Weight Gain During Menopause | Fact or Fiction? • Tracy Hensel

5 Diet and Exercise changes you MUST make during Menopause

This is such a big topic, and so many more women are talking openly about it, which I LOVE and support. Women in menopause find comfort in knowing they are not alone on this journey. A big topic is weight gain in Menopause. Menopause is often touted as the reason for weight gain, leaving women feeling forever doomed, defeated, and as a result giving up.

You know I will tell you the TRUTH, which is generally NOT what you want to hear but rather need to hear. Your weight gain is not from Menopause.

Menopause does not make a person gain weight. You have to stop using it as your crutch and tune out any noise you hear from others telling you that’s the reason for their weight gain. It’s not! Their choices are the reason for their weight gain. Let me explain.

We are always in transition, so we must modify from season to season. A baby starts with breast milk or formula and moves on to solids in a new season.

Menopause is a season of change and reevaluating choices.

Most women avoid both; change and reevaluation come with the discomfort of ‘HARD.’ Many women want no part of hard and simply choose easy. While you get to, it WILL come with a price. As I say, It’s ALL hard. Putting the work in is hard. Staying stuck where you are is hard. Choose Your Hard!

The 5 Changes To Make

ONE : EAT LESS

You simply don’t require as many calories. You must scale back to maintain your pre-menopausal weight. I train harder today than ever and eat significantly fewer calories than I did twenty years ago. Let that sink in. Choose your hard! Do not believe apps like ‘MyFitnessPal’ for your calorie allowance. There is no tab selecting ‘Menopause’ before factoring in your allotted calories. Everyone I know that uses the app has the same number for calorie allowance. That’s a red flag in itself. Know your BMR (Basal Metabolic Rate) and structure your calorie allowance from there.

Need help? Work with me or join the next session of 3-Week Intense. I address diet and exercise all the time with members struggling. My BMR is around 1340 calories per day. Yours will look different based on age, weight, activity level, and MENOPAUSE! Know your BMR. It’s the best tool to have. Where those 1340 calories come from is critical in this season and often the biggest mistake menopausal women make. This takes me to …

TWO: CHOOSE WISELY

You once got away with more processed food (SAD), sugar, and alcohol. That ship has sailed for Menopausal women. You simply cannot eat the SAD, and take in the sugar, including hidden sugar, like you once did. We are more prone to inflammation during menopause, Believe your inflamed body for showing you who it is. Not only do we feel the effects of processed food, sugar, and alcohol more during menopause, but we are also more susceptible to inflammation at a more rapid pace. If you don’t give up these inflammatories altogether, you must scale back how often and how much you have.

THREE: EAT MORE FREQUENTLY

With being on a calorie-restricted diet to maintain weight or achieve weight loss, you want to avoid feeling hungry, resulting in feeling famished and then eating too much or binging. Eat small micro-meals frequently.

Start the day with your heartiest meal, especially if you train first thing in the morning. Intermittent Fasting is a big buzz, and while I am on board with all the health benefits of time-restricted eating, you don’t ‘have’ to incorporate it if it’s not what’s best for you. Find what works for you and tune out the noise, even if the noise is good. Give yourself permission not to feel pressured.

I eat my first meal of the day around 6 a.m. and maintain my weight just fine. IF (Intermittent Fasting) is incompatible with my current season, body composition goals, and avoiding the symptoms of menopause, that’s okay. I zip it and don’t tell anyone. It’s the best way to ‘avoid’ noise. Smile and nod, as I often say.

FOUR: YOU MUST WORK SMARTER AND NOT HARDER

Exercise is critical in this season.

I believe it is in all seasons, but there’s no room for skipped workouts during the season of menopause. The signs show both internally and externally. You cannot cover up unhealthy menopausal women. No makeup or perfectly coiffed hair will cover the truth – lifestyle will always show through. Strength Training is essential for this season.

During menopause, we are at high risk for Osteopenia or, worse, Osteoporosis. You MUST strength train smarter and harder! I encourage many of my clients to incorporate a Personal Trainer who specializes in working with middle-aged women to learn proper form and variety.

Commit to working with a Personal Trainer for six months; you will be ready to go independently.

FIVE: QUIT WAITING TO FEEL GOOD

Menopause comes with a lot of discomforts. Sleep is often compromised, you’re more prone to inflammation from eating SAD, your joints are more achy, and so on. These are all hard. They are also excuses for not living a good life. Is that really what you want? Go into every day with no expectations on how you will feel, but rather with a game plan of what you will accomplish regardless. This is a season that will challenge how resilient you are. It’s all hard; choose your hard.