How Do You Lose Weight While Having Symptoms of Menopause?

As if menopause isn’t enough to deal with—never mind the hot flashes, how about the quick dashes…to the scale. Menopausal women often have to deal with weight gain as they experience the symptoms of menopause. Since menopause signals the body to start retaining fat (especially around the tummy area), weight gain is often an unwanted side effect.

Why Does the Body Retain More Fat During Menopause?

In a word, estrogen. Fat contains estrogen, and estrogen is an incredibly important hormone for women already—and it becomes especially valuable to women experiencing menopause. Extra estrogen leads to excess body fat tissue, and in this way menopause triggers not only physical symptoms, but emotional ones as well—women gain weight, and for many, this may have been a previous battle that they’ve won. It now resurfaces, during menopause. This may lead to a variety of emotional issues at a time when women are at their most vulnerable state already.

What’s Most Important in the Diet then, During Menopause?

In a word, protein. Protein chains form our bones, blood, immune system, hormones….Is it any wonder then, that as these break down (especially during menopause), the body goes into a mini system of shock? Breakdowns during menopause can affect health, certainly, but they can also affect mood, stamina, and quality of life.

Without the energy and vitality we’re used to, we may not feel like moving around as much during menopause. “I need to take a break—it’s that menopause thing again—those hot flashes, you understand,” we say, and we become more sedentary. Menopause may push us into becoming couch potatoes, which also doesn’t help the weight gain any.

So if these chains of proteins are breaking down, obviously, building them up again becomes vitally important during menopause. In fact, we have to manufacture billions of proteins every day to replace the broken ones experienced during menopause.