Menopause And Your Body: A Guide To Weight Changes

If you’ve ever been told that you’ll inevitably struggle with extra weight gain throughout menopause, it’s time to separate the facts from the rumours. 

While it’s a common experience for women to begin to gain weight during perimenopause (which is the first stage of menopause), there are numerous ways that this can be minimised and controlled through careful monitoring and proactive management techniques. With varying triggers for menopausal weight gain, it’s important to take a look at your individual risk factors. An awareness of your personal circumstances, health history, and any lifestyle or genetic factors that could impact your likelihood of increased weight gain can help you develop a personalised plan for the changing season ahead.

Why is weight gain associated with menopause?

Menopause signifies all kinds of changes, including changes to the body’s naturally occurring hormones directly responsible for governing weight. It’s not solely these hormonal shifts that trigger weight gain, however, with lifestyle choices and genetic considerations all playing a role in how our weight is managed, particularly as we age.

You’re likely familiar with the oestrogen hormone, but did you know it also plays a crucial role in how fat is stored in the body and how our metabolisms operate? When these levels begin to drop as a result of menopause, the body receives a signal: it’s time to store more fat (particularly around the abdomen). Not only do these reduced oestrogen levels directly influence how fat is stored, but also how it’s created, with reductions leading to a decrease in metabolic activity, meaning fewer calories are naturally burned throughout the day.

The decrease of muscle mass that tends to occur with age can also be held responsible for weight gain that takes place during menopausal life stages. Since muscle burns more calories than fat, a reduction in muscle mass can directly equate to a further lowering of the rate at which the metabolism burns calories. As women may also decrease their physical activity as they age, their caloric needs can shift and change in correspondence to reduced metabolic activity.

Menopause’s great gifts to weight gain aren’t done yet. Beyond how it directly correlates with factors leading to weight gain, it can also wreak havoc with our sleep. When our sleep is under pressure, our bodies can increase higher levels of the hormone cortisol, leading to more fat storage in the abdomen. This lack of a good night’s sleep can also impact how hunger-regulating hormones behave, which can lead to an increased appetite and cravings for foods that are high in calories (and potentially low in nutritional value). 

While hormonal shifts are certainly at play in menopausal weight gain, lifestyle and age-related factors can also lead to more challenges in minimising weight fluctuations throughout this transitional period.

Need support for weight management throughout menopause? Contact the Australian Menopause Centre today.
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Is menopausal weight gain risky?

Unfortunately, extra weight gained during menopause can have serious and ongoing impacts on your health. Extra weight, particularly abdominal weight, can increase the risk of a wide range of health issues, including breathing problems, heart and blood vessel disease, and Type 2 diabetes. 

Extra weight can also increase the risk of certain cancers developing, which can already be exacerbated throughout menopause as a result of hormonal fluctuations.

For many women, menopausal treatment plans are designed to address the risk of weight gain, looking to minimise the negative impacts this weight gain can otherwise have on their short-term and long-term health and well-being. 

How to reduce the impact of menopause-related weight gain

As weight gain has so much to do with individual factors, there’s no one way to reduce the likelihood of increased weight gain throughout your menopausal experience. There are, however, a number of lifestyle factors and choices that can have a significant effect on how much menopause-related weight gain becomes an ongoing issue over the years to come.

Looking for the simplest ways to reduce the impact of weight gain throughout menopause? The good news is that many of these solutions are well within your control, including:

• Build in more regular movement. Physical activity is one beneficial way to either maintain your current weight or help to lose some extra weight. For menopausal women, there’s a wide range of exercises that can be of great benefit during this fluctuating season. Flowing movements in yoga, jumping into the pool to do some laps, hitting the tracks on your bike, or going for a brisk, light walk around the neighbourhood are all easy and supportive ways to increase your movement throughout your menopausal years. This can also help to prevent muscle loss, giving your body more fuel to continue to burn calories through your metabolic rate.
• Review your dietary requirements. If you’ve been eating around the same amount of calories every day for years, it may be time to review your caloric needs. Gone are the days of needing the same calories as you did in your 30s and 40s – your body simply doesn’t need as many in order to keep up with changing demands on its energy levels. Without making simple shifts to how much you’re eating, you may be at risk of consuming more calories than your body needs in this new life stage, resulting in the risk of additional weight gain. One simple way to support yourself through this change is to look to nature: fruits, vegetables, and whole grains can all be a powerful source of nutrients that also help to control your caloric intake.
• Limit your alcohol intake. Since alcoholic beverages can add extra calories to your diet, this is one easy way you can reduce the risk of gaining weight. This can also be beneficial for achieving a higher quality of sleep throughout menopause’s symptom fluctuations.
• Choose water over other drinks. Added sugars can easily creep up in your daily intake when they’re in liquid form. If you’re regularly reaching for soft drinks, juices, flavoured waters, or sweetened teas, water can be more supportive for your weight management needs throughout menopause.
• Consider menopausal hormone therapy. As menopausal symptoms can make it difficult to exercise and eat well, hormone therapy treatment can provide necessary relief that paves the way for a healthier lifestyle overall. 

Conclusion

Menopause will offer a different experience to each woman who goes through it, with lifestyle factors, habits and routines, genetic factors and more all coming into play. Menopause-related weight gain is one area where intentionality about your individual circumstances can have a significant impact on how successfully you can manage its risks throughout your menopausal transition. Your health is too important not to have the highest quality of support for – if you’re looking for ways to control your weight gain throughout menopause, reach out to the team at the Australian Menopause Centre to explore the treatment pathways available to you throughout this evolving season.