When a woman’s body changes in midlife, she is often told to eat less, exercise more, and try harder. Debbie Harris explains why weight during and after menopause is more complicated than willpower, and why another punishing diet is rarely the answer.

Why is this conversation so personal for you?

I was an overweight child who was ridiculed, so weight was never just a number for me. It became tangled with belonging, confidence, and whether I felt acceptable. Food was my friend (or so I believed) to quell feelings of loneliness and shame. I spent decades trying to make peace with food and my body, and I eventually wrote Dieting Sucks for Women Over 40: 30 to Life because I knew how exhausting the cycle could be.

Before menopause, I was able to lose weight, even though I always gained it back. It was a feast-or-famine way of dealing with food. In other words, I never did figure out how to stop obsessing about my weight and learn to be a Freedom Eater.

Then menopause changed the conversation again in post-menopause. Perimenopause didn’t impact my weight (maybe because I was going through a divorce); one stressor outperformed another. It was post-menopause. My body responded differently, and the strategies that once seemed reliable no longer produced the same results.

No matter what “diet” I tried, the weight wouldn’t budge. Months of keto, Atkins, and intermittent fasting made no difference.

Read more : https://womensjournal.com/why-doesnt-my-old-diet-work-anymore/