Menopause And Weight Gain

Along with hot flushes, joint pain, moodiness, a change in body shape and menopause weight gain are very common. Some people estimate the average amount of weight gained due to menopause as about 10-15 pounds, at a rate of about one pound per year once menopause begins. It’s all caused, unsurprisingly, by the changes in how your body produces hormones that are part and parcel of going through menopause.

Stop That Weight Today

Causes of Menopausal Weight Gain

During menopause, the amounts of the reproductive hormones produced by the body decline and become irregular. Eventually, these hormones cease to be produced altogether.

Weight gain is one side-effect of the reduction in the production of estrogen, progesterone and testosterone. There are a couple of different reasons for this. In the case of estrogen, it’s because fat tissue is another source of estrogen for the body. The body is therefore stimulated to produce more fat tissue in order to compensate for its decreased levels of estrogen.

In the case of testosterone, it’s because less testosterone causes a slowing in the body’s metabolic rate, which means that you burn less calories when you are at rest.Changing body fat distribution

Along with menopausal weight gain, it’s common to experience a change in body shape so that you become rounder around the middle – more of an ‘apple’ than a ‘pear’

You might have noticed that fat is not distributed the same on men as it is on women. For men, body fat tends to appear on the midsection and away from the limbs and buttocks – the classic ‘beer gut’. For women, body fat tends appear on the thighs, buttocks and upper arms, but not on the midsection.

Change the menopausal weight gain now and Live Healthy

Menopause rewrites the rules of body fat distribution for women, so that body fat is distributed more or less evenly all over the body. This is because of a change to the body’s androgen-to-estrogen ratio. Androgen is a primarily male hormone, and so the greater proportion of androgen in menopausal women causes new fat tissue to be distributed about the midsection, like it is for men.

Menopause And Weight Gain – is there anything you can do about it?

Unfortunately there’s no silver bullet for menopausal weight gain. Hormone Replacement Therapy (‘HRT’) may stop weight gain through menopause while you’re on it, but HRT is generally only a short-term measure, and menopause and weight gain will recommence once you discontinue it.

Aside from HRT, the ‘solution’ to weight gain through menopause is the same as for any other weight gain: eat regular, small meals; exercise regularly, and incorporate resistance training into your exercise program. What we do recommend is that you really look at the types of foods you are eating. Now is a good time to introduce healthy, balanced eating habits.

We strongly recommend   Choosing A Healthy Lifestyle  it's never too late!

Also, remember that menopause and the changes it brings to your body are perfectly normal and natural…even if you aren’t particularly thrilled by them!

(Note: The above links on this page are sponsored advertisements for a weightloss program. The owner of this website is not a bona fide user of the weightloss program being recommended)