Weight Gain During Menopause? Here’s What You Can Do

Want to know what happens in your body during menopause? Read more here. 

• Changes in hormone levels. During menopause, the production of oestrogen decreases. Oestrogen plays a role in regulating body weight. When oestrogen levels drop, it can lead to weight gain, particularly around the abdomen.  
  It’s good to know: as the body produces less oestrogen in the ovaries, it seeks other sources. One of these sources is our adipose tissue, which produces small amounts of oestrogen. However, this does not mean you automatically gain weight because your body is searching for oestrogen.  

• Changes in metabolism. As you age, your metabolism slows down. In other words, your body burns fewer calories than before. A slower metabolism can contribute to weight gain without any changes in your diet. 

• Changes in body composition. When hormone activity changes, the storage and burning of fat in various body areas also change. During menopause, you may notice a decrease in muscle mass and an increase in fat mass. Muscle tissue burns more calories than fat tissue, so losing muscle mass can further slow down metabolism. 

• Changes in lifestyle. During menopause, you might not feel as well as you used to. As a result, you may notice changes in your lifestyle: you may exercise less and eat differently.  

Can Weight Gain During Menopause Be Prevented? 

Weight gain during menopause cannot always be completely avoided, as it is a natural part of the ageing process and is influenced by the factors mentioned earlier. Of course, this is not a reason to let everything run its course, but it does mean you can be a bit kinder to yourself: you can't always help it.  

What Can You Do About Unwanted Weight Gain? 

Weight gain doesn’t have to be negative. But if you are overweight or don’t feel comfortable with the extra kilos, we can understand that you want to do something about it. You can do this by: 

• Consume fewer calories than you burn. Sounds simple, but how do you do that? It is important to determine your resting metabolic rate, which is the number of calories you burn if you didn’t move all day. It’s best to consult a health professional for this. Besides your resting metabolic rate, it’s good to consider how much more you burn in a day. Do you have an active job, or do you sit at a desk from nine to five? Do you walk every day, or do you exercise several times a week? This extra calorie burn adds to your resting burn. Lastly, you can track what you consume, for example, by keeping a food diary.  

• Keep eating enough protein. Proteins are crucial in maintaining muscle mass, which is important for your resting metabolism. Your resting metabolism is where you burn most of your calories. It’s important to keep it as high as possible. A good guideline for protein intake is 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. 

• Limit stress. Stress, particularly the stress hormone cortisol, can significantly hinder us. This also applies to weight management, as cortisol blocks fat burning.  

• Add foods with phytoestrogens to your diet. Phytoestrogens can partly take over the functions of oestrogen and, on the other hand, prevent too much active oestrogen. A lack of phytoestrogens disrupts the fat and glucose metabolism and can promote overweight and fat accumulation. To consume more phytoestrogens, we can look to our ancestors: the original natural diet of humans, which mainly consisted of vegetables, fruits, roots, tubers, leaves, seeds, and berries, was rich in phytoestrogens.