Many women find it challenging to keep a healthy weight as they get closer to menopause. For most, it's a gradual change that tends to happen in their forties and fifties.
In a nutshell, here is why it happens...
During a woman’s 20s, it’s common to become less active than during your school years, especially if you were involved in team sports. As activity levels decrease, lean muscle mass can gradually be replaced by fat, which takes up more space in the body. This can lead to maintaining the same weight but gaining inches over time. When the body runs out of places to store excess fat in muscles, it often starts storing it in the abdomen. But here’s the good news: you don’t have to carry those extra pounds forever, even if you’re experiencing perimenopause. Midlife is actually a wonderful opportunity to reinvent yourself in many ways, including your physical health!
How to get Started
Lose the Stagnation
Getting active has so many benefits for your mind and body. Along with regular exercise, try making choices that allow you to be more active. This could be taking the stairs instead of the elevator, going for a walk while you're catching up with a friend on the phone, doing some yoga while watching a show and so much more.
Weight Training
Weight training is a fantastic way to build muscle mass. Don’t underestimate your strength by sticking to those five-pound weights. Many women find that with time and practice, they can comfortably use 10-, 12-, 15-, and even 20-pound dumbbells regularly. Just make sure to learn proper form when working with weights. If you need recommendations for a strength training plan, ask your local YMCA/gym. Sometimes they will do the initial plan set up for free! In addition, you can build muscle mass without needing any fancy equipment. There are lots of exercises you can do using your own body weight.
Regular Exercise
Exercise offers so many wonderful benefits beyond just building lean muscle mass. It helps lower the stress hormone cortisol, which can be linked to increased insulin, fluid retention, sugar cravings and weight gain. Plus, just one session of aerobic exercise can have a positive effect on your blood vessels, improving circulation by stimulating the release of nitric oxide from the smooth muscle in the vessel walls.
Follow the 80/20 Rule
Try to eat healthily about 80% of the time or more. This means enjoying a variety of fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins like chicken, fish, soy, egg whites, pork, or beef. It’s also helpful to eat fewer refined carbohydrates that offer little nutritional value like certain types of bread, pasta, cookies, and cakes. And remember, it’s perfectly okay to treat yourself to dessert now and again. In fact, it’s important to enjoy those moments!
Go Against the Grain
Believe it or not, many women in midlife find that they need to reduce or even eliminate grain products, including whole grains. Grains can have negative unwanted effects on our bodies. Additionally, many people have sensitivities to wheat that don’t show up as typical allergy symptoms like a runny nose or itchy eyes. Instead, these sensitivities can manifest as cravings for wheat and bloating.
Eat Protein at Breakfast
Set up healthy fat burning throughout the day. Eating protein early in the day — along with healthy omega-3 fats, plus or minus some healthy carbs — sets the stage for your metabolism for the rest of the day.
Don't Eat After 8:00 PM
Studies have shown that the calories you eat earlier in the day are far more apt to be burned up while those you eat just before bedtime tend to stick around as fat. This can also help regulate blood sugar management during the night and help you sleep better. It's important for our bodies to spend time repairing and restoring during the night, not overworking to digest food. If there is one night where you're starving and you want to eat something, that's okay! Just make sure on a regular basis you're listening to your body and not overdoing the late-night snacking.
Eat More Protein
Protein increases the hormone glucagon, which helps the body release stored fat. Adding protein to your diet can help prevent that late afternoon blood sugar drop, which often leaves us feeling ravenous. By including protein in your meals, you can maintain steady energy levels throughout the day and avoid those intense cravings.
Healthy Meals and Snacks
Nourish yourself with healthy meals and snacks throughout the day to keep your blood sugar levels steady and balanced. That means a mid-morning snack at about 10:00 a.m. (an apple and some low-fat string cheese is one of my favorites), a healthy lunch (tuna over salad greens with vinaigrette dressing), a mid-afternoon snack (celery with peanut butter or a nutrition bar) and then a light dinner (broiled fish, a salad, grilled vegetables).
Avoid Empty Calories
Some foods might not be worth the calories to you, like most snack foods such as potato chips and soda, which are mostly empty calories. If you’re craving something sweet, consider skipping the soda and treating yourself to a brownie instead. It’s a more satisfying choice for the same number of calories. In addition, try recreating one of your favorite sweet treats or high calorie meals with a healthier, lower calorie recipe. There are thousands of healthy recipes online from savory to sweet options.
