Menopausal Weight Gain – 7 Things You Need to Know

Hello my hormone sisters. The month I turned 50 I gained 8 lbs. Yep, it just appeared one day and said, “Hey I’m here to stay….whacha gonna do about it?” I started to understand fully what my clients have been telling me for years. “I just gained weight without changing ANYTHING.”  I do know that weight gain can happen but there is plenty you can do about it. Lets face it you are not going to look like your 20 year old self but you can feel comfortable in your skin and feel strong and healthy. What I don’t suggest is just hating your body and complaining about it and sitting in a place of fear and helplessness. Here is what you need to know to be as healthy as you can while going through the many changes of peri-menopause and menopause.

1. Stop weighing yourself while you are beginning to take steps to bring yourself back into balance. Learning to eat in a way that supports fat loss, hormone balance takes time. Gone are the days of dieting and working out everyday to achieve sustainable results. Learn about balancing your protein, carbs and fats. Nothing is more frustrating and soul sucking than using the scale to measure your success.  I recommend to the women I work with to focus on reducing symptoms, increasing energy and sleeping more soundly. I usually get my gals to weigh themselves after 6 weeks of following my program. I run an entire program on how to balance your hormones.  You can read about it here: nutrigal.ca/bodybeautiful 

2. Get help to determine what supplements can help with your hormone imbalance. Going to the health food store and asking, “What will banish my hot flashes?”,  won’t get you the safe personalized information you need for your specific hormone profile. The symptoms of elevated cortisol, low thyroid, progesterone and estrogen are all similar. To make matters even more confusing you can be low in estrogen and ALSO estrogen dominant. So while you think that supplement you’re purchasing will manage your night sweats, it might do the exact opposite. For example if you take a plant estrogen to relieve your night sweats and your thyroid is the real problem you could be making matters worse. Your money is hard earned and spending it on the right type of treatment is important. As much as I know about hormone imbalance I still get tested so that I’m not throwing money out the window. Who needs that?

3. Learn to set boundaries LIKE A BOSS. This means to once and for all to stop giving a FRIG what people think of you when you say NO. It may seem counterintuitive but saying NO when you mean it will actually help to mend relationships. Initially some people might be annoyed but in time you will garner respect and people will begin to trust you. For more information on this go ahead and watch the video below. 

The Art of Saying No

4. Take stress management seriously. Like make it a frigging priority, seriously. I’m not talking about sitting in a room and saying Om. I’m talking about taking a look at your thought patterns, learning how to reframe your thinking and if you haven’t dealt with that long time resentment, please do so now. You don’t need to carry that baggage with you to your death bed.

5.  LOVE your body the way it is RIGHT NOW. How many years have you spent hating your body? Isn’t it time to show it some love. I know it’s cliche. I know you’ve heard it before. Self love means that we don’t step on the scale daily to berate ourselves. It means to take 1-2 hours on the weekend to prepare veggies and protein. It means pampering yourself. It means letting go of the skinny clothes that you might one day fit into. Go out an buy yourself something you feel good in RIGHT NOW. Wear clothes that feel good on your body and make you feel sexy.

6.  Exercise for your body in a way that nurtures your body. Cardio is great if it’s something you love. If you’ve never used weights please get a trainer. Group classes are great if you need some help with form (and we all need help with form). Take belly dancing, Zoomba or hip hop; what ever floats your boat. What ever you do, don’t stop moving.

7.  Start enjoying life no matter what your body is doing. Be gentle when you’re tired. When you have the energy…go out and enjoy nature, join a meet up group and re-discover what you really love. Get face to face with women or men friends. Face to face interaction raises serotonin. Serotonin makes you happy and helps fight those damn sugar cravings 🙂

Go forth and be awesome because you are. Just because your hormones are being unruly does not mean you have to be miserable. You can choose to do things that make you happy even when experiencing hormone upheaval.

Love you all hormone sisters. Just know you are NOT alone. I’m in this with you and so are many other women.

If you want more daily inspiration, sister support and actual tools and tips for hormone imbalance you can head over to my hormone hangout group by clicking the photo here: