How to Combat Menopause Weight Gain
You’ve been slim and trim your whole life, and then, sometime between 40 and 50, you gained some mystery pounds. Why are they mystery pounds? Because you didn’t change your exercise routine, you didn’t change what you ate, but the weight just piled on. That’s called “menopause weight gain.” Welcome to menopause, ladies.
And gentlemen, keep reading so that you can give some helpful advice to your mothers, wives, sisters, etc.
Original Source: here.
So what happens during menopause? Why is there unexplained menopause weight gain? There are a number of reasons (and if you prefer to watch a video on the topic you can do so here):
Decline in Estrogen
During menopause, your ovaries stop producing estrogen. Fortunately, there are 2 other organs that can make it: your adrenal glands (which are an almond-sized gland on top of your kidneys) and your fat cells. Yes, fat cells can make estrogen. So your fat cells are making the estrogen that your ovaries aren’t.
So for women who go into menopause with a good weight and body fat percentage, it’s actually desirable to gain 4-10 pounds of fat. Why? Because women who do experience:
- Better sleep
- Better skin quality
- Better mood
- Fewer hot flashes
Now that’s only if you went into menopause with a good weight to begin with. But what if you had too much body fat even before menopause? Then fat gain is certainly undesirable.
Adrenal Fatigue
Remember the other organ that can make estrogen? It’s your adrenal glands. If your adrenal glands are “tired”, it’s going to cause imbalances in a lot of other hormones, including insulin, estrogen, progesterone, testosterone and others. And as I’m very fond of saying during my speaking engagements, “your hormones determine your body fat far more than calories.”
Original source: here.
Thyroid Issues
Your thyroid is a butterfly-shaped gland that sits in your throat, and it’s the gas pedal on your metabolism. Unfortunately when your adrenal glands start to malfunction, they drag the thyroid down along with it. The result? A slower metabolism.
Food Sensitivities
Food sensitivities (which are not the same as allergies) play a role in all of the above. But you might think “I don’t have any food sensitivities.” Maybe. But most likely you do. See, you don’t really know what you’re sensitive to, unless you either run lab tests or do the elimination diet. And menopause tends to create new sensitivities to things you weren’t sensitive to in the past.
How Do You Lose Weight During Menopause?
- Get good, restful sleep. Go to bed before 11PM. Wake up after 6-7AM. Ideally, you would take less than 15 minutes to fall asleep, and not wake up throughout the night for any reason. Boring? Common sense? Not exotic? Maybe. But brutally effective. Sleep affects so many of the reasons for menopause-related fat gain, it makes not sense to not do it. For one thing, it gives your adrenal glands some much-needed rest. If your adrenals are working better, so will your thyroid and estrogen.
- Identify your food sensitivities. Either run laboratory tests, like IgG, IgE, IgA and IgM (these can be done through Dr. John Dempster) or do the elimination diet.
- Stay away from long-duration cardio. No fitness classes (besides gentle ones, like yoga and pilates), no bootcamps, no long-duration jogging or swimming. All these things contribute to excessive cortisol in the body. Especially the menopausal body. If you really crave those activities, wait until after menopause. Instead, participate in some more gentle activities, like light walking, gardening, tai chi, yoga etc. Oh, and it certainly wouldn’t hurt to do some strength training to keep your bones from deteriorating. Walking, gardening, yoga, etc. are all great activities, and will benefit your heart and your muscles, but they do nothing for bone strengthening. That only comes from correct strength training.
- Eat the proper plate. Half of your plate should be veggies. A quarter of your plate should be meat, fish or seafood, and another quarter should be starches (like quinoa, buckwheat, sweet potatoes, etc.). There should also be 1-3 teaspoons per meal of healthy fats, like olive oil, grapeseed oil, coconut oil, butter (yes, butter!!!), avocados, etc. And I can hear what you’re thinking “this makes sense for lunch and dinner, but what about breakfast?” EAT THE SAME THING FOR BREAKFAST!!! Not the exact same meal, but the same template. Veggies for breakfast? YES! Meat, fish or seafood for breakfast? YES! This isn’t for my benefit, it’s for yours. Try it for just 1 month, and see what happens to your weight and waist circumference.
These are all good general guidelines, but if you want a more customized approach, for your body, and you need somebody to hold you by the hand every step of the way, let me know.
