If you are worried about gaining weight during menopause, you will be happy to hear that it is not necessarily a required symptom.
It is true stress and estrogen/progesterone imbalance make it more difficult to get rid of excess fat stores, but gaining weight during menopause can be kept to a minimum if you pay more attention to three key areas of your lifestyle: eating habits, exercise, and stress.
To prevent gaining weight during menopause, you do not have to follow a strict diet or cut carbs completely out.
All it takes is paying a little extra attention to the foods you put into your body and what they will do to your blood sugar in return.
If you are unfamiliar with the glycemic index, it is time to look that up and learn.
Foods that have a high index score-such as white bread and refined pasta-will raise your blood sugar quickly only to send it crashing a short time later.
These foods have been stripped of all nutritional value and will make it harder for your body to burn your stored fat.
Limiting these foods and filling up on vegetables and whole grain products instead will help fight against gaining weight during menopause.
Exercise does not have to be intense and demanding, but it does need to get your heart rate up and occur on a regular basis.
Small habits like an evening walk or a morning session on the treadmill will help.
Weight lifting is going to be your best defense against gaining weight during menopause.
The more lean muscle you develop the more calories you will burn even as you sleep or sit on the couch.
The stress hormones adrenaline and cortisol can create yet another reason for your body to hang onto fat, so it is important to determine the sources of stress in your life and alleviate them somehow.
Yoga and stretching routines are great ways to calm the body and mind down, and exercise in general will release other hormones that are helpful to the body in this aspect.