u/UnitedAside4734

F, 56, SW: 181 CW: 171.9 and yes I am putting in the decimal!, started Foundayo .8 on August 4. I also started Duavee HRT the same day.

No, not huge weight loss. I’ve been fluctuating between 172-176 for the entire month. I know that’s still within “food weight/water weight” so I guess I’m just losing very slowly. But, that inflammation in ankles/legs that I had for years and that got noticeably more chronic in the past year thanks to menopause? That continues to not show up. I haven’t worn compression socks in quite a while!

Some days I eat far less than TDEE and force down a protein shake because I don’t feel hungry; other days I feel like I could eat everything in sight (but I don’t!). My food noise prior to starting was like this, so I don’t notice a huge difference now. I do notice that I get an upset stomach faster when I eat the “bad stuff” and it can last until the next day. That didn’t really happen before Foundayo. I have no other side effects.

My measurements definitely changed. I’ve lost an inch and a half from my waist, and about 2 inches from my hips as well. I’m very glad to see that the belly fat that showed up last year is beginning to reduce. I’m still wearing the same clothes, mostly size 12 pants . . . but the waistband is getting a little looser. I bought an “aspirational” pair of size 10 pants — they are still a little too snug.

I finally started walking more, about a half hour or more in my neighborhood, for as many days a week as I can. It’s helping my mood, definitely, and I think the walking is probably contributing to any weight loss I have going on now. So, the Foundayo might only be keeping inflammation at bay, but for me, that’s positive. I’m changing my habits faster than my weight. (Still haven’t added a 3rd day of resistance training, though, I don’t know why that feels so tough to do.)

My GP (menopause doc) wants me to stay on this dose for a while longer, probably one more month at least. I don’t expect I’ll lose more than a pound or two. But yeah, psychologically, seeing anything in the 160s would be pretty great. I’ll re-evaluate in another month or so. Wishing all of you the best!

Me: Age 56, F, 5 foot 8. SW: 181 CW: 174.4, GW: 140-150. No gastric symptoms this week at all! No constipation, either. Everything felt very normal.
I don’t feel any aversion to food and I don’t feel that overly-full feeling I had last week. I could easily eat over TDEE if I wanted to, and I could easily skip meals due to distractions (that happened yesterday, actually). Since I don’t feel that overly-full feeling as a cue right now, I’m trying to be REALLY mindful of what I am eating, which is of course good to do with or without Foundayo! (Not obsessive; mindful.) I’m tracking protein and nutrition with MyFitnessPal and working very hard to get close to 150g daily, as that’s around my goal weight. Most times I miss the goal and I’m between 100-120. So I’m spending more time looking for make-ahead recipes to get more protein in, and I keep protein shakes in the car when I’m traveling (I’m a musician who travels long distances for some gigs).
Foundayo now feels like a useful tool to help support me as I make a lot of healthier choices for myself. This is what I wanted it to be. Would I love to have 20 lbs. off of me next month? Sure I would! But I really don’t want to see this weight return, so I know I have to go low and slow on this journey. I’m supporting my body with HRT, supplements to replenish low iron/B12/Vitamin D, and magnesium glycinate to help with sleep (a miracle). I continue to do resistance training and I have added in a little bit of daily walking. I live on a busy street and I procrastinated a lot about going out. This week I said to myself, “you deserve a little walk break and it’s only a few minutes to get to the quiet street where you like to walk, so just go.” That mindset has helped me.
What I am really thrilled about is that I continue to NOT have edema in my feet and ankles. I’ve battled that for years, had to wear compression socks more and more. It got worse over the past year. But in the past 18 days, it’s almost completely resolved!

Me: Age 56, F, SW 181lbs, CW? Started Foundayo as part of post-menopause health improvements. I also started Duavee HRT this week, and am taking supplements to address very low iron, low B12 and low vitamin D. After a couple of years of almost nightly 2am wakeups, I’ve been improving my sleep with magnesium glycinate in the evenings. Have also just upped resistance training from 2x a week to 3x. It feels like things are starting to move in the right direction after a couple of years of feeling like everything was going haywire.

Foundayo update: First week, it felt like nothing was happening except some mild constipation. A sliiiight decrease in food noise — I just didn’t think about food quite as often. I didn’t feel like I had a lot of “noise” to begin with but I did notice that more things distracted me from thinking about food or snacking. My calorie load (@1900-2000) stayed pretty much the same as what it was before, fluctuating even higher 1-2 times that first week. I wondered what was going on with me.

