Losing Weight After Menopause

I am fortunate to have access to many experts in natural hormone health and the concerns that affect women.

One great source for me is Andrew Weil, MD who is an expert in healthy eating and living and his take on weight gain at menopause certainly bears repeating.

For many women, gaining weight after menopause seems inevitable, and losing it nearly impossible. However, a  study from the University of Pittsburgh suggested that a few simple changes can make a big difference.

Researchers followed 465 overweight and obese postmenopausal women for four years to evaluate weight-loss strategies that worked best.

The women were divided into two groups. Those in one group underwent intensive nutrition and exercise counseling, while those in the other group received a more general weight loss program.

Key weight loss factors

All of the women kept a daily record of what they ate, and where they ate, for the duration of the study.

When the investigators reviewed all the factors that made the difference for the women who successfully lost weight, they found that the winning strategy was replacing meats and cheese in the diet with fruit and vegetables.

Eating fewer desserts and drinking fewer sugar-sweetened beverages also proved important. The effect of substituting fruit and vegetables wasn’t noticeable at the study’s six-month mark but had the greatest impact on sustained weight loss and prevention of weight gain over the long-term, the researchers reported.

Dr Weil’s View

My take? Emphasizing fruits and vegetables and minimizing meatsand cheese in your diet is a strategy I have championed, whether or not you are overweight. My anti-inflammatory diet (which is not focused on weight loss but can help you shed unwanted pounds) calls for an abundance of fruit and vegetables and for decreasing consumption of animal protein other than fish and high quality, natural cheese and yogurt.

This “eating plan” provides steady energy as well as vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, dietary fiber and protective phytonutrients.

And, as the Pittsburgh study showed, you can help yourself lose weight when your plate is full of fresh produce.

Helpful information:

Whether you are post menopause, or still in it, it seems that oestrogen dominance is a major factor for many women in gaining weight.

Ensuring good hormone balance gives you a great start to getting that weight under control and following a diet specific to oestrogen dominance will also make a big difference.

If you would like to know more about Andrew Weil’s approach to healthy living you can visit his website https://www.drweil.com/

Often belly fat is a major cause for concern, so this article will also be helpful.

https://anna.blog.wellsprings-health.com/belly-fat-heres-what-to-avoid/