Menopause and Weight Loss

Say goodbye to your youthful body .

Weight gain is inevitable .

Bye bye .

Abs , your life is over .

You've hit menopause .

It's undeniable .

Your body is gonna change with menopause .

But this doesn't have to mean the end to your aesthetic goals .

It doesn't have to mean accepting weight gain and belly fat .

So how can you avoid the dreaded weight gain ?

That often happens with menopause , especially when it feels like no matter what you try , the fat continues to creep on .

How can you prevent your waist from growing when everything you've done doesn't work ?

And often even seems to make things worse .

First , it's key .

We understand the changes that our body goes through during menopause and why it can feel like we gain weight .

Even when we look at a cookie , then I'll explain why your previous dieting and workout practices that always worked in the past will no longer cut it before we dive into what we can do to still get results .

So the question is why do we gain weight with menopause as we enter menopause ?

Our hormone levels are fluctuating dramatically and levels of the hormone estrogen actually drop these low levels of estrogen can actually increase our appetite and reduce satiety .

So if you've been feeling like you're hungrier than you used to be eating the same amount .

It isn't your mind playing tricks on you .

It is actually the drop in estrogen impacting how full you feel lower levels of estrogen can also reduce activation of brown fat , which is the metabolically active body fat that burns energy .

So if we have a lower energy expenditure , we simply don't need to consume as many calories as we used to .

In order to maintain our weight .

Not to mention , as we get older in general , it becomes harder to build and retain lean muscle , which is key to a higher metabolic rate .

Basically , our energy expenditure and basal metabolic rate both drop with menopause and that's a bad combo .

We feel hungrier , yet our body actually needs less energy consumed to survive .

It's a recipe for weight gain .

Not to mention some of the side effects from menopause like mood swings and sleeping problems don't lend themselves to us wanting to stay on track with our eating or always being motivated to work out when we should sleep .

Deprivation has actually been shown to make our brain's reward system more susceptible to the appeal of junk food .

Even basically , there are a lot of things working against us and even some of our previous dieting and workout practices might actually be holding us back .

But recognizing this is the first step in actually being able to find a way forward and get the results we want .

Now how have your previous dieting and workout habits potentially made the issues worse .

We need to stop the fat dieting that trying to out exercise our diet cycle , which often holds us back when we're trying to lose weight during menopause the earlier on we can stop that , the more we set ourselves up for success .

Otherwise those previous dieting practices are gonna come back to haunt us too often .

We've lost weight in the past by slashing our calories super low or cutting out whole food groups or doing a ton of steady state cardio or training extra to burn more calories .

We focused on doing more .

But these dieting and exercise practices may not only have been unsustainable long term , they could now be compounding some of the issues we see with menopause basically , just because you could get away with something when you're younger .

Doesn't mean you should have all these improper dieting training practices actually created cracks in our foundation cracks .

We didn't realize till later on when we had problems with our entire house .

Now , you may be thinking , ok , well , I can't go back in time and that's true .

But this is incentive to change how we train and fuel as soon as we can , we need to stop focusing on simply eating less and training more if we want to set ourselves up for long term success drop .

Those old habits , even if they used to work and get ready to train your body based on what it needs .

Now , with long term success in mind , and that's why I want to share these four tips to help you avoid or even reverse the dreaded weight gain .

Often associated with menopause tip .

Number one , don't overdo the deficit with menopause our energy expenditure and metabolic rate .

Both drop with getting older .

We struggle more to build and retain lean muscle , which means we burn fewer calories during the day .

Outside of our workouts .

As we get older , we also tend to become less active .

And a more sedentary lifestyle also means fewer calories burn during the day .

So all this means we technically need to consume fewer calories to survive .

Now , you may be questioning why I mentioned not overdo the deficit and this is because it perpetuates many of the metabolic adaptations we already see occurring with menopause and with getting older , when you eat less , you train your body to need less your metabolism adapts .

It's why previous dieting practices come into play .

If you've always lost weight through extreme calorie deficits , you've essentially taught your body to function off of fewer calories .

It's why for long term success , you want to create less of a calorie deficit .

Even if it means technically seeing slower losses on the scale , this smaller deficit will also help you focus more on fat loss without as much risk for muscle loss and that's essential as we get older .

Since we already struggle to build and routinely muscle , we wanna make sure we're fueling properly to preserve that muscle mass and keep our metabolic rate as high as possible .

So , if you wanna lose weight and you're struggling , don't jump to slashing your calories extra low .

Instead try to create even less of a deficit than you may have in the past and get ready to stick with those habits .

