Four Easy Ways to Reduce Menopause Weight Gain

Throughout their lives, most people experience body weight that goes up and down, but for women, after they've had their body change during childbirth, it can be expected to change again in the perimenopause stage, and then possibly again with menopause weight gain. In fact, a weight loss program is usually included as part of menopause treatment.

One thing you should know is that menopause weight gain is not only associated with the metabolism. 

 While the metabolism helped control weight gain up to this point, during perimenopause weight gain is different and unfortunately WILL change your body shape.  Weight gained during this phase begins to show up mostly around your mid section, instead of where it might have been concentrated before in the buttocks, legs and thigh area.

Some menopause weight gain has to do with Testosterone levels, which will require a different menopause treatment.

Testosterone creates lean muscle mass which increases your metabolism. However, during female menopause, Testosterone levels drop - decreasing muscle mass.  Your metabolism IS slower, but it's actually being caused by a different source than before.

Besides Testosterone, menopause weight gain is associated with three other hormones:

• Estrogen
• Progesterone
• Androgen

Estrogen plays a role because during female menopause as your ovaries produce less estrogen, your body finds fat cells to help it produce more.  Since fat burns fewer calories than muscle, menopause weight gain may begin just because fat helps produce estrogen!

Progesterone on the other hand, while also decreasing, affects how you retain water.  So even though you might not actually weigh in heaver, it's just like when you have your period and retain water; your clothes will probably not fit or feel right.

Then there's Androgen, which is actually increasing in your body, and is the hormone that puts your added weight in the mid section. This increase in Androgen which causes menopause weight gain in the mid section is where the term "middle age spread" comes from.  So what can you do to combat menopause weight gain?

All of these are important to consider in the treatment of menopause. They are the four important changes you need that will help decrease the amount of menopause weight gain you might have.  First, eat a balanced diet filled with fruits and vegetables and avoid refined sugar. Then, as you can guess, you need to stop any crash dieting you may be doing, or considering doing.  When your body goes into starvation mode, your metabolism slows down even more, defeating the purpose as you gain more weight later on.

Next, increase your muscle mass through exercise and weight bearing activities, finally, the fourth and maybe hardest change is to, reduce things that tend to exacerbate water retention like caffeine, nicotine and alcohol.

Not all weight gain during the years of 35 and 55 can be blamed on menopause.  If you find yourself putting on excessive weight, be sure to see your doctor and get your hormone levels checked. If you're in the pre menopause stage, look for natural menopause remedies that help keep your hormones in balance.