Menopause Weight Loss Advice

A lot of changes are going on when a woman reaches the time of menopause, so menopause weight loss is probably chief among a woman’s concerns, because without changing her regular eating habits or activities, she may find herself suddenly gaining weight when menopause has begun.

Most women are very conscious of their weight issues. Many go the extra mile and regulate what they eat and what kind of exercise they participate in. To be doing all this and still end up gaining a sudden onset of 10 or so pounds, just because menopause is commencing, can be really disheartening. So, menopause weight loss becomes the latest “holy grail.”

You can gather strength, at this time, by understanding what is going on with your body. Menopause—the cessation of menses—is when the estrogen levels that controlled menses are tapering off. However, estrogen does a whole lot more than simply control menses, so when the body realizes it is lacking a very necessary hormone, it goes into damage control mode.

You see, fat can produce estrogen, too. The body knows this and when the balance is out of whack, it will start hoarding the fat for its estrogen production. Of course, this hoarding of fat means you are no longer losing it and new stores are being added. Menopause weight loss can be quite a contradiction of events!

What’s more, some women think a severe restriction of calories will foster menopause weight loss. Far from it. Now, not only does your body hang on to everything its got just for estrogen, it now wants to hang on to everything because it thinks famine has arrived! Primal survival techniques are alive and well in the body, even though famine is no longer an issue for most modern humans. Menopause weight loss is almost an oxymoron because of this situation. Calorie restriction is not the answer to menopause weight loss.

On top of that, in our modern lives, most people (not just the women) are stressed out beyond belief. Stress is a cortisol trigger for the body. It activates the “fight or flight” response and hoarding all reserves is once again the body’s answer. Add to that any other situations a woman might be dealing with, and you got quite a recipe for disaster.

What’s the answer for successful menopause weight loss? The short answer is, get as healthy as you can possibly get. This means:

1. Eat the right kinds of food. Healthy, as fresh as possible and nothing with refined white flour or refined sugar.

2. Drink lots of water. Water is like oil in a car; it keeps things cooled, lubricated and flowing smoothly.

3. Supplement your nutritional needs with mineral and vitamin supplements.

4. Talk to your doctor about estrogen replacement therapy. This is not for every woman, so talking to a physician is absolutely necessary.

5. Take a walk. Or swim. Or dance. Whatever you do, get active. Make it something you’ll enjoy, something you’ll make a habit of and soon, menopause weight loss won’t be an issue for you.

6. De-stress your life. Some things you may not be able to do anything about, but where you can, eliminate that which no longer serves you. For the things you can’t really do anything about, take up meditation. You’ll be amazed at how much easier you will handle those unavoidable stresses, when you take some time out to meditate.

7. Talk therapy will help you through the emotional roller coaster.

Most of all, see this time as “you” time. If you’ve never really taken care of yourself before, because you’ve been taking care of everyone else around you, now is the time to put your foot down and address your changing body’s needs. After all, you can’t help anyone, if you can’t help yourself. Menopause weight loss will not be the monster it first appears when you take care of you.

Related article:
Losing weight after menopause.