I'm sure I'm adding muscle, but only in increments of grams--maybe ounces--not pounds. This is my second longish plateau in the process and I've observed that the metabolic slowdown comes with a complete relief from hot flashes (resulting in really full nights' sleeps, and way less discomfort and unseemly sweating in the face during the day), so I can't hate the plateaus.

My acupuncturist was really interested in the correlation, and thought that there must be a thyroid component. We shall see. I wouldn't mind boosting the thyroid, if I could do so without burning up!