, antihistamines, etc.) Vaccines usually put me in the hospital. I didn't get hospitalized when I took the shingles shot, but couldn't get out of bed for two weeks without dizzy spells. It caused a rash (I still have it - 3 months later), my skin burned and itched, migraines, etc. It was awful. I can't even use soap that has artificial fragrances in it. So, I went very sparing with the natural progesterone. I've been using it for a week, though, so if I was going to have a reaction, it would have happened by now. So, now that I know the reason for using it twice daily, I'll start using it in the evening too. I'm not too worried about spotting. I have uterine fibroids that make me bleed for 30 to 60 days at a time. It's so heavy that after the last episode (a couple of months ago), I'm still taking iron and chlorophyll. My iron levels dropped to 21! I'm not a candidate for any kind of treatment for the fibroids, because they can't put me under for any of the procedures. The good news is that most women's fibroid issues go away when they are finished with all of the peri menopause stuff. I think I'm close, because I was only having 1 - 3 day periods every three months or so, before the fibroid thing. With the fibroid bleeding, I have no idea what's going on. I figure the progesterone will actually help or it will trigger heavy (fibroid) bleeding. If it helps, I'll stay on it. If it makes it worse, I'll stop. Either way, I'll feel like I tried, and if it ends up helping, the rest of my transition should be fairly smooth sailing.
Oh, I don't know what the inserts say nowadays, but decades ago, when I tried the pill, my doctor gave me a sample & it came with a fold out sheet. I remember, because I had young eyes back then, but actually had to use a magnifying glass to read the tiny print. Yes, increased risk of breast cancer (as well as several other types of cancers) was listed amongst a whole bunch of other side effects and warnings. I remember being reluctant to take the things. It was inconvenient to not be able to take the pill, but I've got to admit that that list was scary and I've always been glad that I couldn't take it. It gave me an excuse to not have to put my body at risk. My mom and sister couldn't take the pill either, and so far (Mom is in her 70s), no breast cancer. 2 men in my family have had skin cancer and we've had 2 family members with colon cancer - both successfully treated. So far, none of the female cancers have occurred on either side of our family. So, even though the pill has changed over the years, I think there's still a link between taking it (especially for years) and breast, uterine, cervical cancer. Anyways I wanted to thank you for your post. I'm going to start applying progesterone cream morning and night. I'm hoping for something that resembles sleep. I've always had insomnia (except when I was a child and slept walked every night), but this is beyond insomnia. I'm lucky if I can get 2 hours a week and it's so light that I'm aware of everything that's going on. I'll feel like I'm sleeping, but I can hear the dog's nails on the wood bowl heading to his water bowl. It's driving me nuts! No wonder my brain doesn't work. No sleep and low iron is a bad combo. The iron is getting better and I get tested in a couple of weeks to verify, so now I'm working hard on the sleep thing.
You're so very welcome! I just remembered that when I first started using natural progesterone cream in April 2021, I only used 1/8 tsp at bedtime because I wasn't sure how I was going to react. The instruction sheet for my Emerita cream says that menopausal women can use 1/8-1/4 tsp twice daily.Thank you! I didn't realize the reason for twice a day. I put mine on in the morning, so I'm not likely to see much difference in my insomnia without the evening application. The reason I did it only once a day is that I have a LOT of allergies and reactions to meds. Like your mom, I was unable to take birth control pills. I tried the birth control shot and ended up hospitalized, but I was so bad off that I don't remember much about that. I can't even take most over the counter medications (decongestants, antihistamines, etc.) Vaccines usually put me in the hospital. I didn't get hospitalized when I took the shingles shot, but couldn't get out of bed for two weeks without dizzy spells. It caused a rash (I still have it - 3 months later), my skin burned and itched, migraines, etc. It was awful. I can't even use soap that has artificial fragrances in it. So, I went very sparing with the natural progesterone. I've been using it for a week, though, so if I was going to have a reaction, it would have happened by now. So, now that I know the reason for using it twice daily, I'll start using it in the evening too. I'm not too worried about spotting. I have uterine fibroids that make me bleed for 30 to 60 days at a time. It's so heavy that after the last episode (a couple of months ago), I'm still taking iron and chlorophyll. My iron levels dropped to 21! I'm not a candidate for any kind of treatment for the fibroids, because they can't put me under for any of the procedures. The good news is that most women's fibroid issues go away when they are finished with all of the peri menopause stuff. I think I'm close, because I was only having 1 - 3 day periods every three months or so, before the fibroid thing. With the fibroid bleeding, I have no idea what's going on. I figure the progesterone will actually help or it will trigger heavy (fibroid) bleeding. If it helps, I'll stay on it. If it makes it worse, I'll stop. Either way, I'll feel like I tried, and if it ends up helping, the rest of my transition should be fairly smooth sailing.
