Have You Gained Excessive Weight During Menopause? Now is the Time to Lose It!

As women begin to enter menopause, weight loss becomes increasingly difficult to achieve. Menopause weight gain is but one of the many symptoms that plague women during this transitional phase of their lives as their child bearing years draw to a close with the cessation of their menstrual cycles. Still, it is a small comfort to women fighting the "battle of the bulge" to say that weight gain in menopause is a normal part of the aging process.

What Happens to the Body During Menopause?

When a woman's body begins to produce less and less estrogen and the reproductive system starts to shut down, the body experiences a period of transition during which changing levels of hormones create a host of symptoms. These may manifest as hot flashes, heart palpitations, depression, anxiety, irritability, mood swings, poor concentration, vaginal dryness, urinary urgency, erratic periods, and weight gain.

The average onset of menopausal symptoms, often referred to as perimenopause, is 50.5 years but it is not at all uncommon for women in their early 40s to begin to detect changes in their bodies. While in theory the lead-up to the actual cessation of menses is a year to five years, some women go through ten to eleven years of managing an array of symptoms in their lives.

While conventional medical wisdom has tended to treat menopause as a disorder to be cured, more and more women are honoring it as a natural process - a part of being a woman - and managing the transition through natural means rather than with hormone replacement therapies that have been linked to stroke and to cancer. A good support system, usually represented by other women who have already gone through the process or who are on the same journey, is a vital aspect of managing all elements of this life transition.

How Can I Stop the Added Pounds of Menopause?

After entering menopause, weight loss should not be attempted through crash dieting. If you deprive yourself of too many calories your body goes into starvation mode. Choose a varied diet low in fat and high in fiber from fruits and vegetables. Given the fact that your metabolism has slowed down as a consequence of the natural aging process, you need to cut anywhere from 200 to 400 calories a day out of your daily intake of food.

Menopause weight loss is a tricky subject because there are psychological factors involved. Be careful to eat only when you are hungry. Don't use food to "feed" the depression, anxiety, and frustration that are common menopausal issues. In the face of those problems, burn off steam and calories with a program of aerobic exercise.

Continue to: What Causes Menopause Weight Gain