Answers to Your Questions About Weight Gain and Menopause
Answers to Your Questions About Weight Gain
Q: Why am I gaining weight?
A: This is a common women’s health issue during menopause. The changes in hormone levels are what cause weight gain during menopause, not overeating. The changing hormones affect your metabolism and also how the fat in your body is stored. Since fat cells contain estrogen, your body will tend to create more fat in an attempt to balance the levels out.
Combine this with a lower metabolism and hot flashes which may keep you from exercising as much as you once did and you will find yourself gaining weight. 90% of women suffer from unwanted weight gain during the perimenopause and menopause.
Q: Are my hormones causing the weight gain?
A drop in testosterone also contributes to the increase in weight gain during perimenopause and menopause. This hormone usually helps you produce lean muscle which keeps your metabolism up. With a lower level of testosterone, your metabolism will also go down.
A: Yes. The fact of the matter is that your body is changing and the drop in estrogen levels makes your body store fat in higher quantities than before, mostly around your middle. The lower progesterone levels can make you retain water, adding to the weight gain temporarily, as in PMS. This will go away, while the extra pounds added through fat cells will be harder to get rid of.
Q: Why is all the weight I’m gaining around my stomach and thighs?
A: The way your body stores fat changes during menopause. The “middle age spread” is the fault of a hormone called androgen, which increases as the progesterone and estrogen decrease. Androgen causes the body to store fat in new places, namely your abdomen, hips and thighs.
Q: How does my lifestyle affect weight gain?
A: There are many lifestyle factors that can affect your weight gain during the premenopause and menopause years. One of the main ones is stress. If you have a high stress job or relationship, this can cause your body to produce other hormones that force it to store more fat.
Another common factor is diet. Many women keep their fat consumption down in an attempt to prevent weight gain and consume more carbs. The carbs actually cause your body to produce insulin and you could become insulin resistant. Instead of digesting and processing food normally, your body simply turns everything into fat.
In the premenopause years, many women tend not to exercise as much. As you begin to experience the onset of menopause, you may find yourself scaling back on the exercise. This is another factor in weight gain during this period of life.
Q: How do I lose weight during menopause?
A: Losing weight during menopause can be extremely difficult. You have many factors going against you, but it is still possible. Keep in mind that your body is going to be different, whether you like it or not. A natural aid that may help is DietPower spray which you can use to help maintain your diet!
Sticking to a balanced diet that is low in processed foods is best. You should also keep exercising. Take natural hormones or herbal remedies if needed to control the issues of menopause and make exercise easier.
Q: What is the best diet for menopause?
A: A sensible diet should be followed during the menopausal years. Avoid refined and processed foods which contain little nutritional value and tend to enhance the weight gain. Sugar can make some symptoms worse, so you should keep it to a minimum, or use natural sweeteners such as honey.
Avoid starving yourself, since this can actually slow your metabolism down even more. Caffeine should be cut out of your diet if you want to keep your water retention down. Drinking plenty of pure water is very important, as well.
©Alternative Medicine Network 2009
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