Losing Weight After Menopause

It starts around the age of 40 years – the gradual but steady decline of metabolism as you experience muscle and bone loss slowly, but surely. When that happens, you begin to notice that performing the same activities and eating the same foods no longer maintains your weight. Worst of all, the weight you gain mostly sticks around your mid-section due to a slow shift in hormonal activity. While all this can be very worrying and frustrating, it is not all doom and gloom. There are a number of dietary fixes that can actually help you lose weight fast or reduce the effects of menopause and middle-age. These include:

Start by rethinking your drinks, in particular the alcoholic varieties

Apart from the calories they add to your diet, alcoholic beverages tend to be major diet spoilers. While you do not have to become a teetotaler, if you want to shed serious pounds, it is recommended that you deliberately cut back to, let’s say one drink per week, or two maximum. Note that red wine and other alcoholic drinks might bring on hot flashes due to the increased blood vessel dilation caused by alcohol.

Opt for soy products

Although a lot of women think that soy can increase their breast cancer risk since it contains plant estrogens, there is no scientific prove on it. This misconception probably comes from studies of high-dose soy supplements that encourage the growth of estrogen-sensitive tumors in animals. This proves that it is better to get your nutrients from natural foods rather than getting them from supplements.

Soy-containing foods such as soy milk, soy nuts and tofu offer relief from mild hot flashes, and are not thought to increase breast cancer. And most importantly, they are all slow to digest, something that increases the rate of metabolism. As we all know, increased metabolism lead to significant losses in weight.

Add calcium

You need to take more calcium as you age. Your intake requires to go up after age 50, from around 900 mg per day to 1 300 milligrams maximum. The main reason for this is that as you approach menopause, your bones absorb less calcium and your estrogen levels decrease. If you love consuming dairy products, try cottage cheese, yogurt, etc, as these contain around 300mg of calcium per serving. They also contain fewer calories meaning that they are not fattening.

For women that don’t eat dairy products, foods such as leafy greens, calcium-fortified orange juice, oranges, and broccoli are great options. These foods have around 100 milligrams of calcium per serving, making them healthy.

Focus on lean protein

Avoid fatty meat and settle for quinoa, eggs, beans, nuts, cottage cheese, fish, etc, as they are all lean, protein-packed and nutrient-rich dietary foodstuffs. Nutritionists recommend including some sorts of healthy proteins with every meal and snack to increase satiety. People that habitually hit the gym should try to plan their snacks and meals so that they consume 15-30 grams of protein an hour after their exercises. This assists to build lean strong muscles, speed up recovery and burn fat.

All in all, if you take fewer calories than you burn over a given duration of time,