Weight Gain During Menopause and How to Avoid it
Remember the days when you had a model figure like the ones you see on the cover of glossy magazines. It would seem like ages ago especially when you have reached the menopause stage. By that time bulging in the abdomen would be pretty obvious and would continue to gain around one pound per year. This may not be a good thing, but women need to face up to it.
What are the difficulties in keeping your weight the same after going through menopause? Some might attribute changing hormone levels to changing body weight. But what is more evident is the alteration in the mature person’s lifestyle.
The days when you had tons of energy to do a bunch of activies and exercise are over. Food is now used as a pastime, for most people. And the older one gets, the slower the metabolism becomes, this promotes the body to replace muscle with fat.
Then fat burns fewer calories than muscle and the more fat in your body, the slower its metabolism. The increase in weight could also be attributed to genetic factors if your relatives show the same tendency.
Some people find it comfortable to have a little flab but getting too overweight has serious consequences. It is commonplace to hear family, friends, or colleagues who suffer from high blood pressure, osteoporosis and heart disease simply because of their heaviness.
Even worse is the possibility of stroke or heart attack that could lead to death. Moreover, the chances of high cholesterol and Type 2 diabetes increase with weight gain. Unfortunately, there is a link between breast cancer and a post-menopausal weight-gain of twenty or more pounds.
How can a mature woman reverse the weight increase phenomenon? Since decrased activity and increased food consumption cause one to gain weight, doing the opposite is a sure way to lose weight. What this means is that you need to start up a workout routine to assist in transforming your fat into muscle.
Aerobic exercises and weight trainings are fun but effective means of losing weight. Meanwhile, if exercise is too strenuous, then one can do any physical activity that will get her to move to the groove, dancing, biking, or just simply walking.
On the other hand, one may still enjoy delicious meals and snacks as long as the calories and the choice of food are being carefully monitored. Moderation is always to the best of the persons interest.
You will find that prevention is always the best and cheapest medicine. This means you don’t have to wait until menopause to start loosing weight. While you’re young maintain your ideal weight by eating right and getting proper nutrition. The key to good health throughout life is patience and discipline. Whether or not you are going through menopause, the right attitude is important to keeing your weight down and your general health good.