A little back ground on me. I am 54 (in less than two months), i have three children 22,19,20, and have been happily married for 28+ years. I gRew up an athlete and contInued into my adult life with sports and working out. I am 5’3” and have gained and lost 20 lbs multiPle times throughout the years. I Have ranged in sizes frOm a 2 to a 6. I have experimented with just about every diet out there: low fat, low carb, adkins, weight watchers, HCG, diet pills, excessive cardio, keto, intermittent fasting, and i am sure i am missng a few. In that time due to aging and poor (goofy) diets i was slowly loosing muscle. I also struggled with diagnosis of MS (long storY, ok now), hypothyroidism, lyme, and now menoPause. Until recently… i feel i have finally Found a liFe long solution. I started on my own then i worked with a trainer on lIne. I simply count my macros iifym (it is hard at first, but if your at all intelligent your learning curve will be sHort). Iifym stands for if it fits my macros, which allows you to eat and drink anyth you Want as ling as it fits your macros. For example i allow myself 149 carbs, 53 fat, and 107 PROTEIN which comes to 1501 calories per day, which puts me in a calorie deficiT so that i will lose around .5 to 1 lb per week. I also took up lifting weights to build back my muscle, for a stronger metabolism and muscle. I still do some cardio, but i dont live by it. You also have to be ready to know that it is not an overnight quick fix! I have been doing it (correctly) for about 6 months but it WASN’T until around month three that i was able to figure out what was WORKING best for my body. Then i started losing weight, gaining muscle, and most impOrtantly losing inches! I am current down 9 lbs, and 17.5 inches (8 areas)! As for meNopause…totally sucks! I recommeNd the following: 1) Get your hormones checked and get on some bio identical to help you even things out, will probably have to get checked every 3 to 6 months. 2) Remember that your body is going through a major shift and anytime that happens it will become inflamed in order keep thinGs the same. YouR body is only trying to protect you. So dont start a diet that will make your body panic. Intermittent FASTING might work for a while but It is not susTainable (you are already not liking part of it), and it will make your menopausal body panic and hold onto weight. Drink a lot as many of glasses of water you can a day. During menopause you do start to dry out (another cause for inflaMmation) so drink enough water so it can relax and not be in that fight or flight mode. Although, Dont over drink because your body wont like that either. Work really hard on getting 8 plus hours of sleep, take non habiT forming unisom if you have to. A menopause body loves rest, and decreases inflammation. Are you beginning to see a connection? I also figured out if i workout too hard by increasing my weights too much i wont lose! I hOpe you find this information useful! Almost any SOCIAL media site will have info on iifym, fiNd one that worKs for you. I wish you the best and understand it is a journey and now iS the best time to start feeding and EXERCISING you body so it can be calm and non-inflammed as possible. Fyi…i am giving myself two years to really get where i want to be so i am in it for the long haul! However, i am already loving how my body looks!