in today's video we're going to be talking about a topic that i am asked about all the time menopause
and how it affects our metabolism menopause is a natural stage of life for all women but
unfortunately it comes as side effects that are not necessarily favorable low energy hot flashes
and of course weight gain so why does this happen and what can we do to combat the weight gain
that is so common for women during this phase weight loss needs to be approached
differently for women who are in menopause and that's what we're going to talk about today
hey guys welcome back to my channel if you're new here my name is kait i'm a certified health and
nutrition coach i post videos twice a week here on youtube talking all things insulin resistance
weight loss blood sugar management sleep and more so if you're ready to take control of
your metabolic health make sure to click that subscribe button and you can also find me on
tick tock and instagram where's your new posts every single day as i said at the start of this
video menopause is a natural stage of life it usually occurs between the ages of 40 and 60
and it begins when a woman no longer has a menstrual cycle for a full year during
this time a woman's body is changing and these changes are centered around hormones
side effects of menopause include hot flashes mood swings poor sleep brain fog and changes to the
metabolism resulting in weight gain or difficulty losing weight and it's this impact on metabolism
that we're going to be focusing on today so we're going to start off by talking about the
hormonal changes that occur and how they affect our metabolism and then i'm going to give you
five actionable steps you can take to combat weight gain during this phase so what's
actually happening to the body when we go through menopause well the process of menopause beginning
actually starts when we're in our 30s around this time estrogen and progesterone start to decline
and continue to decline until menopause although they will fluctuate up and down from day to day
if we zoom out we see them steadily declining and low estrogen levels are the reason that
women experience weight gain during menopause estrogen plays an important role when it comes
to hunger signaling leptin is the hormone that signals your body you are full and low levels of
estrogen can cause us to become leptin resistant so this can make it more difficult to tell when
you're truly full and of course if you can't tell when you're full you are more likely to overeat
but this isn't the only disturbance that low estrogen causes you guys know i talk
a lot about insulin resistance on my channel and it also comes into play during menopause
estrogen plays a key role in insulin regulation in the body so when it's low this can cause us to
become insulin resistant and if you are already a little bit insulin resistant going into menopause
it compounds and this can explain why the weight gain that women experience when they go into
menopause can be so sudden insulin is literally known as the fat storage hormone because when
insulin is high our bodies are storing fat and when our cells are resisting insulin our levels
tend to rise think of it like this because insulin is responsible for taking the excess glucose which
is energy from our bloodstream to our cells when our body sees that insulin is high it assumes we
have energy available so it turns off mechanisms of burning stored body fat and the last component
to why we gain weight is because there's a decline in muscle mass muscle uses energy so when we have
less muscle mass our metabolic rate declines so what can we do to combat weight gain during
menopause i have five really easy steps i'm going to share with you number one is to understand your
metabolism understanding how certain foods impact our metabolism is the foundation for all the other
steps we're going to talk about today because no it isn't as simple as eating less and moving more
i get so frustrated when people say that's all it takes to lose weight because it doesn't take into
consideration hormones and the impact that they have on our metabolism and this connection becomes
painfully obvious when women go through menopause because different foods impact our
hormones differently foods high in carbohydrates and especially refined ones require a lot of the
hormone insulin in order to process and as we already discussed low levels of estrogen
make it harder for the body to regulate insulin and eating protein-rich food is another example
a lot of people and women especially are under consuming protein and it is especially important
during menopause because we needed to maintain lean muscle mass now if all this sounds a bit
overwhelming to you bear with me there are tools that make it really simple to understand how the
foods you're eating are impacting your metabolism and the lumen metabolism tracker is a tool that i
highly recommend lumen measures the co2 in your breath and tells you in real time if you
are burning mainly carbs or mainly fat for energy ideally we should be able to switch
between the two fuel sources relatively easy but as we have touched a little bit on already
burning fat during menopause becomes more difficult lumen helps you to increase your
metabolic flexibility which will not only help you to keep your metabolism healthy and lose weight
but it will also help you to improve some of the other side effects of menopause as well
including mood swings and fatigue and as the lumen app gets to know you it will create a personalized
plan for you including meal recommendations and recipes to set you up for success so click the
link down below if you want to check them out tip number two is to eat enough protein you guys
who have been watching me for a while will know just how important i think protein is and it's
especially important during menopause as we've already discussed we tend to lose muscle mass
as we age and eating enough high quality protein is vital for ensuring we maintain what we have
and even build more but the second reason that protein is so important is because of the role
it plays in satiety protein kills cravings and this is important because as we already discussed
menopausal women can have increased appetites i always recommend aiming for at least 30 grams of
protein at every meal ideally animal-based protein such as beef chicken or eggs because these are
the complete protein sources we need in order to build muscle and they are also more bioavailable
number three is to focus on sleep now i know that a lot of women do have trouble sleeping or getting
good quality sleep when they're going through menopause but if you implement the other tips that
i'm going to talk about in this video it should become easier because getting a poor night's sleep
negatively impacts the hormones that we've talked about in this video
making weight loss even more difficult insulin increases and blood sugar levels are higher
ghrelin increases making us hungrier and leptin decreases making it more difficult to tell
when we're full i have a bunch of videos talking about how to improve your sleep quality if you
want to know more about that so i'm going to link one above and you can check that out afterwards
number four is to be smart about your carbs we already talked about how carbohydrates are the
macronutrient that requires the most insulin to process and this is not ideal during menopause
some women choose to reduce their carbs under 100 grams per day or even under 50 grams per
day and they find that this helps them to maintain and lose weight during this phase
but even just being smart about carbs can make a huge difference what i mean by this is one example
when you eat carbohydrates in isolation the blood sugar and insulin response is much higher than
when you pair them with protein and fat so try to avoid eating a banana alone for example instead
pair it with some nut butter and finally number five is to build muscle so skip the chronic cardio
because it can actually be counterproductive to insulin resistance and weight loss
especially during this phase and lift some weights instead even body weight exercises can help you to
maintain and build muscle and if you do want to build muscle you need to make sure you are
eating enough protein so make sure you don't skip tip number one anyways guys that's all i have for
you today thank you so much for watching let me know in the comment section down below if you are
currently going through menopause and if weight loss or weight gain is something you're struggling
with and before you go make sure to check out lumen the link will be in the description box down
below and the first 100 people to shop through the link and use code kait50 are gonna save 50
off their order if you did enjoy this video you might also enjoy my video on unexpected
things that impact your metabolism which you can check out here if you want to catch up on my most
recent upload you can find it here and if you want to check out my coaching programs including
my insulin resistance master class you can find that here thanks guys i'll see you next time bye