The Connection Between Menopause And Weight Gain
The thoughts of menopause and weight gain plague a plethora of women everyday. Although most women do gain weight as they age, it does not have to be inevitable. You can minimize weight gain that is usually associated with menopause.
Traditionally, women start suffering from the menopause and weight gain combination sometime during their 40s and 50s. This is the time that you may notice that it is getting harder and harder to maintain a weight that you have had for a very long time. After menopause, it seems like the scale moves in a dreaded direction more frequently and inches seem to accumulate around your abdomen instead of your thighs or hips.
On the other hand, many women experience the menopause and weight gain connection for many years that lead up to menopause. Most women, on average will gain around one pound per year during this time. Reversing this course requires your strict attention and dedication to an active lifestyle and healthy eating habits.
Causes Of Weight Gain
Many people assume that the menopause and weight gain link is due to changing hormone levels but that is not necessarily always the case. Quite often, lifestyle and aging plays a huge role in the changing of your body's composition.
Women that are going through menopause are reported to consume far more calories. Unless you are out training for a marathon to burn all of those extra calories, they will be converted to fat. The amount of calories that you need to consume for energy significantly decreases with age because unfortunately, aging promotes your body to replace muscle with unwanted fat. It is well known that muscle burns many more calories than fat so when the composition of your body shifts more towards fat, your metabolism slows way down.
Additionally, menopausal women for the most part, exercise less which also leads to weight gain which is why it is so important to stay active. Also, genetic factors are suggested to play a small role in the menopause and weight gain combination. If your mother or close relatives carried a significant amount of weight around their abdomen, this may also reflect on you.
Side Effects From Weight Gain
Weight gain can have some serious side effects on your health. When you carry excess weight, you increase your risk for high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. All of these factors essentially increase your risk for stroke and heart disease.
It is also proven than menopause and weight gain is associated with breast cancer. It is reported that women who gain over 20 pounds after they go through menopause increase their risk for breast cancer by almost 20 percent. If you lose weight after you go through menopause, you decrease your risk for breast cancer significantly.
Weight Gain Prevention
While there is not a magic formula to avoid menopause and weight gain when you age, you can maintain a healthy diet and stay active. It is essential to your weight and your health to increase your physical activity. It is easy to be physically active without feeling like you are exercising. Take longer walks or go for bike rides. Many women find it helpful to get themselves a dog during this time so they enjoy their walks every day and have a good reason to go. You can even burn calories by spending more time in your garden or doing yard work. Your goal should be to try to stay physically active for a minimum of 30 minutes at a time at least once a day.
Also, you need to reduce your calories. The diet that you have lived on for all these years is just not going to cut it now that your metabolism has slowed down. Choose a diet that is full of fruits and vegetables and keep in mind that with a slower metabolism, you need approximately 200 calories less per day than what you have needed until this point.