Hi. I look forward to participating here. I'm a very young 40-something mom of 4, happily married and my weight has been the bane of my existence since I can remember--you've heard it before, chubby kid, fat teen/starving teen, fat pregnant woman who ate for a litter not for two, and got fatter after every birth. After ballooning up to 265 pounds with the birth of my last children (twins), over a period of several years I successfully dieted and exercised my way down to 128 pounds (I'm 5 foot 9 inches). I was never happier and stayed like that for about 6 years. Then perimenopause hit (that time when the period becomes irregular). All of a sudden I hate salads and all that good stuff I had been eating. My appetite is OUT OF CONTROL. I want cookies, salt and heavy foods and have to really fight myself not to ingest this stuff. I have kept up the exercising and indeed have increased it, otherwise I'd be humongous, but I am now back up to 158 pounds. Everyone says I look 'healthy' (a euphemysm for hefty) but I feel enormous. My frame is not big so on me it really shows.

Anybody else had to fight weight gain during menopause? Most things I've read have told me not to be too hard on myself but if I do that, I'm liable to keep getting bigger.

Any advice you may have would be most welcome.

P.S. Sorry if this is too much info for an introduction.