After a certain age, this is a question that is often heard by doctors from their patients, “Why am I gaining weight?”, especially when nothing has changed when it comes to your eating habits or exercise routine. The question mainly comes from women and there is a reason for that. Though men, certainly go through their bodily and health changes as they get older, women’s changes are most noticeable.
What many patients don’t understand is that there are many factors that go into weight gain, besides what you eat and how many calories you burn. Often, very naturally as we get older, our level of activity tends to decrease due to common aches and pains and from simply being tired. There is also the issue of medication affecting your health as you get older and for women, there is menopause. Though menopause is also a very natural occurence, it is different for every woman and causes weight gain in many, that they feel, is unexplained.
Although unexplained weight gain can show up at all ages due to medication and lack of exercise, for women at menopause age, the weight gain can appear very soon after menopause begins. The change in hormones may also determine where your fat begins to build on the body. For many menopausal women, weight gain will show up in the middle around the waistline, when it used to build up on the lower half of the body. If you are at that menopausal stage, don’t give up, there are ways you can combat weight gain and weight redistribution.
Controlling the weight gain has a lot to do with altering your diet and replacing foods and drinks you used to indulge in with a healthy version. For example, replace brown rice for white rice, stop eating most sugars or simply cut down on your sugar intake and use nectars instead. Stop drinking sodas, they have no redeeming qualities at all. Drink more water and natural teas and juices and leave the sugar laden soft drinks alone. Also, it helps a lot to eat good protein, if you’re not vegan or vegetarian, foods like fish can be a replacement for that usual cheeseburger.
Menpause brings on a lot of changes, both physical and mental. Take charge of your time in this natural stage of life and eat healthier before or at least at the beginning of your menpause symptoms, which are different for everyone. Unpredectable menses, insomnia, fatigue, painful and heavy periods, are just a few. The more you take care of your health, the easier your menopause will be and the less you will need to worry about uncontrollable weight gain.
Source: Why Am I Gaining Weight