Why Weight Changes in Menopause (Rough Cut)
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Tafiq Akhir | Mr. Menopause: [00:00:00] In this episode, I am pulling back the curtain on what is really happening inside your body during menopause. Because once you know the reason why your body's changing, you can stop wasting your time on surface fixes and start building strategies that actually work for you. And when we talk about weight changes in menopause, look, we are really talking about three major shifts that are happening at the same time.
Shift one is hormonal changes. Shift two metabolic changes and shift three structural changes. So if you're struggling with midlife or menopausal weight gain, this one is definitely for you. I'm Taika Kier. Mr. Menopause here and welcome to the Mr. Menopause Show.
Now, if you've been struggling with midlife weight gain [00:01:00] despite having a healthy diet and exercising, then you definitely want to pay attention to this entire episode because your midlife weight gain is no longer about calories in versus calories out. Like it was when you were younger, and especially for women in midlife who are experiencing any of the three stages of menopause, because your weight gain is hormonal, metabolic, and structural.
Let me break it down for you. The first and most obvious changes in your hormone levels. See as you move into perimenopause, your estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone levels where they don't just drop sudden. They actually fluctuate unpredictably before they eventually settle into their new lower baselines.
Estrogen plays a major role in fat storage as well, and in your younger years, estrogen encourage fat to be stored in your hips, thighs and butt. This is why many women naturally have pear shaped bodies [00:02:00] earlier in life, and as estrogen declines, fat storage patterns shift and begin to store fat more in the abdominal area.
And abdominal fat is not harmless. By the way. This tends to be the type that builds up around your organs, which is called visceral fat, and it is metabolically active. That means it releases inflammatory chemicals and hormones that affect your heart, your blood sugar, and even your mood. This is why gaining weight in the midsection is not just a cosmetic frustration.
It is also a serious health concern. Okay, then there's progesterone. And while it does not get as much attention as estrogen, progesterone helps to balance the effects of estrogen and supports a sense of calm and better sleep. As progesterone declines, you may notice that you don't sleep as deeply or as consistently, and poor sleep can disrupt two other important hormones called ghrelin and [00:03:00] leptin.
Ghrelin increases your appetite and leptin helps you feel full after eating. Less sleep means more ghrelin, which can actually make you hungrier and less leptin makes it harder to feel satisfied after eating, and you can't ignore testosterone either, ladies, because it also matters for women. See, testosterone supports lean muscle, bone density, and even your motivation to move and exercise.
Eyes lower. Testosterone makes it harder to build and maintain muscle, which leads directly into the second major shift, which is your metabolism. Think of your metabolism as your body's energy. Budget muscle is one of the biggest calorie spenders in that budget because it burns energy. Even when you are resting, the more lean muscle you have, the more calories you burn without having to do anything extra.
But here's the challenge though. As estrogen and progesterone [00:04:00] declines, you naturally lose lean muscle unless you actively work to maintain it. Loss of lean muscle slows your resting metabolic rate, which means you're burning fewer calories throughout the day. Even if you're eating inactivity, habits have not changed.
Also, your insulin sensitivity begins to shift as well. Insulin acts like a key that unlocks your cells so glucose can enter and be used for energy. But during menopause, your cells can become less responsive to insulin, and this leaves more glucose in your bloodstream, which can be stored as body fat often in the midsection.
Changes in insulin response can also cause more frequent energy crashes, stronger cravings for sugar or refined carbs. And this is especially when you're tired or stressed, and this is your body's way of seeking quick energy. But unfortunately, those quick energy foods are more likely the ones that will be stored as excess body fat when your [00:05:00] insulin response is altered.
The final shift that really gets discussed is the structural or functional changes in your body systems that come with both age and hormone. Your mitochondria, which are the energy factories inside your cells, well, they become less efficient over time. This means that you might feel more tired after workouts or even after daily activities that once felt effortless.
And if you try to keep pushing yourself with the same routines that you did in your thirties or forties, you'll most likely end up feeling drained or triggering an increase in cortisol, which is your body's primary stress hormone. And chronically high levels of cortisol make it easier for you to store more body fat in the midsection and stress itself.
It also becomes a bigger factor during menopause because many women also are navigating career changes, supporting aging parents, preparing children to leave home or [00:06:00] managing relationship shifts during this time. All of these things contribute to higher cortisol levels. Which keeps the body in a state that favors fat storage again, especially belly fat.
Now, here's a way to visualize what's actually going on. Now. Imagine your body before menopause as a well-balanced kitchen. The stove, which represents your metabolism is hot and ready. The ingredients, which are your hormones are fresh and plentiful. The recipes, which are your daily habits, produce the results that you want and expect.
But during menopause, the stove has cooled down. The ingredients have changed, and the recipes that you've relied on for years no longer produce the same results. You can still create a healthy and comfortable body, but you need to adjust the temperature. Choose different ingredients and different approaches.
Listen, I've had [00:07:00] women say to me, TAFI, I am eating the same way I did five years ago, and I'm walking three miles a day, but I'm still gaining weight. But when I look at what's happening hormonally and metabolically for them, it makes perfect sense to me because I know that they are using their old recipes in a kitchen that works very differently now.
