Hormones and Weight Gain

5 tips for controlling the effects of hormonal weight gain

Hormones and weight gain are intricately linked.

Next to menopausal hot flashes and night sweats, one of the most troublesome symptoms associated with menopause is menopausal weight gain.

No doubt you may have already discovered this on your own as you’ve been struggling with avoiding weight gain during menopause.

Most women will actually gain anywhere between 10 to 15 pounds during this stage of life.

In fact, it's estimated that at least 80-90% of women will gain a few extra pounds which by the way, is not a direct result of overeating but rather caused by shifts and changes in your hormone levels!

Those of you who have already reached menopause age have likely already noticed a change or shift in your own physical body shape, no doubt.

Of course, this shift in weight distribution doesn’t just happen overnight, but gradually, perhaps one or two pounds per year during perimenopause and perhaps even a little faster for those who are experiencing surgically induced or early menopause.

The areas where you’ll see the most physical changes will also likely be in the abdomen or belly area as well as your hips and thighs. Yes, nature can be cruel indeed!

Again, this is not your fault and to explain what is actually happening, you’ll need to also understand that our female hormones also have a significant impact on our mood and behavior, our metabolism rate, our appetite and perhaps more importantly the storage of body fat.

Hormones and Weight Gain: The Four Key Hormones

As women we have four key hormones, each with its own unique function and responsibility.

Estrogen: Estrogen is responsible for ovulation. Once you reach menopause age you are no longer menstruating and your estrogen levels have diminished. However, as your ovaries are still in need of a source of estrogen your body will naturally begin to convert more calories into fat and in turn store an extra supply of those fat cells (known as belly fat) in order to help produce and maintain that much needed estrogen source. As your fat cells are now less available for burning calories, this is what actually causes you to gain belly fat plus those few extra pounds around your midsection.

Androgen: Androgen is also responsible for adding excess weight in and around the abdominal area of our body. During menopause, our bodies naturally produce more of this androgen hormone.

Progesterone: Like estrogen, progesterone also diminishes during menopause. It’s the hormone that’s responsible for causing uncomfortable symptoms such as bloating and water retention.

Not to worry, ladies. Fortunately, there are ways to address this problem and you can learn how to decrease water retention effectively so that these troublesome symptoms will subside.

Testosterone: Lastly, there’s testosterone (yes, we women actually do have some!) Testosterone is the hormone that’s responsible for converting and maintaining lean muscle tissue.

During the stages of menopause, our testosterone levels drop as well, which results in a gradual loss of lean muscle tissue. Lean muscle is metabolically active, meaning that it burns calories just to exist.

Now a gradual loss of your metabolically active lean muscle will naturally slow down your metabolism making it more difficult to burn calories efficiently. The end result is of course, weight gain.

Hormones and Weight Gain: Stress and Cortisol

There are other hormones that can cause weight gain during menopause, but perhaps the most insidious and health threatening would have to be cortisol.

Did you know that cortisol contributes directly to the accumulation of excess belly fat?

Each time you’re subjected to bouts of stress (and who isn’t these days?) your adrenal glands release cortisol into your system. If you’re struggling to lose belly fat and keep it off, then cortisol can sabotage your best efforts and you’ll want to learn some effective ways to manage your stress and cortisol levels.

Read can more about controlling stress and weight loss.

So, now what can you do to help keep the effects of hormones and weight gain that results from them at bay?

Hormones and Weight Gain: 5 Tips That Can Help

Here’s five of my best "hormones and weight gain" tips and suggestions that I know can make a significant difference for you:

The benefits of exercise during menopause (and perimenopause) are many.

Regular exercise is both effective way to reduce stress, maintain your heart’s health. Something as simple as a brisk 45 minute walk each day will go a long way in helping you to maintain lean muscle tissue and burn more calories as a result.

It’s definitely an effective stress reducer as well. Yoga, pilates and tai chi are also known to be very effective types of exercises for reducing stress and maintaining joints and muscles.

Avoiding overly refined, simple, high glycemic index foods and eating lots of lower carb vegetables and fruits will help in avoiding weight gain during menopause.

Protein is a great natural metabolism booster, so be sure to include lean high protein foods in your meal plan as well and drink at least one whey protein shake daily to ensure you’re getting enough high quality protein in your diet.

Supplementing with a high quality natural nutritional supplement that’s designed specifically for your nutritional needs as well as Omega- 3 supplements has also been proven to be one of the best health strategies for helping you to balance hormones and alleviating many of the symptoms of menopause.

Cut back or avoid excessive alcohol, caffeine and other stimulants.

Ladies, these strategies are not new and exciting, but they’ve been tried, tested and proven over the years to be very effective in helping to control the effects of hormones and weight gain.

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