Weight Gain: Waist not, want not during menopause
Fun, fun, fun. We are eating and exercising exactly as we always have been but still gaining weight. Research is mixed whether menopause causes us to get fat, or whether it is just simply a matter of aging (losing muscle tone and lower metabolic rate), and poor food choices. Whatever the cause, proper nutrition and exercise can control our weight, improve symptoms, prevent some diseases and make you feel and look great. Before you get all depressed about your weight gain, read this article about the
benefits of weight gain during menopause.
During our childbearing years most of us gained weight in our hips and thighs, but now we will notice the fat starting to settle around our abdomen. This is only partly due to our loss of estrogen, it is also due to our lowered metabolism as we age. So, we can’t blame it all on menopause. Unfortunately, the extra fat around our middle can lead to many diseases and is quite dangerous to our health. A little extra weight can protect us from osteoporosis. According to The North American Medical Society women who weigh less than 127 lbs are at an increased risk of developing osteoporosis. The fall in estrogen also causes our appetite to increase. With a proper diet high in fruit, vegetables, whole grains, healthy proteins and healthy fats we can still feel satisfied.
MUSCLE LOSS AND METABOLISM Around mid-life our metabolism slows down and we tend to lose muscle mass. Because muscles burn more calories than fat, even when we are relaxing, we burn fewer calories in general. This results in an average gain of about one pound a year. This is why we must work on our fitness level, and in particular, we must focus on strength training to tone our muscles in addition to cardiovascular conditioning. Weight Gain and Menopause: Weight Matters: May 2, 2010. This article states that menopause is not the cause of weight gain, but it goes hand in hand due to decreased activity level and a lower metabolism. Your weight at 25 years-old and 50 years-old may be the same, but you'll look different due to a decrease in muscle tone and increased belly fat. Research has shown that physically fitter older women going through menopause have more gray brain matter and perform better on memory tests than their less physically fit peers, . Aerobic Activity and Memory.
THE SILVER LINING The silver lining is that a few extra pounds may have a protective function against osteoporosis as we age. The other great news is that most of us don’t care quite us much anymore about a little extra weight. Our sense of self isn’t as tightly knitted to our dress size as it used to be.
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Health Tip
Drink green tea to lose weight. Green tea increases energy production and stimulates fat oxidation in the body.
On average women gain five pounds during perimenopause, with some women gaining much, much more.