Now like Diane, who at 49 was eating light silage for lunch and doing cardio five times a week, the scale stayed the same, but her waist kept getting bigger. She was losing muscle because she was not strength training and was not eating enough protein to maintain the muscle she had. Then there's Janet, who at 53 was only getting five hours of sporadic sleep each night and kept telling herself that she would just catch up on the weekend.
She didn't realize that her short sleep was increasing her cravings, slowing down her recovery and raising her cortisol levels. But [00:08:00] once we fixed her sleep habits, she saw changes in her body without even changing her diet. See, these two stories are not unusual situations either. They are the everyday reality for women in midlife experiencing the changes that happen during.
Menopause Now, if you can relate to any of this, you are not imagining these changes. Menopause affects your hormone, slows your metabolism, and changes how your body processes carbohydrates and fats. And this impacts your hunger and your fullness cues and alters your energy systems. This is why the strategies that you use in your twenties, thirties, or even early forties may not work now.
Trying harder at the old strategies will often lead to more frustration rather than better results. And look, now that you understand what's happening beneath the surface, we can move to the next part of the conversation, which is all about the myths and the mistakes that might be holding you [00:09:00] back from reaching your goal.
Now that you understand the science behind midlife weight changes, let's talk about the other side of the problem. 'em, and these are the myths, the have truths and the outdated pieces of advice that leave you feeling even more stuck than before. Some of these myths are left over from decades of diet culture that never truly work for you in the first place, right?
Others come from fitness programs designed for much younger bodies that have a very different hormonal need. And then of course, there are the ever well-meaning tips that are passed along by friends, family members, and sometimes doctors who simply have not been trained in menopause specific health or weight management.
And when you try to follow these myths during midlife, you're often working against your own biology, and it can feel like swimming up against the strong current, which means that you may be putting in more effort [00:10:00] than ever yet. Don't get any closer to your goal. Now, myth number one is to eat less and to move more.
Now, this is one of the oldest pieces of weight loss advice. On the surface, it sounds simple, consume fewer calories than you burn, and you'll lose weight. However, during menopause, the reality is much more complex. Calorie balance still matters, but your hormones are shifting. Your lean muscle is declining, and your metabolism is slowing down.
So simply eating less. Is not the answer. If you eat too little, your body may respond by slowing your metabolism even further in order to conserve energy. This is a built in survival mechanism. Your body doesn't know you're intentionally restricting food, so it reacts as if there is a shortage of food and your environment, and in this state, your body will hold onto fat and begin breaking down muscle for energy instead.
And since [00:11:00] muscle is the part of your body that burns calories, even at rest, losing muscle makes the problem worse. Many women cut their calories to very low levels and end up experiencing energy drops. Their workouts feel harder, and their weight loss stalls completely. And then there's myth number two, which is that endless cardio will solve the weight loss struggle.
Many women respond to weight gain in midlife by increasing the amount of cardio they do. They add more spin classes, more dance classes, longer runs, or extra time on the elliptical, believing that more cardio will burn more calories, which will lead to weight loss. And don't get me wrong, cardio is important for heart health and endurance, but too much of it without strength training can work against you during menos.
Loss. Long sessions of high intensity cardio can raise cortisol, which again is your body's primary stress hormone and elevated [00:12:00] cortisol over time can increase fat storage, especially belly fat. Too much cardio without resistance training can also lead to muscle loss, and this loss slows your metabolism, making it harder to burn fat even when you are rest.
The best approach is a balanced workout routine that includes strength training, flexibility training, and stress reducing activities along with moderate cardio. Myth number three is to cut all carbohydrates. Now, low carbohydrate diets have been popular for decades in many different forms. The message is that carbs are the enemy of weight loss.
But the truth is that not all carbs are the same, and your body still needs them, especially during menopause. But it's about choosing the right carbs, complex carbs such as whole grains, beans, sweet potatoes, and lentils. They provide fiber, vitamins and [00:13:00] minerals that support digestion, hormone balance, and steady energy.
Okay. Eliminating all carbs can cause fatigue, brain fog, irritability, and nutrient deficiencies. It can also make it harder to sustain regular workouts as your muscles need glucose. For fuel, the better strategy is to choose high quality carbs and pair them with protein, high fiber veggies, and healthy dietary fat to stabilize blood sugar and reduce craving.
And myth number four is that you just need to try harder. Now, this myth might be the most damaging of all because it places all the blame on you. The message is that if you're not losing weight, it's because you're not disciplined or committed enough. But this thinking ignores the biological realities of menopause, hormonal changes, muscle loss changes in insulin sensitivity.
Poor sleep and stress all influence your body's ability [00:14:00] to manage your weight. And of course, effort matters, but effort without the right plan is like pouring water into a bucket with holes in the bottom of it. You can work very hard and still see little progress if your plan is not designed for your current stage of life.
Now you might wonder why these myths are still so common if they're not effective for women in men. Loss. Well, one reason is that most health and fitness research is still conducted on younger men, not on women in midlife, and the strategies that work for a man in his twenties and thirties are very different than those that work for a woman in her forties or fifties.