Second week, I’m noticing more symptoms/changes.

1. I ate a DELICIOUS pappardelle pasta with Parmesan cream sauce, pistachios, and dainty little bits of pancetta — and felt queasy all the next day. I finally had the “this food feels like rocks in my stomach” feeling I’ve read about from others; I guess that is the gastric emptying slowing way down. I sipped on fizzy Galeffi water and barely ate for 24 hours. The next day, my appetite rebounded but I can see that my behavior is changing about how much I eat when I do eat.
2. My favorite thing to eat right now at home is a Dense Bean Salad (recipe from The Kitchn) — I can scoop out a little bit at a time and it’s filling and satisfying.
3. This morning I went to my favorite breakfast spot in Provincetown MA — I usually get the full breakfast with sausage, French toast, home fries and eggs, and it’s my main meal of the day. But today, right before the food showed up, I thought, “I don’t want to eat this.” I had to force myself to eat half of it, prioritizing the protein. And now here I am, feeling uncomfortably full to the point of slight nausea. I’m going to get some ginger ale to sip and I am done eating for now. I will probably sip a protein shake later today.
4. Constipation is the new normal — waiting 2-3 days, then staying close to the bathroom for several hours.
5. Right now weight loss/body recomposition for me is still within the realm of . . “It could be water weight.” Pants fit the same, maybe a tiny bit looser. I think slow weight loss has begun; I’ll know more when I get home tomorrow to my regular scale. I chose Foundayo for slow steady loss so I could focus on maintaining other healthy habits at the same time; I hope that’s what’s happening.

Took my first .8 today at 1pm. Had a bit of dizziness and that “floating” feeling reminded me of how it feels when I take Benadryl, but the feeling seems to have worn off after several hours. I also noticed that it felt like I needed to either pass gas or have a loose BM. It was that “never trust a fart” kind of feeling! :P But when I went to the bathroom, things were normal.
Me: I turn 56 tomorrow, F, 5’ 8” 181lbs. I’ve been a happy healthy pear shape all my life, skinny on top and more curvy below, with a much smaller waist. I’ve always had to have the waist of pants taken in. My health has been excellent.
Somehow I sailed through perimenopause, but actual menopause has hit me like a ton of bricks. I have gained 20-25 lbs in the past year despite eating quite well, watching macros and calories and portions, and doing resistance training twice a week. My pear is now an apple. My stomach looks like I’m in my 2nd trimester. I have to wear compression socks most days due to edema in my legs. It all started to go haywire in the past couple of years but especially in the past 9-10 months. I am now the heaviest person in my ladies’ resistance training group, and the only one who’s gained weight while faithfully working out.
I did have a stressful year taking care of a sick family member, and my sleep was very broken up due to that stress and also probably plummeting estrogen. I’ve started to fix the sleep with magnesium glycinate in the evenings, and it’s helping a lot. I hope the improved sleep (and knowing my recovered family member is ok) helps lower my cortisol. I’ve been taking progesterone as well, prescribed by my OB/GYN.
Got a 2nd DEXA scan in April that showed in 8 months I’d gained a pound of muscle and 9 pounds of fat. All they said was “watch your diet.” So I dutifully started dialing in my diet even more in April-May and amping up the protein, but nothing has changed. Good nutrition is important, and steady state is better than weight continually going up. But I am tired of getting new clothes every few months because I have busted out of the old ones. I miss wearing the performing dresses that fit me last year (I’m a singer). And I’m tired of not seeing the muscles I worked hard to get, because they are covered in fluff.
I knew it was time for a different intervention.
I got bloodwork done recently with a new menopause nurse practitioner in my area. Results: Estrogen plummeting, iron very low, B12 and D also low. So I’m starting Duavee soon for HRT, and taking multivitamin supplements to work on the other issues. And, she mentioned trying either metformin or a GLP. Since my bloodwork also showed the beginning of insulin resistance and that’s likely due to menopause inflammation/cortisol, I decided to try a GLP. For my height and age I believe should be weighing somewhere in the 150s. I look really skinny when I’m in the 140s! ;) But I’d be thrilled to be in the 160s again at this point, after struggling at 181 for several months.
I’ve started Foundayo thinking that I don’t need to lose a huge amount of weight, just have some support to slowly lose some of what I’ve gained, while trying to hold on to the muscles I’ve worked hard to develop. And I would rather have the control of a daily pill for now, vs. an injection.
I really appreciate this thread and enjoy reading your stories. Thanks for your support.