Comprehensive Guide to Losing Weight During Menopause: Tips and Strategies for a Healthier Lifestyle

How to Lose Weight During Menopause

When menstruation ends due to age or surgical removal of reproductive organs, women may experience specific health and nutrition problems, many of which are related to the loss of the healthy benefits of estrogen.

Menopause is a physiological, normal stage in a woman's life, usually occurring between the ages of 45 and 55, when the ovaries stop producing eggs. It can start with irregular menstrual cycles and manifest with other symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, sleep problems, and vaginal dryness. It also affects bone, heart, and brain health, particularly memory. The decrease in circulating estrogen limits the body's ability to remodel bones, leading to a reduction in bone mass, and affects blood lipid concentrations, increasing "bad" cholesterol (LDL) and decreasing "good" cholesterol (HDL). During menopause, there is also a redistribution of body fat, with more fat accumulating in the central area of the body, and this abdominal fat is associated with diseases such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart attacks, making weight loss more difficult.

All these changes affect our health, understood according to the WHO as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease."

What can women do as we approach this new stage of life? Acquiring a healthy lifestyle that encompasses diet, absence of toxic habits, and regular physical exercise will be more important than ever. That said, here are some tips.

Health Tips for Coping with Menopause Symptoms

1. Health Benefits of Isoflavones and Why You Should Increase Legume Consumption: Isoflavones found in these foods are the best-known and studied phytoestrogens. Although clear conclusions have not yet been reached about the effects of isoflavones on health, some studies attribute beneficial effects to them on plasma cholesterol levels, breast cancer and other estrogen-dependent cancers, obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis, reduction of hot flashes, and recovery of bone mass in menopause.

2. How Alcohol Consumption Contributes to Liver Fat and Weight Gain: Regular consumption of alcoholic beverages promotes fat accumulation in the liver, increasing waist circumference, and can irreversibly damage liver cells. If accompanied by sugary drinks, the effect of gaining weight is additional.

3. Effects of High Glycemic Foods on Weight Gain: They are mainly found in refined cereals and flours, sweets, juices, jams, and have rapid digestion and absorption. The pancreas releases a dose of the hormone called insulin proportional to the amount of glucose entering the blood; its mission is to send this glucose to the cells of the body to supply them with energy, but the excess is stored as body fat. So, the higher the intake of this group of foods, the more we favor the likelihood of gaining weight.

4. Healthy Eating Tips for Weight Management: Maintain a daily and rational consumption of foods such as olive oil, and plan a weekly menu that contains more fish and nuts than meats. As for the ideal portions of these foods, 30-40g of oil for cooking and dressing per day may be sufficient, 20g of roasted or raw unsalted nuts, 5 times a week, can help us face main meals with less appetite, and 125g fish fillets accompanied by abundant and varied vegetables will also contribute to providing satiety and maintaining your cardiovascular health.

5. Increase consumption of foods rich in calcium and vitamin D: The needs for this mineral are increased in women after menopause. They are present in dairy products, sesame seeds, black molasses, nuts, and legumes in general, and in smaller amounts, in cabbage, broccoli, spinach, and orange. Fish that is eaten with the bone is also an important source of calcium. It is important to remember that vitamin D is found in the fat of some foods, so it is not advisable to eliminate whole or semi-skimmed dairy products from the diet.

6. Attend to and readjust your biological clocks: Many of our biological functions follow periodic rhythms; menstruation is just one example. With age, daily life circumstances, and hormonal changes that occur during menopause, we alter the functioning of the central internal clock (in the brain), and secondary clocks subordinate to the first one (they are in different organs and tissues). Maintaining regular meal, exercise, and rest schedules, having main meals early in the day, and spending at least 2 hours outdoors during the day, has been shown to help synchronize our internal clocks, contributing to improving sleep quality, our mood, and even our results with a weight loss diet.

7. Avoid caffeine and other stimulants in the evening: They can help you sleep better. Caffeine is one of the factors why we currently sleep up to two hours less than fifty years ago. But we must control the amount consumed per day because it also increases stomach acidity, can increase anxiety, affects sleep and circadian rhythms. In addition, excess caffeine can have a detrimental effect on bone mineral density.

8. In the face of hot flashes, avoid hot drinks.

9. Combine aerobic exercise with strength training: This combination helps reduce overweight and diseases associated with excess abdominal fat and improves the decrease in muscle mass that occurs with age and menopause, as well as the balance between lean mass and fat mass.

10. Consider hormone replacement therapy always under medical prescription: In these estrogen replacement treatments, the administration of calcium and vitamin D supplements may be indicated.

A fundamental part of success in weight loss and maintenance is multidisciplinary assessment and approach, which will allow for the creation of a personalized treatment.

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Weight Loss Disclaimer:

The information provided in this blog post is for educational purposes only and is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical condition or weight loss plan. Individual results may vary, and it is important to consider your own health needs and consult with a healthcare professional before starting any new diet or exercise program.