Counting Calories and Body "Age"

Hi!

Like many women who've posted here, I've started to experience stubborn weight gain (my total hysterectomy was in October 2009). I've become about as swollen as I was this past December after I had a laparoscopy to remove some stubborn endometriosis.

It seems to have happened overnight - a few months ago, I was maintaining weight no problem. Within the past couple of months, that's changed. I'm presently around 8 pounds overweight and climbing.

I'm turning my attention to calorie counting and a friend made an interesting comment. She suggested that even though my chronological age is 42, that my body's "age" and metabolism might be similar to someone older because of the hysterectomy. Her suggestion in relation to determining appropriate caloric intake was to plug in an older age (i.e., 50 year-old woman) with the calorie calculators. (The recommended caloric intake for 42 is 1,800 calories; for 50 is 1,500 calories.)

I've been on low dose Novelle dot (.05) since my hysterectomy, really no changes in eating habits (still wavering between healthy and unhealthy), exercising more (increasing my running miles), and doing light ab work two days a week.

I have an appointment for a physical in a few weeks and will get bloodwork done to see if anything could be going on but wanted to get thoughts on what you all think about adjusting my caloric intake to reflect that of someone older who hasn't had a hysterectomy.

Kim

Kim,
That doesn't sound out of the norm to me. We are now menopausal afterall. And we are getting older. I have found that losing weight is not as easy as when I was in my 20's and 30's and is even more difficult as I am nearing the big 50!

When I was about 20 I had put on alot of weight, finally did something about it, it only took me a few months to shed 50 lbs. Than in my early 30's I had put on a few lbs, took me no time to shed those extra pounds. Flash forward to now, I'd like to take off about 10 lbs but it's not coming off like it did before. I have shed about 4 lbs, but it's taken awhile to get there. Patience, patience, patience. And I do know my pants and shorts are much looser, so I am okay with that. This means I am not as bloated.