How to Lose Weight After Menopause

A lot of audiences, clients and readers ask me how to lose weight after menopause. Why is it so hard? And how can you overcome the difficulty?

That’s what we’ll explore in this article.

After all, if you’re a woman between the ages of 45 and 55, you might have noticed some unpleasant changes, like:

• Weight gain – so your clothes are starting to feel tight, and you don’t like the way you look in pictures
• That weight is around your belly and love handles – and you don’t like it
• You don’t sleep as well
• Your energy levels are down

And worst of all, what used to work for you in your 20s and 30s no longer does.

Never mind all the other changes that can come along at that time of your life, like:

• Hot flashes, which embarrass you at business meetings and family gatherings
• Foggy brain – you can’t focus, and you forget easily. You have a lot of things on the “tip of your tongue”
• Dry skin

…and more.

Well, let’s talk about how to get rid of a good chunk of those pesky issues. And although the information in this article is general, if you want an approach that’s specifically tailored to your unique body, feel free to fill out this questionnaire to see if you qualify to work with us.

Original source: here.

Why is it Hard to Lose Weight After Menopause?

So you’ve been slim and trim your whole life, and now, after 40, you’ve gained a few pounds – it seems without any changes in exercise and nutrition. Or, you might have already had a few extra pounds, and now it’s a few more than a few.

In either case, something is going on in your body. And it’s not good.

So what is it that makes losing weight after menopause so hard? There are a number of factors:

Factor #1: Less Muscle

Every pound of muscle you have burns about 6 calories per day. Doesn’t sound like much, but imagine losing 10 pounds of muscle. Now, you burn 60 calories per day fewer than if you had those 10 pounds of muscle. Multiply that by 7 days, and you’re burning 420 calories per week fewer than if you had those 10 pounds of muscle.

So even though you might be eating the same type and amount of food as you did in your 20s and 30s, you’re no longer burning as much.

The average age of menopause is 51. But “average” means that some women get there earlier, and some get there later. So in one study, the results showed that women who are menopausal have lower muscle mass than women who are not menopausal, but of the same age.

Factor #2: Poor Sleep

With hormonal changes, sleep can get interrupted. Either:

• It takes you a long time to fall asleep, or…
• You fall asleep just fine, but you wake up throughout the night, or…
• You wake up at 4-5 in the morning, and can’t fall back asleep, or…
• You fall asleep fine, you stay asleep fine, but you wake up and you don’t feel refreshed.

Regardless of what the issue is, poor sleep (whether quality, or quantity) results in:

• Lower energy levels, so you move around, and fidget less. And small things like that can add up to hundreds of calories per day.
• Decreased effort in the gym, or even a tendency to simply skip the gym
• Increased cravings for foods that you know are bad for you

…none of which are good.

Factor #3: Increased Insulin Resistance

With changes in estrogen, progesterone and testosterone also come changes in insulin. And insulin resistance means that your body makes a lot of insulin, but it’s not doing its job (and its job is to lower blood sugar).

That can give you a hard time losing body fat.

Factor #4: Hormonal Changes

I saved the most obvious for last. Here, I’m specifically referring to changes in estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. In the “stone age”, we used to believe that menopause is nothing more than low estrogen. Oh, how simple life was back then. But that’s not the case. Our knowledge of the hormonal changes that happen during and after menopause is so far ahead now.

These days, we realize that there are actually 12 different hormonal profiles, based on the levels of testosterone, progesterone, and estrogen.

For example:

• Woman 1 might have high estrogen, normal progesterone, and low testosterone
• Woman 2 might have low estrogen, low progesterone, and normal testosterone
• Woman 3 might have normal estrogen, high progesterone, and high testosterone

And yes, there are 12 different variations of this. If you want the full scoop, just pick up Dr. Joseph Collins’ book, Discover Your Menopause Type.

And the crazy thing is that both high and low levels of these hormones can produce excess body fat.

