Today we are addressing a subject, sometimes taboo, of menopause: weight gain. If you're wondering how to maintain a balanced weight while entering this stage of life, you've come to the right place! Explanations, practical advice and tips from a pro to make the most of this transition and limit weight gain.
What are the symptoms of perimenopause?
To establish that a woman is menopausal, we count 12 months of amenorrhea, that is to say without rules. During this period known as peri-menopause, warning symptoms gradually appear.
They are followed by more notable changes at the edge of the real menopause, including the famous hot flashes, but also urinary leakage, night sweats and drying of the mucous membranes. Another concomitant effect of menopause can be weight gain.
How to fight weight gain during menopause?
Without being inevitable, or even impacting women in the same way, extra pounds are the lot of half of fifty-year-olds who are beginning this new phase of their lives. Focus on a physiological phenomenon, which must be understood if we want to mitigate it.
What causes weight gain during menopause?
Weight gain affects 50% of women entering menopause, to varying degrees. Depending on our body type, our habits, or simply our metabolism, we do not store fat in the same way.
However, the game that is played around fifty is rather that of hormonal upheaval, in particular the reduction of estrogen. And with it, that of the reduction of muscle mass in favor of fat mass. The silhouette is transformed little by little, with a less flat stomach, slimming calves but widening hips.
What is the average weight gain at menopause?
If the average is 4 extra kilos, it happens that the cursor is below this estimate, with statistics at 2.5 kg or, conversely, an excess weight of 6 kg for the less lucky. There is no typical profile of women more prone to this weight gain, except that those who do little exercise, or who are already overweight, are naturally more exposed.
Like other ages of life, genetic heritage also has a say in how our new silhouette takes shape.
Weight gain that begins during peri-menopause
Generally, the first excess pounds accumulate from peri-menopause. During this period without menstruation which marks the transition to menopause, it is up to women to put in place the milestones of a healthy lifestyle to limit the appearance of intimate unpleasantness.
Unwanted but avoidable pounds?
Practice a adapted physical activity and eating healthily are the winning duo for menopausal women. This also applies to smoking and alcohol consumption, which also have an impact on the weight change potentially induced by menopause.
How to reduce weight gain during menopause?
Although it does not affect women with the same intensity, weight gain is often the bane of those new to menopause. During this phase, destabilizing in more than one way, it is essential to maintain your self-confidence and not to devalue yourself. To do this, we must first accept the physiological effect of menopause.
The question of diet during menopause
Indeed, even while retaining reasonable nutritional habits, weight gain may occur. You may therefore be tempted to go on a diet.
In this hunt for kilos, many options are within your reach, keeping in mind a principle of common sense; which applies as much to women as to men, to adolescent girls, and to middle-aged women. The one of not not generate a deficiency and ensure that the right ones are allocated functional contributions to your body.
Menopause: what natural treatment for weight gain?
There is therefore no miracle natural remedy to combat weight gain. But good eating habits to adopt. To do this, incorporate vegetables at most of your meals, avoid trans fats found in ready-made foods and, finally, think about yourself moisturize.
Two reasons for this: with age, the feeling of thirst decreases and, as the saying goes, “a little hunger is often a big thirst”! In addition to doing good for the body, water has an interesting effect on satiety.
Last recommendation: we will choose it preferably rich in magnesium and calcium.
Food supplements against weight gain during menopause?
Under the aegis of a diet allowing you to be in good health, you can adapt your menus to the specific nutritional needs of menopausal women, namely to balance meals to get the right daily dose. nutrients, fiber, Omega 3, vitamin D, oilseeds and animal and plant proteins.
Split meals by adding one daily afternoon snack is wise to maintain constant energy with, of course, a reservation regarding sweet or fatty products.
By favoring foods beneficial for bone structure and the cardiovascular system, you have the weapons to move on to the next stage, that of sport.
Physical activity after menopause
Sports, even at low intensity, is a powerful ally in the way you will gain the upper hand over the restrictive elements of menopause, to be in harmony with it and, by extension, with yourself. Without trying to discover a vocation as a marathon runner – because that is not the goal – be open to sports that are particularly suitable for your age.
Eat, Move!
In your fifties, whether you are full of energy, or are more inclined to a well-deserved sedentary life, it is important to practice regular physical activity. In addition to running, to be practiced gently with shoes offering good cushioning, there is walk.
Nordic or fast, we will prefer it in all cases decorated with poles, so that these micro-shocks are beneficial for the fixation of calcium on the bones.
What sport to practice during menopause?
You understand, you have to take care of your heart and bones, without feeling too fragile to move. A wide range of accommodating sports is available to you.
Among the sports favored by menopausal women, aquatic activities are popular. Aquagym, water bike, swimming : all these options can be suitable for the ratio of physical expenditure / preservation of health.
Indeed, the swimming pool has the advantage of limit gravitational force And preserves the joints. You may even take pleasure in declining the shopping sessions or card games that are offered to you, with a ready-made excuse: “ I can't, I have a swimming pool ».
Ladies, let's think about his perineum!
THE perineum can also be affected by menopause. This set of muscles in the bottom sale which supports the genitals is affected by hormonal decline. In fact, it contributes to alteration of connective and muscular tissue perineal, leading to its relaxation
Weight gain associated with the onset of menopause also leads to additional pressure on the perineum. It is therefore not uncommon to see the appearance at this same period of urinary problems, linked to this overpressure.
Shocks and impacts caused by sports practice should therefore be avoided as much as possible, especially during menopause. Finally, to limit the risks, sports that help preserve and strengthen the perineum are privileged.
Any last advice for controlling your weight?
In summary, beyond the many changes that go hand in hand with menopause, one dogma remains immutable, whatever stage of life we are in: good health is based on balanced diet and one regular physical activity.
That being said, the few adjustments mentioned will allow you to apply this healthy lifestyle to the requirements of menopause, to regain tone and have a figure and a healthy weight that suit you.