Another reason is that diet culture has been repeating these messages for decades, and the truth is familiar advice feels safe and believable. Even when it's incomplete or misleading. And because most health professionals do not receive menopause specific training, they often don't even know [00:15:00] how to adjust their recommendations.
See, following these myths does more than waste your time. It can leave you physically drained, emotionally discouraged, mentally exhausted. And overweight. You know, I have worked with women who have spent years stuck in cycles of extreme dieting over exercising or eliminating entire food groups only to find themselves feeling worse and more hopeless than when they started.
See, when you're already coping with the physical and emotional changes of menopause, the last thing you need is advice that undermines both your progress. And your confidence. The good news though, is that there is a better way, and it begins with understanding your body as it is now, not as it was in your twenties or thirties.
And it's about building a plan that supports your current health and long-term goals. And that is exactly what I'm sharing. Next, I'll share the realistic [00:16:00] menopause informed strategies that can help you manage your weight in a way that is sustainable, supportive. Safe and empowering. Now that we've uncovered the science behind midlife weight changes and cleared away the myths that keeps so many women stuck is time to talk about a plan that actually works for the body you have today.
And I call this the Menopause Weight Master plan. And it's not a list of random tips or quick fix. It's a four phase approach that meets you where you are, works with your hormonal changes and focuses on creating sustainable results that you can maintain for years to come. In phase one, you need to reset your internal signals, not before you overhaul your workouts or redesign your meals.
You have to reconnect with your body's natural cue. See in menopause, hunger and fullness signals can get [00:17:00] distorted by fluctuating hormones, poor sleep, and chronic stress. This phase is about slowing down when you eat, removing distractions and paying attention to how the food makes you feel between one to three hours after eating, do they leave you feeling satisfied, or are you craving something sweet?
See, one of the most powerful tools is to adjust your meal timing, to align with your hormonal rhythm, and by eating your largest meal earlier in the day, when cortisol and insulin sensitivity are naturally higher, you can support better energy use and reduce fat storage. Phase two is when you rebuild metabolic muscle.
See, we often think that we have no control over our metabolism, but in reality, muscle is the largest driver of your metabolic rate. As estrogen and testosterone decline, muscle will naturally decrease unless you deliberately work to. Build it back. Now look, this does not mean [00:18:00] heavy lifting in a gym. It can be a simple resistance band workout at home or body weight training three times per week, or even functional strength movements that mimic real life activities.
The goal here is to challenge your muscles enough to trigger growth and adaptation even more powerful is adding neat. That's NEAT. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis. This is the energy you burn through everyday movement that's outside of formal exercise. Things like walking while you're on the phone, doing household chores with a little more intensity.
Taking the stairs instead of the elevator or even parking further away from your final destination, these small actions add up and can significantly impact your total daily energy burn. And then phase three is all about realigning your daily rhythm. [00:19:00] Your circadian rhythm, which is your body's internal clock influences, hormone production, appetite energy, and even fat storage.
In menopause, this rhythm can become disrupted, especially if you're dealing with sleep problems. This phase focuses on creating anchors in your day that help realign your internal clock. This means getting sunlight exposure in the morning, moving your body earlier in the day. Keeping consistent meal times and winding down with a calming evening routine.
Managing stress during this time also becomes a non-negotiable because elevated cortisol doesn't just make it harder to lose weight. It changes where your body stores fat. Pushing more of it into your midsection. So practicing things like deep breathing, gentle yoga, or even simply pausing to stretch and checking your posture throughout the day can help bring cortisol back into balance.
And finally, [00:20:00] phase four is to reinforce long-term hormonal support. Once your signals are reset, your muscle is rebuilding, and your daily rhythms are in sync. It's time to think about how to keep the progress going for the long term. And this is where we look at the finer details that can make a big difference over time.
Things like optimizing gut health with fiber rich foods and fermented options to improve digestion, nutrient absorption, and inflammation control. Then they're supporting your liver through a balanced diet and hydration, which also helps with hormone metabolism, which in turn supports. Weight regulation, and for some women, this may also be the phase where you discuss medical options with a menopause informed provider such as hormone or non-hormone therapy, or targeted supplementation.
The key is to personalize this so that it works with your unique body health history [00:21:00] and goals. Listen, the menopause Weight master plan work. And it works because it's not about fighting your body. It's about creating an environment where your body can naturally maintain a healthier weight without extreme restriction or any type of punishment.
And when you align your eating patterns with your hormonal rhythm, rebuilding muscle to drive metabolism, live in sync with your natural circadian rhythm and support your internal systems for long-term health. You are giving your body what it needs to feel strong, energized, and resilient. Now, if you are ready to move beyond guesswork and to follow a plan that's designed specifically for your stage of life, I invite you to start with the Menopause Clarity Quiz.
It'll show you exactly where you are in the journey and what the best next steps to feeling better in your body are for you. Take the free quiz [00:22:00] [email protected], or click the link in the show notes or bio. If you got value from today's episode, be sure to leave a comment and let me know what your biggest takeaway was and remember to subscribe, like, and share.
Thank you so much for spending time with me today, and until next time, stay safe and be well.