For instance, low testosterone in women will produce high body fat. But so will high testosterone (because it’s usually accompanies by high insulin). Same for estrogen and progesterone. Both high and low levels will produce high body fat. Normal is best.

I talk in much greater detail about how hormones affect body fat in this article.

Why Is Weight Gained in the Stomach?

Another peculiar thing happens during and after menopause. You might have noticed that before menopause, you were a “pear shape.” That is, you stored fat mostly in your buns and thighs, and maybe the backs of your arms.

After menopause, you became an “apple shape.” That is, you started to gain weight in your stomach, and might have even decreased the fat in your buns and thighs (without trying, no less).

Original source: here.

What gives? Why the shift in body fat? Because of your hormones. As I talk about in my article on biosignature, where you store your body fat tells us about your hormonal profile. A pear-shaped profile is indicative of high estrogen levels. An apple-shaped profile is more indicative of cortisol and insulin. There are also deeper explanations for other areas (like your upper back, calf, and others), but those are beyond the scope of this article.

How to Lose Weight After Menopause

So now we know 4 of the factors that contribute to weight gain during menopause (there are more than 4 factors, but we’re trying to keep this article of a reasonable length). How do we address these?

Method #1: Strength Training

If the first factor that causes menopause weight gain is loss of muscle mass, then what should we do to stop, and reverse that? The obvious – increase muscle mass. How do we do that? Strength training. Cardio doesn’t build muscle. Neither does stretching. Although both cardio and stretching are beneficial, muscle gain is not the reason for their benefit.

Strength training is the only type of exercise that can increase muscle mass.

So do some strength training. You’ll see a bit more detail on exercise for menopause weight gain below.

Method #2: Sleep Better

As outlined earlier in this article, poor sleep causes a lot of problems. So fix your sleep. I’ve written extensively about improving your sleep, so if you want to read about that in more detail, check out these articles that I’ve written:

1. How to Sleep Better
2. Supplements for Sleep
3. How Bad Sleep Affects Your Hormones
4. What Happens When You Sleep

Method #3: Hormonal Optimization

Numerous studies show that hormone replacement therapy (HRT) improves body composition. But you should weigh both the risks and the rewards of it, and look at other systems that may need to be optimized (like liver, adrenals, etc.) before HRT is an option.

For these kinds of matters, I send my clients to Dr. John Dempster. He works miracles with them.

So what kinds of results can you expect as a result of improving all of the above? Fortunately, there’s not much of a difference in the speed of fat loss between menopausal women, and younger women.

In one study, the researchers took 2 groups of women, of more or less equal body composition. The only difference between the two groups was their age. One group of women had an average age of 43 years, and the other was 58 years old. Both did the exact same exercise and nutrition program, and both lost the same amount of fat (on average, 14.7 pounds).

Now, of course, that’s done in studies. What about some…

Exercise for Menopause Weight Gain

Exercise for women after menopause isn’t a whole lot different different than exercise for women after menopause.

The basics are covered in my video on exercise for weight loss, and my article on the most important factor in an exercise program (that factor might surprise you).

Original source: here.

But the one major difference between menopausal women and premenopausal women is the emphasis on bone density. With declining estrogen, bone mass also declines, so risk for osteoporosis rises. And if you’re at risk (not all menopausal women are), you should devote some of your exercise program to improve bone strength. Or, if you already have full-blown osteoporosis, check out this article, as well as the exact exercise program that increased Darlene’s bone density.

Success Stories

Since menopause is our bread and butter, I often feature stories of clients we’ve helped lose significant amounts of weight after menopause.

In one article, I wrote about Lynn, who lost 14 pounds in 10 weeks, at age 70. We also did another feature article on how Mary lost 4 inches off her waist, in 8 weeks, in her mid-50s. So yes, it can be done. The success stories are there. Now you know how to lose weight after menopause 🙂

And if you want those same results for yourself, and need help figuring out the process of losing weight after menopause, you can see if you qualify to work with us by filling out this form.