Weight Gain During Menopause | How To Lose The Weight

They say the average weight gain during menopause is about 10 to 15 pounds.  I personally think “they” are lying as this gal found a bit more than that after her 5’3″ body went through menopause.  And now that I’m done with that insane stage,  at this age ….  it is the hardest time of my life to lose that extra 20 lbs and get back into shape.

I’m sure you’ve pretty much figured out you’re in menopause – your body’s changing, you’re having hot flashes, you get chills, night sweats, those God awful mood swings, you can’t sleep, you’re tired all the time, and you’re gaining weight.  Pretty much sum it up?

And I won’t go into detail about the whole scientific reasons behind menopause, but I will tell you WHY you’ve gained the extra weight and WHY it’s so damn hard to get your shape back.

WHY THE WEIGHT GAIN – it’s our declining estrogen levels.  Declining estrogen levels are attributed to night sweats which mean not getting a solid 8 hours of sleep; not getting enough sleep produces ghrelin (the hormone that makes you hungry) and decreases leptin (the hormone that makes you stop eating); and this loss of estrogen makes insulin less effective at lowering glucose – which equates to stored fat – that excess belly bulge, the back fat and love handles.

WHY IT’S HARD TO GET YOUR SHAPE BACK –  once again it’s our estrogen levels – they’ve declined and have lowered the rate of energy used during exercise. Workouts we used to do when we were younger aren’t as effective after menopause and it will take more ork to get back into shape.

Don’t give up – I’ve got you covered right here. But I will be honest about the weight loss and exercise thing – it’s not going to be easy.

HOW TO LOSE THE WEIGHT

So after trying numerous ridiculous diets, I do believe I’ve finally found the one that I can stick to.  Let’s not call it a diet as that word gives off bad karma.  Let’s just call it “eating high carbs one day and eating low carbs the next” – who would have thought CARB CYCLING would be so simple.  So what exactly is carb cycling?

CARB CYCLING is when you alternate low and high days with your carb intake:

• Cycle one/day one is a LOW CARB DAY which is where you increase your healthy fat intake AND DO A LOW KEY WORKOUT.
• Cycle two/day two, the day after a low carb day, you increase to a moderate HIGH CARB DAY, which will reignite your metabolism AND WILL ENABLE YOU TO DO A MORE VIGOROUS WORKOUT.
• Cycle three/day 3 is simply repeating with a LOW CARB DAY, next with a HIGH CARB DAY, etc etc.

So as you can see, CARBS ARE GOOD – OUR BODIES NEED CARBS FOR ENERGY.   We just need to burn them off the right way so they’re not just sitting in our fat cells making us just that … FAT!  And this is where CARB CYCLING comes in. Carb cycling enables you to better utilize fat for burning as fuel, instead of burning carbs and muscle tissue for fuel.  When you eat high carbs at the right time, it resets your metabolism and tells the body to produce thyroid and leptin hormones, which are good for a healthy weight.  When you eat low carbs, it tells the body to use up its stored carbs (glycogen), which then burns the stored body fat that will lead to both body fat loss and water loss, which results in weight loss !!

Two weekly menus for CARB CYCLING are here at your fingertips. Just click on the weeks below and start following – pretty easy breezy.

HOW TO GET YOUR SHAPE BACK

Here I’ve got a 30 Day Workout Plan For Beginners – an exercise plan for women over 50 who need want to get their shape back.  Exercise for women over 50 should have cardiovascular exercise, flexibility and range of motion movements, weight-bearing exercises for muscular strength and endurance, and made so not to put pressure on your knees, feet, or overall muscles.  DO NOT START OFF HARD CORE – DO NOT DO BOOT CAMP.  It didn’t take a week or two to get out of shape so don’t expect to get back into shape in a 2 weeks either.

Here I show you how to take it slow and get your body and muscles accustom to working out,  so you will avoid getting hurt, avoid muscle fatigue, and avoid quitting.  This is where my 30 day program comes in.  All it takes is 15-20 minutes of your day.  I start off slow and show you how you can modify each move to fit your body type.  Do these workouts with me for 30 days and I guarantee you’ll start to see results.  All the more reason to stay with it.  Click the links to get started