Menopause is a period when a woman’s body begins to rebuild. As a result of changes in the hormonal background and an age-related slowdown in metabolism, weight gain occurs. Typically, it is difficult to get rid of it even after the climacteric. The menopausal period is high time to change your taste habits to achieve the desired results. So, before proceeding to the question of how to lose weight during menopause, it is inevitable to have an understanding of what is exactly going on in the body of a woman in the climacteric period.
Causes of Weight Gain in Menopause
Not only hormonal changes in the body can cause the appearance of extra pounds. In many ways, weight gain during menopause depends on the lifestyle of the woman. There are several reasons why intensive weight gain occurs and women start to wonder how to lose weight during menopause:
- good appetite, which leads to overeating, as a result of which excess calories are deposited in the form of fat on the sides and hips;
- stress, neurosis, and fatigue cause a feeling of hunger, and a woman begins to eat intensely;
- aging of the body leads to the fact that muscle mass turns into fat;
- sedentary lifestyle;
- hormonal changes;
- slow metabolism.
Knowing the described above reasons will help you find a solution to the problem of how to lose weight in menopause.
How to Lose Weight After Menopause Naturally
To lose weight after menopause, you need to establish your everyday diet and lead an active lifestyle. This will help to quickly cope with extra pounds for women who faced the issue of excessive weight during menopause.
How to lose weight during menopause? Since metabolic processes slow down in the climacteric, water is retained in the body and fats accumulate. At the same time, a woman is gaining weight. To prevent this, you need to abandon fatty foods, especially those ones of animal origin. You can try a salt-free diet, which will reduce the likelihood of swelling.
It is enough to establish the right diet for menopause to lose weight and exercise daily to regain a slender figure with the climacteric. Try to follow the next rules:
- Eat more fish. Fish and seafood are excellent sources of protein, and, also, they have few calories, but many omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acids that protect us from atherosclerosis. Try to choose low-fat varieties, such as perch, zander, cod, pike, and to eat them boiled, stewed, or baked.
- Don’t fry anything. Dishes fried in oil are much higher in calories than those prepared in any other way. In addition, when roasted, carcinogens are formed.
- Reduce the amount of salt. Hypertension is a disease that threatens many during menopause. Therefore, try to limit salt in your diet. In addition, this mineral increases swelling and weight gain. Salt the dish already on the plate, and not during cooking – this one simple step will significantly reduce salt intake. Replace it with various seasonings and soy sauce – with them, the food will not seem tasteless.
- Do not forget about soy. Tofu cheese, soy milk, meat, and sauce help reduce the unpleasant symptoms of menopause and they are great components of the menopause diet plan to lose weight. Soy contains a natural analog of the hormone estrogen, the synthesis of which rapidly decreases during menopause.
- Eat more vegetables and fruits. They contain useful vitamins and minerals that the body needs so much. In addition, they contain a large amount of fiber, which “cleans” our body from the inside and protects against intestinal cancer. Every day you need to eat at least 500 g of fresh vegetables and fruits in several food intakes.
In order to avoid overeating, you need to control the daily dose of calories and comprehensively review your daily meals. In order to lose weight after menopause and not re-gain it, you must constantly be in motion, especially after eating.
Going in for Sports
Menopause is a great reason to start regular physical activity, go in for sports. Especially during this period, swimming, walking (including Scandinavian), yoga, and Pilates will be useful. There will also be benefits from breathing exercises, dancing, tennis, fitness, and step aerobics. But, at the same time, everything connected with the tension of the muscles of the anterior abdominal wall should be excluded – do not pump the press, it’s not worth it to lift weights. At this age, these exercises can aggravate the lowering of the genitals and urinary incontinence. Women, at this age against the background of a decrease in estrogen levels, very often already have these problems and muscle tension in the abdominal muscles only exacerbates them, as it increases intra-abdominal pressure.
So, how to lose weight during menopause? It’s enough to eat healthily and exercise regularly.