Managing your weight through the menopause

I have been asked on occasion whether being peri-menopausal or menopausal actually impacts on if we can lose weight. My gut reaction was to think that there are some significant hormonal changes going on in our bodies when we hit that stage of life, that will potentially slow down our metabolism, but I wonder if it is enough to significantly impact our ability to lose weight, once we start ‘the change’.

So, I took to the internet to conduct some research, and found some really interesting information. At Be Strong we like to do things properly, so we don’t just go to pseudo-science to find things out, we look at published scientific papers and research to get you the best answers to your questions, so this article is a combination of all that I have researched to help you to understand how the menopause and peri-menopause affects our bodies, and what we can do to maximise our chances of getting to a healthy weight and keeping fit.

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What happens when we become peri-menopausal or menopausal?

The time of peri-menopause (which means ‘around’ menopause) or the menopause can start at around the late 30’s or early 40’s to mid 50’s. This is a time of personal, as well hormonal change for many women.  And many other factors come into play, not just what is going on with our hormones.

This is the time of life, where our fertility starts to drop, and therefore our monthly cycle can change, initially becoming irregular and then ceasing all together. As this happens, our hormone levels change. We see a change in oestrogen and androgen levels, which impacts on our satiety signals and insulin resistance.

Generally speaking, as anyone ages (known as chronological ageing) our Basal Metabolic Rate, or BMR, the rate at which our bodies cells function at complete rest, reduces; therefore reducing the number of calories required to keep our bodies functioning whilst maintaining a constant weight.  Also, as we age the amount of lean muscle mass within our bodies, reduces.

The time when women start to go through the change is also generally seen to coincide with the independence of her family (if she has one) which may result in an increase in personal freedom, allowing for more food to be eaten out of the home, and increase in alcohol consumption, and also potentially a reduction in activity, and therefore reduced calorie burn.

The incidence of reduced calorie burn and hormonal changes will affect our ability to manage or lose weight. The reduction in oestrogen impairs our bodies ability to regulate hunger signals, meaning that we may feel hungry more frequently, therefore potentially leading to overeating. If this coincides with a reduction in physical activity, and a reduction in our BMR and muscle mass, then weight gain will be the result.

Unfortunately ladies, the tale doesn’t end there.  The changes in our hormones also changes the way that our body stores fat, moving it from hips and breasts, to our abdominal area. So there is some truth in the phrase ‘middle aged spread’ after all.

In addition to this, we then also have to look at the psychological factors. Hormone changes or imbalances can affect mood.  This, coupled with changes in home life, such as children growing up or even leaving home, may bring about psychological distress resulting in low mood. It is reported in one report that women deal with psychological distress by engaging in unhealthy eating behaviours (this could be overeating, eating unhealthy foods, or a loss of appetite), adding this to the other factors, we are starting to build a picture of why it may become more difficult for women to lose weight as they age and hit the menopause.

So what can we do?

First of all, as with all science, this is based on general data from a large general population.  We are dealing with averages here, not you specifically, but that aside, this information is actually really useful.  Because, as we often advocate at Be Strong, once you know the logic behind something, you can understand what you should do about it. Having learnt all the above, I can see that a strategy can be developed, if you feel that you are hitting the menopause and your weight management is getting more difficult.

1. Check your calories and your physical activity level settings in your weight tracker. At Be Strong we give you a calorie allowance based on general scientific data. Our calculations do include provision to reduce as we age, and provision for our physical activity levels. However, as we know this isn’t an exact science, so it maybe that if your weight loss has slowed significantly, or even halted and you are totally on point with your calories, you may need to either change your activity levels to reflect what you are currently doing, or you simply may just need to reduce  your calorie intake slightly compared to what we give you. You don’t need to go crazy, but try taking 50-100 off each day, and see if that makes a difference.
2. Rebuild your muscle mass. I am not saying I want you to start pumping iron like Arnold Schwarzenegger, but the more lean muscle we have, the more efficiently our bodies burn calories. So, build some strength training into your physical activity routine. This doesn’t have to be formal weight training, it could be gardening, some rigorous housework, workouts with resistance bands, squats, push ups, lunges, yoga, Pilates, anything that is weight bearing through our limbs is going to build and strengthen our muscles.  There are all sorts of other benefits to this too – reducing the risk of osteoporosis, reducing the risk of falls, improving recovery times after injury or illness being just some of them.
3. Make sure you get a sweat on. And I don’t mean from the Hot Flushes! Aerobic exercise which gets you out of breath, and sweating such as brisk walking, jogging, running, or HIIT sessions, all take you into the fat burning range of intensity. This especially helps with burning visceral fat in the abdominal area, which not only helps with improving body image, but also reducing disease risk associated with excess fat carried in this area.
4. Prevent false hunger pangs. Now we know that we are at risk of false hunger cues we can take steps to manage them – drinking a pint of water when the tummy starts rumbling,  and ensuring that you eat plenty of protein, vegetables and wholegrains to fill us up and meal times and for planned snacks, will help to keep pangs at bay.   Reduce the foods which are just empty calories and find those low calorie bulky snacks to nibble when the pangs are insatiable – chopped vegetables, strawberries, apples, pears. Have a look at the unlimited food on ‘transition plan’ to give you some ideas.
5. Find other ways to improve your mood. If you know, or you have now recognised that you engage in unhealthy eating behaviours as a result of your mood, make a conscious effort to do something else to both keep your mood on a even keel, or when the urge to eat your feelings hits. Reason your feelings out with yourself, use self-talk, go and do some physical activity to get those mood boosting hormones going, take a bath, chat to a friend, put on your favourite tune and dance around your kitchen, get out of the house and do something in nature. Physical activity also helps to relieve symptoms of the menopause, such as hot flushes

We have control

In answer to the original question posed, does the menopause make it harder to manage our weight, the answer is yes, but all is not lost.  We can still do something about it, and we have reason to – control of menopausal symptoms, improved mood and reduction in health risks.  So, hopefully after reading this you have been reassured that the perimenopause or menopause is not the time to just give up and accept your lot. Things may be changing internally which we have no control over, but there are still things that we can do and things that we can take control of.  Don’t let this stage of life drag you down, take charge and do everything you can to age healthily (and gracefully), to ensure you are living life to the full, for as long as you can.