Monitor Portion Size
We often eat everything that’s on our plates. One of the simplest and easiest ways to lose excess weight is by reducing portion sizes. When dining out, consider sharing an entrée with someone and ordering a large salad for yourself.
Sleep Off the Pounds
Most people need a minimum of eight hours of sleep per night. Some need even more! Sleep deprivation results in high cortisol levels, which can lead to weight gain and additional emotional stress!
Lighten Up On All Levels
Our bodies reflect our thoughts and beliefs about ourselves and our lives. When our thoughts and beliefs become lighter and more positive, it becomes easier to lose weight and keep it off. We shape our bodies, health, and weight one thought at a time. And we can start to lose weight with one thought and one choice at a time. You have the power to make these choices.
Healthy Eating Plan During Menopause
Eat at least three meals per day.
Many women often skip breakfast or lunch, thinking they can ‘save’ their calories for dinner. However, this approach can be tricky because our metabolic rate peaks around noon and slows down afterward. This means that the food you eat at night is more likely to be stored as fat. By eating breakfast, you kick-start your metabolism for the day. Skipping it can slow your metabolism down, leading to weight gain. Eating meals at regular times throughout the day helps keep your blood sugar levels balanced.
Eat protein at each meal.
Eggs, fish, lean meat, dairy or vegetarian alternatives to animal protein, such as soy protein powder, whole soybeans, tofu, or tempeh, are all good choices
Cut down on refined and high-glycemic index carbohydrates.
Not all carbohydrates are created equal. Whether certain foods with a high-glycemic index, such as baked potatoes or bananas, can be part of a healthy diet for you depends upon your unique metabolism. If you find yourself craving carbohydrates often, it’s important to discover which foods are healthiest for you. By limiting refined carbohydrates, you can help your body burn stored fat and maintain normal insulin and blood sugar levels.
Consume whole grains in moderation.
Even if you have eliminated refined grains, if you are a carbohydrate-sensitive person you may still have problems with whole wheat, whole rye, whole oat or millet flour. Research shows that the degenerative diseases that currently plague Americans didn’t arrive on the scene until agriculture became widespread.
Eat a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables daily.
Try to aim for five servings per day. And remember, a serving is approximately four ounces or a half-cup. Think color and you’ll be on the right path, because the deep pigments in these foods contain powerful antioxidants. Go for broccoli, green leafy vegetables, berries, red, yellow and green peppers and tomatoes. Vary your choices through the seasons to keep it fun and new!
Eat healthy fats each day.
The low-fat diet trends of the past, especially in the 1980s and early 1990s, led many women to believe that all fat was bad. In their efforts to cut out saturated fat, many ended up eliminating all fats from their diets. This can lead to issues like sallow skin, brittle hair and nails, increased susceptibility to infections, difficulty concentrating, and even weight gain despite following a strict no/low-fat diet. The body needs healthy fats. Essential fatty acids (EFAs), namely omega–3, are needed to assist the body in many important functions, including those of the brain and nervous system. Good sources of EFAs include eggs, avocados, high-quality flax seeds, soybeans, walnuts and cold-water fish harvested from the wild. Again, the best way to obtain nutrients is in your food, but if needed, high-quality EFA supplements are widely available.
Protect your body with antioxidants.
Antioxidants combat cellular damage from free radicals, which are known to be a cause of chronic conditions such as heart disease, cataracts, macular degeneration and cancer. Antioxidants are found in fresh fruits and vegetables, especially brightly colored ones. Food is the best source for antioxidants, but if you don’t always get enough in your diet, high-quality supplements can provide significant protection.
Foods to Avoid During Menopause
Caffeine
Even one cup of coffee in the morning can disrupt sleep at night. Coffee is also a bladder irritant and may cause you to wake up at night to urinate.
Alcohol
Alcohol is a sedative, but it also disrupts the brain-stem sleep mechanism, resulting in rebound insomnia — meaning that you are more apt to awaken in the middle of the night because your body will need more sedative to get back to sleep.
Processed Foods
Vegetables, fruits, and whole grains are better choices because they are low in fat, contain more fiber and will help you feel good from within.
Care you will love.