Simple Tips for Managing Menopause and Perimenopause Weight Gain

Simple Tips for Managing Menopause and Perimenopause Weight Gain

Women going through the menopause or perimenopause gain on average 10 pounds or more during this time. You don’t need to surrender to unwanted weight gain but a change in how you approach this might be needed, compared to how things have been before. Weight gain during perimenopause and menopause is not just affected by diet and lack of exercise – there are more things at play here.

In this article, we’ll look at some helpful tips from Louise Donohue, an expert in women’s health and founder of Blossom Wellness. Read on to find out how to manage your weight during perimenopause and menopause with six simple and practical ideas below.

6 Simple Ways to Minimise Unwanted Weight Gain During Menopause and Perimenopause:

• Eat more protein.

Protein is the building blocks of our bodies and powers everything new and repaired in our bodies. It also helps you feel fuller for longer which is important for weight management. For women, it’s a good idea to have a breakfast that is high in protein to start the day in the right way.

A diet with plenty of protein will also help you maintain your muscle mass, which keeps your metabolism functioning more efficiently. It also helps balance your hormones and can improve many of your menopause symptoms.

• Eat three meals per day.

While you want to avoid overeating, you also want to make sure that you are eating enough food. You need to have at least three meals per day at regular intervals. This will help keep you satisfied as well as support your hormones to let them find their rhythm and be steadier. Your diet plays a key role for female hormones in general, but especially during perimenopause and menopause. Estrogen and progesterone, the female hormones, are very sensitive to your insulin levels, so keep them steady with regular meals throughout the day.

Lots of women make the mistake of restricting themselves too much or skipping meals or otherwise having irregular eating habits. If you want to achieve your health, lifestyle, well-being, and/or fitness goals, you need to prioritise how and what you eat. Once you do and start eating three healthy meals per day, you’ll soon see changes and improvements in your weight and with your menopause symptoms.

• Eat more vegetables.

We all know that vegetables are great for us but most of us don’t eat enough of them. Fill your plate with lots of voluminous vegetables to fill you up so that you feel satisfied and to enjoy all the goodness from the vitamins, minerals, and fibre that they contain. They’re packed with nutrients that optimize our health and also give us carbohydrates that give us energy.

Carbs are not the enemy and choosing carbs from vegetables is an excellent way to enjoy extra benefits and nutrients, as well as phytoestrogens, which naturally mimic estrogen and can help improve estrogen balance and reduce menopause symptoms. 

Most vegetables are low in calories which is what makes them a voluminous food, letting you enjoy a full plate, good fullness, healthy nutrients but without too many calories.

• Move More

Movement is an important part of weight management during menopause and perimenopause but we’re not talking about going running, going to the gym, or other deliberate exercise here. What we are talking about here is the unconscious movements that we make all day, every day. Things like walking around the house or the shops, fidgeting, gardening, etc.

There are four key factors that affect how much energy your burn throughout your day: Exercise Activity Thermogenesis (EAT), TEF (Thermic Effect of Food), BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and NEAT (Non-Exercise Activity Thermogenesis). The NEAT part is daily movement (not purposeful exercise) and if you increase this, you will burn more calories/use more energy which helps with weight loss/weight management. It also helps keep your metabolism running more efficiently.

• Build More Muscle

Weight training (or resistance training/strength training) is often overlooked by women but it’s the unsung hero of menopause! If you are not already including weight training in your routine, it’s time to – it’s a game changer!

If you have got a menopause diagnosis or suspect that you are perimenopausal, you have already started to lose muscle mass. During the menopausal life stages, fat mass tends to increase and muscle mass decreases. The best thing you can do to combat that is to do resistance training to keep your muscles strong.

This kind of training combined with cardio also means your body will burn calories for longer compared with just cardio alone. Add some weight training to your weekly routine to find balance with maintaining your weight and also for future-proofing your health long-term.

Conclusion

Managing menopause and perimenopause weight gain is not about losing weight as fast as possible. It’s about making manageable lifestyle changes that support your health. Evolve with your body and you will see that you can still achieve your health and fitness goals. Try the above tips and also talk to your GP about your symptoms.

Collaboration.