About this episode
If you spend half a minute on social media, you will could be led to believe fat gain in menopause is normal and fat loss in menopause is hard and requires extremes. If you want to invest a few minutes here, I’m going to do the best I can to convince you otherwise. You might also be here and it’s not that you gained weight in menopause, but you were already carrying it. But now a few more pounds have made it too unbearable. You’re not feeling like yourself and don’t like the look of your future. 02:20 First: remove these hormone roadblocks for fat loss in menopause. The truth is you can’t go through a roadblock. No shoulder on the right, construction on the left. That’s what’s happening with cortisol, insulin, and several other hormones working against you. Let me give you an overview of them. Then give you the fix. Want it all handed to you? I’ll share a link to the Flipping 50 Fit U program. This month when you join, you also get access to the metabolism makeover course (valued at $699). I’m going to talk about the hormones one by one and what they do and how they help or hurt your fat loss in menopause. Cortisol What it does: energy and adrenaline during times of stress From: stress (of all kinds) Lack of sleep Inflammation Emotions Poor gut health Over training (exercise) Over or under eating (lack of micronutrient density) Lifestyle habits that help: Move more, exercise less. Get enough sleep. Lifestyle habits that hurt: Skipping meals, skimping meals, and even fasting to extremes may not be ideal for you. Insulin: What it does: reduces blood sugar by removing glucose from the blood stream. Lifestyle habits and time of life that make you more insulin resistant: too little exercise, wrong foods at the wrong time (More insulin, more likely to store rather than burn fat). Lifestyle habits that help: Walk after meals. Increase protein and decrease processed carbs. Even the same level of healthy carbs that used to work can be too high for some. Ghrelin: What it does: your hunger hormone tells you that you need more food even if you’ve just eaten Lifestyle habits that cause it to increase: lack of sleep Lifestyle habits that help: Get enough sleep and manage stress. 11:12 Leptin: What it does: Tells you you’re full. Why it’s a problem: You keep eating without it. Lifestyle habits that cause it to be problematic: Disrupted sleep. Growth hormone: What it does: It's an anabolic hormone that supports muscle building. Why it’s a problem: Production lowers with age and with insomnia or poor sleep habits. Getting sleep is a key to increasing production, but so is strength training. You produce less of it as you age. If you don’t exercise to build strength you will miss an opportunity to boost it. Some adults might also consider asking their physician about taking it after they’re doing everything else they can. 16:04 Testosterone: What it does: Why it’s a problem: Getting sleep is a key to increasing production and to optimizing your strength training. Lifestyle habits that hurt: alcohol, sugar, low protein Lifestyle habits that help: strength training, interval training, decreasing stress, protein Addressed the Habits that Affect the Hormones that Affect Fat Loss in Menopause? Then, begin adding volume, appropriately. Volume of weight training doesn’t mean more days a week. It doesn’t mean super long sessions. It means a volume of stress to a particular muscle or system. A volume of movement just means a cumulative effect over the day. Like to count steps? It may help motivate you to get in a little more activity. When you start weight loss with the mentality of the 80s, it doesn’t feel good. It can feel good for a few minutes because you have a plan. But then the reality is, there is usually deprivation involved. It’s not just flipping things you want to remove for things you can have instead, it’s just going hungry and eating something else when it’s taco Tuesday. Not so in Fit U. I’ll link to it in the show notes at flippingfifty-dot-com/fat-loss-in-menopause 27:51 It’s Data If you treat your body right and use signs that you can’t lose weight or you’re gaining as data, things get easier. You learn to know if you can’t sleep, there are exercise and food choices that help. Then your exercise and food choices improve. It’s all about hormones. Women in midlife are more susceptible to negative effects of stress… and the weight gain and belly fat that comes with increased insulin resistance. It’s just like you’re more prone to… addiction, or obesity genetically… but it doesn’t mean it will happen. Your epigenetics or lifestyle habits matter more. You may want to try the CGM that I’m using. (Definitely listen for details on how I’m learning what works for me and doesn’t.) You can get my link in the show notes to save $25 (I do make a small commission) and I will be there with you as you share how it’s going. It would be a great tool to pair with the Fit-U program. Resources mentioned in this episode: Nutrisense Glucose Monitor Fit U