Long term , instead of slashing calories , super low track your food and focus on those macros and one macro in particular , tip number two , focus on protein .

As we get older , we can develop anabolic resistance , which means we're less able to utilize protein as efficiently , which makes consuming enough protein even more important .

We want to do everything we can to promote muscle growth and retention .

Not only does more muscle mean a higher resting metabolic rate , but it also means we'll look leaner as we lose body fat , it also simply helps us stay functionally stronger as we get older .

And while I'm talking about increasing protein to help with weight loss during menopause , it is truly key at every age because a high protein diet has been the only diet shown to help you build and retain lean muscle even while eating in a calorie deficit .

Not to mention , high protein diets have been shown to prevent unwanted fat gain if you do even eat in a surplus .

By increasing your protein intake , you give yourself a bit more wiggle room on those calories and can help yourself create an appropriate deficit to lose fat without putting your heart earned muscle at risk .

Muscle .

You want to do everything you can to maintain as you go through menopause .

And when I'm talking about increasing protein here , I'm not only talking about eating more animal protein , actually , including some more soy may be beneficial , especially during menopause .

Even just increasing your tofu portion in a meal by an ounce or two can go a long way in increasing your daily protein intake .

Not to mention , a number of studies have shown that soy can reduce some of the symptoms often associated with menopause .

So if you're plant-based or even an Omnivore , you can increase your protein intake to improve your body composition while even potentially helping lessen some of those menopausal symptoms by consuming more soy .

Another great way to increase protein that can have a positive benefit for weight loss while also helping improve your bone mineral density is collagen .

Now note all supplements should always be supplemental and the focus should be on whole natural foods to hit those macros , but it's never bad to have other tools at your disposal .

I also think it's key to note that while I'm talking about tips to avoid menopausal weight gain , high protein diets can also help improve bone density and prevent osteoporosis .

Two things , we are more at risk for .

After we go through menopause , the amino acids and protein are used to build bone and because protein increases muscle mass , there can also be an increase in bone strength studies have even started looking at whether or not we need to increase our protein recommendations for older adults to help prevent an increased occurrence of fractures and protein .

Not only makes up all of our tissues , making it important for our bone and muscle health , but helps carry the oxygen that reddens .

Our blood combines with sterols to form hormones and is even needed to carry fat and cholesterol throughout our bodies .

This means that getting more protein can even help prevent increased skin fragility and decreased immune function , improved brain functioning and quality of sleep and even lower blood pressure .

And if you're going through menopause , you probably felt at times you suffer from menopause brain and a lack of sleep .

So better brain functioning and improved quality of sleep are key and even more reason to increase that protein .

Tip .

Number three , don't fear fats , fats don't make you fat .

So you should never fear consuming fat when you're trying to lose weight , especially if you're going through menopause while carbs are not evil and you may need more carbs .

If you're extremely active or an endurance athlete , lower carb ratios during menopause may be more helpful for weight loss and especially if you're finding yourself more sedentary .

Recently , you don't need the immediate fuel of a higher carb diet .

So lowering your carb intake can aid in that weight loss process .

If you aren't able to increase your activity level right away , increasing your fat intake , especially your omega three intake will also help reduce inflammation which often increases during menopause and therefore , aids in the weight loss process as well .

Consuming more fish or shellfish to increase your omega three .

Not to mention your protein intake can be key if you can't , there are always fish , oil supplements and plant based forms of omega threes .

Macadamia nuts are great for instance .

And on top of reducing inflammation to help expedite the fat loss process .

Increasing your omega three intake can also reduce hot flash occurrences while improving bone mineral density at the hips and spine .

Tip .

Number four includes strength training in your routine .

Building and retaining lean muscle is key period .

And while you can technically not work out and see weight loss results , you need to include strength training .

If you want to build muscle , you can build muscle using body weight training .

The key is progressing moves as you adapt by using harder variations or by increasing instability or range of motion or more time under tension or greater training density .

Just to name a few ways you can create progression without loads , but you don't want to just default to doing more cardio because that worked in the past especially steady state cardio which can be catalog to muscle tissue as we go through menopause , we need to do everything in our power to fight against the metabolic slowdown .

And that means building muscle .

If you enjoy cardio activities , you don't need to cut them out .

But as you enter menopause find ways to include even short strength workouts a few times a week , menopause presents us with new challenges when it comes to weight maintenance .

And the sooner we can implement key lifestyle habits , the more we can even avoid gaining weight at all .

Don't feel like menopause though means you have to accept belly fat and a sluggish metabolism .

Using these four tips , you can reverse menopausal weight gain and reduce some of the symptoms , not to mention .

Look fabulous until well , the day you die .

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