Is There Anything You Can Do To Prevent Or Turn Back Menopausal Weight Gain?

The factors that contribute to post-menopausal weight gain in women seem to be highly multi-factorial and largely uncontrollable too! You can't prevent the menopause, change your genes, or stop the process of getting older, after all! Does that mean that you are doomed to be a round lady then? The answer is complex, so first let's look at the things you can indeed do to prevent post-menopausal muffin top and beyond. 

Exercise!

Exercise is certainly good for you, and the older you get, the more important it is to think of reasons for working out beyond looking great. Regular exercise in postmenopausal women lowers their risk of osteoporosis (brittle bones), as well as heart disease, metabolic syndrome, and anxiety and depression. Meanwhile, it also keeps your joints and muscles strong, increases your insulin resistance, and improves your overall health. It will also contribute to a lean and mean body.

About Eating

The theory says that your metabolism slows down. The fact that I've neither decreased my physical activity nor started eating more yet still gained weight after the menopause seems to confirm that on an anecdotal level, and I know I'm far from alone there. Does that mean you should go on a diet for the rest of your life to maintain (or recover) a slim figure then? Well, if you're legitimately eating too much or too much of the wrong foods, then yes, you can take a look at your habits.

Mind you, don't fall into the starvation trap. Eating less than you should actually sends your body the message that you're starving, and guess what that does? Yep, it slows your metabolism down even further. That in turn means that the foods you do eat contribute to weight gain ever more, making eating too little not just unpleasant and unhealthy, but also in fact counter-productive. Eat for health, not for weight.

What you can indeed do is avoid eating later in the evening, steer clear of processed foods as much as possible, and eat smaller portions more often in the day to prevent sending your body that "store fat now" message. Do not skip breakfast, without which you may gain weight faster, either.

READ Perimenopause Problems: Depression, Bleeding and Weight Control

The Bottom Line

If you can improve on your eating habits and increase the old exercise a little (or a lot, as the case may be), then those are great things to do. However, though gaining weight after the menopause is irritating and something I personally wish one thing I wouldn't have experienced, if you are active and healthy and still a few pounds heavier than you were before, do you really want to sacrifice your quality of life? Taking drastic measures such as starvation diets, diet pills, or even over-exercising isn't good for you. The bottom line is that age does change you. I may be a little rounder than I was before I entered the menopause, but I'm not going to let that stand in the way of a healthy life. Unless you are clinically overweight, I'd encourage you to take the same attitude.