Menopause And Weight Gain
As if the trauma of enduring menopause symptoms is not enough, our woes are doubled by the burden of abnormal menopause weight gain. Menopause and weight gain are more or less synonymous because it is very common or almost mandatory for women going through menopause to gain at least a pound of weight per annum. Menopause weight gain even affects women in their premature menopause stage, that is, in their early twenties or thirties. Instead of all these, you can actually fight the menopause weight gain. For those of you determined to fight this stubborn menopause weight gain, here are the reasons behind the body mechanism that leads to this unfortunate consequence.
In most cases, even those women eating the same amount of food as before find themselves gaining weight. This is because of age. As you grow older, your activity slows down making your body lesser calories than you did before. This means you need to take lesser amount of calories than before to help maintain the same body weight as you did before. You can balance this by maintaining a healthy diet with lesser calories.
With age, many people tend to neglect their body by exercising less. This is one of the major reasons why women go through both menopause and weight gain at the same time. The body uses less of the muscle energy which in turn slows down the rate of the body metabolism. So working out your body I even more important once you hit menopause. This is where many women make mistakes and helplessly watch themselves gain weight no matter what they do. Also, once you hit menopause the fats in your body will relocate themselves to the abdomen. This is the part where fat is most difficult to burn. This is why you need to work out harder than you were younger. Also, focus your workout routine towards these body parts.
Stress is another major factor which plays an important part in menopause and weight gain. As you suffer the common menopause symptoms like hot flashes, night sweats and the likes, your stress level rises which in turn creates havoc in your body metabolism. When under stress, your body tends to release hormones that force your normal body metabolism to slow down. In addition to this, stress also tends to store the fats in your body instead of using them as fuel and energy. Thus making you weaker yet fatter.
With the ovaries becoming dormant, it can no longer supply your body with estrogen. The body directs its attention to the fat cells in your body since it can act as an alternative to produce estrogen in your body. The body keeps hording them for future use thereby making you undergo menopause weight gain.
Menopause and weight gain are again even more common among women of premature menopause or those getting it earlier than normal. This is so because the sudden changes in hormone levels affect your body dramatically. With older women or women going through menopause at the right time, their hormones have slowed down with age already so they tend to gain weight at the slower rate.
Many women especially the older ones tend to accept menopause weight gain as normal. This is not so because it can cause health hazards to your body. With increase in body weight, there is increase in resistance to insulin which in turn will trigger diabetes. If you weight again is kept unchecked, in certain extreme cases it can also cause rise I blood pressure.
Keeping all these in mind, once to hit menopause you should not make excuses and instead start maintaining a healthier life style. Your intake of junk food that contains a lot of fats and calories should be kept at a minimum. Instead, switch to a greener diet with lots of vegetables and fruits. This will help supply the energy you need for the day as well as keep the extra calories at bay. Regular intake of green tea is also recommended. It will not only help you burn the unnecessary fats but also slow down your aging process.
If you are not much of an exercise person than you must change the course and start exercising. Helping keep an active life is highly recommended. This will keep your body light and active which in turn will slowly burn all the unused fat in your body. Maintaining an active life also helps regulate the body hormones at the rate and at the right time. Even the simplest thing as gardening every morning will go a long way in helping your body maintain a healthy life style. Of course for those of you who wants you keep their youthful body will have to work hard and hit the neighborhood gym every single day.
