Are you dreading that inevitable weight gain that comes with menopause? Do you feel like you are losing the battle with belly fat that appears with middle age? You might be surprised to learn that peri and post menopausal weight gain is far from a given. Many women have had success losing weight during this time. Think it can’t happen for you? Maybe it is time to rethink your approach.
The most common wisdom has for many years said that “less is more” when it comes to food and weight loss. By the time women reach menopause, they have had many years of scant, self-depriving, unpalatable meal plans. They know that weight loss means being hungry. Here’s the rub, as they were losing those pounds, they were losing plenty of lean muscle mass. Lean muscle mass burns a lot more calories than fat. Lean muscle burns calories day and night, the more muscle versus fat the more calories are burned. When the women necessarily return to eating regular amounts, their bodies no longer need the same amount of calories they once did so they gain fat. Then they try again, reduce their calories, lose lean muscle, get hungry, eat, gain fat, and so on. It’s an endless cycle that does not produce the long term effects they were striving for. There has to be a better way.
Many people don’t know that as they attempt to increase their metabolism by adding to or maintaining their current muscle mass, the quality of their diet can make a big difference. As women age they are more sensitive to the effect of the quality of protein in their diet. Leucine, an amino acid, is one essential part of protein in foods like beef and in supplements like whey protein. Leucine not only provides a building block for metabolically super-charged muscle mass, but it acts as a signal for bodies to build muscle. The catch is, bodies don’t just go and build muscle just because they have leucine. A workout plan that acts in concert with leucine to stimulate muscle growth is regrettably absent from the day to day lives of most women in their middle years.
Workouts that include the right type and amount of strength training are vital to building lean, metabolically active muscle. Many women, following conventional and unfortunate advice, have a workout plan that includes only an aerobic component. They jog, spin, or walk neglecting exercises meant to increase lean muscle. Conventional cardiovascular exercises done incorrectly tend to exacerbate the problem of muscle loss that is caused by eating too few calories, causing even more loss of muscle and therefore decreased metabolism. Some women might be intimidated to begin a strength training program. While it is a good idea to get some instruction, realize that everyone can build strength and protect their lean muscle while building up their metabolism for continued fat loss.
Weight gain has less to do with the actual event of menopause and is shared by women and men as they age. Weight gain has more to do with a reduced metabolism that has been caused by years of eating unsustainably low calorie diets with an emphasis on the wrong type of exercise. The answer lies with increasing metabolism through balancing the right amount and type of food along with exercises that support a strong and healthy body.
Learn more in our segment on Studio 5 this morning!
