Learn about menopause weight gain, its causes, and the risk it poses to your health. Discover tips on how to prevent and manage menopausal weight gain through diet, exercise, and lifestyle changes.

Key takeaways

• Menopausal weight gain is caused by hormone changes, insulin resistance, loss of muscle mass and lifestyle changes.
• Menopausal weight gain increases the risk of various diseases such as heart disease and cancer.
• Prevent menopausal weight gain by exercising regularly, eating a healthy diet, and managing stress and sleep.
• Prioritise sleep and relaxation to help with weight management and overall health.

Many women experience weight gain as they age, and menopause can exacerbate this trend. Menopause weight gain is often caused by hormone changes, insulin resistance, and loss of muscle mass. But with a few simple lifestyle changes, you can prevent and manage menopausal weight gain.

What causes weight gain during menopause?

Hormone changes during menopause can increase the risk of becoming less insulin sensitive/insulin resistant, which can lead to the conversion of excessive glucose into visceral fat. Visceral fat is the type of fat that is stored in the abdomen and surrounding internal organs, such as the liver and pancreas. This rise in insulin resistance and increases in cortisol (a stress hormone), can make the problem worse. Other issues, such as insomnia caused by increased hot flushes and excessive anxiety, can also exacerbate the problem.

Another issue for women during this time is the tendency to lose muscle mass as we age. When muscle mass decreases, fat mass tends to increase, reducing your metabolism and making it less flexible to the changing needs of the body. Your body slows the rate that it metabolises your food, making it difficult to lose weight if this is your goal.

Many women in the menopausal age group are also facing life stresses, such as working, looking after children, and caring for ageing parents. This extra workload makes it more difficult to find time to exercise, which may be an additional cause of stress and further impacted by poor sleep. When people feel stressed or overwhelmed, emotional eating, poor food choices, and lack of exercise may make the situation worse.

What is the risk of menopausal weight gain?

As hormone levels change during menopause, the risk of diseases such as heart disease and metabolic syndrome increases. Pre-menopausal hormones tend to offer women a protective factor that men do not have, but this changes when menopause hits.

Issues such as heart disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, asthma, emphysema, and type 2 diabetes risk all increase once menopause arises. Excess weight also increases your risk of various types of common cancers, such as breast, colon, and endometrial cancers.

How to prevent weight gain during menopause?

While there is no magic bullet for preventing or reversing menopause weight gain. It's important to speak to your doctor about your weight loss goals and to receive tailored menopause treatment that suits you. The following tips are general strategies which may help to prevent weight gain during menopause.

Move more

Physical activity, including both aerobic fitness exercise and strength training, can help you maintain a healthy weight. By gaining muscle, your body will be able to use energy more efficiently, which tends to make it easier to control weight.

The experts recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate aerobic activity, such as brisk walking per week, or vigorous aerobic activity, such as jogging, for at least 75 minutes a week.

Additional strength training exercise is recommended at least twice a week to increase your metabolic flexibility, increase muscle mass and help stabilise blood glucose levels over the long term.

Improve your nutrition

Optimising your nutrition on a day-to-day basis is important during menopause. As a general rule, consuming a menopause diet that is high in plant-based foods tends to be healthier. Consider implementing some of these strategies:

• Increase your vegetables, fruits, legumes, nuts, soy, fish and lean meats
• Reduce processed foods, such as crisps, lollies, cakes, biscuits, and fried food
• Reduce your sugar intake — reducing fruit juices, soft drink, breakfast cereals and added sugar to tea and coffee can be a good place to start
• Become more aware of how and why you might be frequently snacking, and opt for whole food snacks where possible
• Practice mindful eating
• Try to cook more from scratch rather than use store-bought sauces and condiments

Reduce your alcohol intake

Alcohol intake is increasing in women, especially around this age. Alcohol can have negative effects on menopause weight loss.

Many alcoholic beverages contain added sugar, which can contribute to weight gain. Alcohol also impairs the body's ability to metabolise fat, which can lead to an increase in fat storage. This effect is particularly pronounced in menopausal women who are already experiencing hormonal changes that increase the risk of weight gain.

Alcohol consumption is often associated with poorer food choices, which can further contribute to weight gain. Additionally, consuming alcohol can disrupt your sleep, which can lead to an increase in the stress hormone cortisol. Cortisol can increase the risk of laying down excessive body fat, making it even more difficult to manage menopausal weight gain.

Prioritise sleep

Sleep is the time of the day when the body's metabolism regulates itself. Without effective or efficient sleep, weight management is often unsuccessful. If you think you may have an issue with sleep, consider seeing your GP to get a sleep assessment.

Reduce your stress

Many women don't realise the impact of long-term stress on weight management. Excessive cortisol over the long term can increase the risk of laying down excessive body fat, especially around the middle. Minimising stress and working on ways to increase relaxation will add benefit to your overall approach.

It is common for women to feel overwhelmed during this time, and many women find their changing body distressing. Taking a holistic approach and a long-term view is critical for sustained menopausal symptom management. Remember that improving things like sleep and exercise have positive benefits in so many different facets of life too. When these changes become habits, the enjoyment and benefits are vast.

Vively is a metabolic health app that uses continuous glucose monitors (CGMs) to help you understand how your diet and lifestyle is impacting your glucose levels in real-time. This can be helpful for women who are menopausal and insulin resistant. The Vively app combines glucose monitoring with lifestyle education and support so that menopausal women can reach their health goals sustainably.