Menopausal Weight Gain – You Don't Have to Accept It

Are you super frustrated with menopausal weight gain?

It’s no surprise that over 70% of our clients are women trying to lose menopausal weight gain and wondering what the heck happened? Why has my midsection gotten thick? Why doesn’t what used to work, work anymore? What am I doing wrong?

You’re not doing anything wrong.

Typically, we blame a naturally slowing metabolism as the culprit for menopausal weight gain, but as reported by Harvard Health, a recently published large scale study revealed that our basal metabolic rate remains stable between ages 20 and 60. True metabolic decline begins gradually around age 60 and only drops by .07% - 1.0% each year after.

So, what the heck IS going on!?

While theoretically your basal metabolic rate stays the same, unfortunately a drop in estrogen and progesterone cause changes in the way your body functions which leads to weight gain.

Muscle loss, a decrease in insulin sensitivity, poor quality sleep and an increase in hunger and cravings are all contributors to weight gain.

Muscle Loss

Women start losing lean mass in their early to mid 30s by a rate of about 3% - 5% per decade and the rate speeds up as we age. Declining estrogen and progesterone can accelerate that loss up to 10% per decade.

Muscle is the engine that burns calories and supports a robust metabolism. The more muscle you have, the more calories you can consume before gaining weight. Muscle loss = eating less to maintain weight.

A Decrease in Insulin Sensitivity

Estrogen helps manage blood sugar and maintain insulin sensitivity. When estrogen drops, cells throughout the body become less responsive to insulin and the pancreas produces more and more insulin in order to feed energy to cells.

When circulating insulin is high, it acts as a cellular "lock and key" that signals the body to store blood sugar as fat and halts the body’s ability to burn its existing fat.

Poor Quality Sleep

Menopause can interrupt sleep due to night sweats and changes in mood.

> Exhaustion increases the stress hormone cortisol, which signals your body to crave comforting, high-fat, or sugary foods and will also lead to muscle breakdown over time.

> Sleep deprivation causes a drop in the hormone leptin, which signals satiety (lets you know you are “full”) and an increase in ghrelin, the hormone that makes you feel hungry.

> Poor quality sleep can drop insulin sensitivity by more than 30% making it harder for your body to process blood sugar and prompting fat storage.

> Increased Cortisol - Sleep loss acts as a physical stressor, causing the body to release higher levels of cortisol. Elevated cortisol tells your liver to release more glucose into the blood and reduces insulin sensitivity. It also

Increased Cravings

> Lowered estrogen causes a drop in the hormone leptin, which signals satiety (lets you know you are “full”) and an increase in ghrelin, the hormone that makes you feel hungry.

> Cravings aren't just physical, they're emotional. Estrogen depletion lowers serotonin (the "happy" hormone). Your brain quickly learns that eating carb-heavy or sugary comfort foods temporarily spikes serotonin and dopamine, creating a reward loop that leads to stronger cravings.

A Change in Fat Distribution

Declining estrogen signals your body to store fat in your midsection as dangerous visceral fat rather than the hips and thighs. Although this redistribution doesn’t necessarily mean fat gain, it sure makes you feel like it. “Why can’t I do my pants up anymore!!”

IDEAL PROTEIN WORKS FOR MENOPAUSAL WEIGHT LOSS. LEARN MORE HERE