Staying slim at menopause


Oladapo Ashiru
Most women gain weight as they age, but it is not inevitable. How can you minimise weight gain after menopause? Step up your activity level and enjoy a healthy diet.
Have you noticed a few extra pounds padding your waistline? You may be in the throes of midlife expansion — a familiar complaint among women in their 40s and 50s.
During this time, you either gain weight or you find that maintaining your usual weight has somehow become more difficult. You also discover that the weight you gain tends to accumulate around your abdomen, rather than your hips and thighs. But you don’t have to accept weight gain as inevitable.
One of the foremost menopausal symptoms seems to be weight gain and change in the overall shape of your body. Though you may not be so happy about this, it is important to keep in mind that this weight gain is normal and is to be expected.  About 90 per cent of menopausal women gain some weight between the age of 35 and 55.
You may not necessarily have to blame yourself for this newly acquired weight, as research now shows that weight gain during menopause is caused by shifts in your hormones, rather than greedy eating. Take steps to prevent weight gain before it starts; and if you have already begun adding to your waistline, it’s never too late to reverse the course through proper diet and exercise.
Why mid-age ‘spread’
For most women, increases and shifts in weight begin during perimenopause — the years leading up to menopause. On average, women gain about a pound a year during this time, but changing hormone levels associated with menopause are not only necessarily the cause of weight gain. Ageing and lifestyle factors play a big role in your changing body composition. These include:
Exercising less: Menopausal women tend to exercise less than other women, which can lead to weight gain.
Eating more: Eating more means you will take in more calories, which are converted into fat if you don’t burn them for energy.
Burning fewer calories: The number of calories you need for energy decreases as you age because ageing promotes the replacement of muscle with fat. Muscles burn more calories than fat does. When your body composition shifts to more fat and less muscle, your metabolism slows down.
Early menopause: Women who have experienced early menopause or surgical menopause may experience more rapid and extreme weight gain. You will start to notice that the weight is not distributing itself as it used to. During menopause, you will begin to put on weight around your abdomen, instead of around your hips, thighs and rear.
People commonly refer to this as an “apple” shape, because the stomach area becomes rounder. You may miss your old “pear” shape that you had during your child-bearing years, but it will be harder and harder to redistribute your weight evenly around your body.
Genetic factors: Genetic factors may play a role in weight gain as well. If your parents or other close relatives carry extra weight around the abdomen, you may be predisposed to do so too.
Weight gain can have serious implications for your health. Excess weight increases your risk of high cholesterol, high blood pressure and insulin resistance, which can lead to Type 2 Diabetes. These factors also put you at high risk of heart disease and stroke.
There are some very encouraging statistical data with regard to weight loss in menopausal women, which suggests that women who lose weight after menopause can reduce the risk of breast cancer.
It was found that weight gain during the menopausal years increases the risk of breast cancer. Women who gain weight in excess of 20 pounds increase their breast cancer risk by nearly 20 per cent; but women who lose 20 pounds after menopause reduce their breast cancer risk by as much as 23 per cent. Even smaller amount of weight loss after menopause leads to a modest risk reduction.
Real causes of middle age weight gain
Many women are quite shocked and frustrated when they begin to notice those extra pounds graciously provided by menopause. You may be eating and exercising exactly the same as you’ve always done but still can’t seem to maintain your weight. As you enter the early stages of menopause, maintaining weight becomes more and more difficult and losing weight becomes almost impossible. This is because of the fluctuation in your hormones.
Your body’s hormones have a direct impact on your appetite, metabolism and fat storage. This is why it is so difficult to control your weight during menopause, no matter what you do. Fluctuating oestrogen, testosterone and androgen levels will fight you all the way!
Hormones for weight maintenance
Oestrogen: Oestrogen is the female sex hormone that is responsible for causing monthly ovulation. During menopause, your oestrogen level declines rapidly, causing your body to stop ovulating. However, oestrogen also seems to play a big role in menopausal weight gain. As the ovaries produce less oestrogen, your body looks to other places for the oestrogen it needs. Fat cells in your body can produce oestrogen, so your body works harder to convert calories into fat to increase oestrogen levels.
Unfortunately, fat cells don’t burn calories the way muscle cells do, which causes you to pack on the unwanted kilos.
Culled from Punch

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