Let's face it… Menopause is one of the less glamorous parts of womanhood and this is when many really start to notice a weight gain.
You can exercise and try to cut back on food intake but it's a tough realization that the weight simply is not as easy to lose as it used to be.
One of the reasons for weight gain during menopause is the change in the hormone levels in your body. You may develop insulin resistance which means that your body will turn all the calories that it can into fat.
Stress plays an important part in weight gain during menopause. Stress produces cortisol which can block fat loss. As a woman ages, she may not be able to handle the stressors in her life as well as when she was younger.
This will produce more cortisol and therefore make her gain weight.
Weight loss during menopause may be a little bit harder, but it is still absolutely possible.
The first thing women need to do is to take a look at their lifestyle.
Most women, as they age, become less active. So if you find that you are not getting any exercise, NOW is the time to increase your activity level.
Believe me, staying in shape won't get any easier if you put it off.
Aerobic exercises will boost your metabolism and help your body burn more fat. The good news is you only need a few minutes so skip the long dreadful treadmill workouts.
Find activities that you really enjoy doing. This includes things like walking, jogging, dancing or anything else that gets the heart rate up.
Strength training is an even better way for menopausal women to lose weight.
Strength training will help you boost your metabolism and increase your muscle mass. It also helps to strengthen your bones which is very important for women after menopause.
When women become stressed they will turn to food as a stress reliever. This will lead to significant weight gain for a woman over forty because of her decreased metabolism.
Instead, try some meditations and slow stretching exercises like Yoga to help reduce and learn to better cope with stress.
If you want to lose weight, it is important that you take a good look at your diet.
Change your eating habits by cutting out the junk foods. Start including more fruits and vegetables into your diet.
Really incorporating some good clean foods and eliminating all the chemicals we get from processed foods will do wonders for allowing your hormones to better find their own balance.
Chemicals do a lot of bad things to our bodies but they really wreak havoc on hormonal balance.
To lose weight after menopause it is important that you reduce change the makeup of your caloric intake. As you grow older, your body does not need as much fuel as it did when you where younger.
Slowly reduce your food intake by eating less for your snacks . Don’t cut back too quickly or your body will go into “starvation” mode and start hanging onto fat from anything you eat.
It is best to eat several small meals throughout the day instead of three big meals.
This can keep your body in the fat burning mode. Just be careful that you do not eat large portions and focus on only eating small meals.
Cut out the high fat foods by limiting your fat intake to twenty to thirty-five percent of your daily meals. You should incorporate good fats into your diet.
These good fats are the monounsaturated fats.These fats can be found in olives, nuts and certain seeds.
Menopause has a way of making us really take a closer look at our exercise and eating habits. You will find your hormones will be very responsive in only a few months time if you follow these tips.
Yours in Health,
Danette
