Menopausal Weight Gain - Reclaim Control of Your Waistline

As women age, most will find that it becomes more and more difficult to maintain their current weight. This is especially true between the ages of 35 and 60. Women may also discover that the weight gain happens not in the more traditional areas where women tend to gain weight: the thighs, hips, and buttocks; the weight gain occurs at the waist line, which is usually associated with male pattern weight gain. There are several steps that women can take to prevent this weight gain from occuring before it starts. And if you've already started to gain weight around your waistline, there's no need to resort to risky diet pills and dangerous weight loss gimmicks. It's never too late to make some simple lifestyle changes to safely and effectively lose weight.

Causes of Menopausal Weight Gain

For most women, weight gain occurs during perimenopause. Lower estrogen levels and a slowing metabolism make gaining weight easier and this often occurs around the stomach area. Another contributing factor could be due to lack of exercise. Women who are in the perimenopausal and menopausal age group are often busy with full time careers and taking care of their families and loved ones which leaves little time for exercise. On average, women who are peri-menopausal or menopausal tend to gain a pound a year.

Why You Should Be Worried About Menopausal Weight Gain

It's great if you're comfortable with your body image and don't want to diet to strive for the impossible figures advertised by Hollywood. However, excessive weight gain can be unhealthy, and if it impairs your mobility or quality of life, you may want to make small changes to eat more fresh healthy foods and exercise at least 3 times a week. Weight gain, especially middle age weight gain can lead to increased risks of high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and insulin resistance which can lead to type 2 diabetes.

Tips To Prevent Menopausal Weight Increases

Schedule at least 3 quality exercise sessions of at least 30 minutes each week. The exercise doesn't have to be strenuous and it doesn't require expensive equipment or gym memberships. Something simple like a walk after dinner, a leisurely bike ride, or walks during lunch breaks are more than adequate to prevent excessive weight gain. Aerobic exercise will boost your metabolism and help you burn fat. You could also multi task and work in some weight training. Weight training will increase your muscle mass which will help you burn fat and increase your metabolism. Weight training is also important for women who are perimenopausal or menopausal because it will increase bone density which reduces the risks of osteoporosis.

Eat a healthy diet of varied fruits and vegetables. You don't want to deprive yourself of too many calories and nutrients nor do you want to deprive yourself of your favorite foods. The key is to enjoy everything in moderation. Your slowing metabolism will also mean that you will need 200 to 400 fewer calories per day. Thus the majority of your meals should be made up of lower calorie foods like fruits and vegetables.

tags: menopause, weight gain, women's health, estrogen, perimenopause, diet