weight gain and menopause explained can you lose it can you prevent it is it inevitable or are
there things that we can do to help prevent this weight gain that is very very common
in women going through menopause yes there is and that's what i'm going to talk about all in this
video today of course i'm not going to talk from a place of experience as i haven't yet gone through
this change only 39 over here but i have worked with many many women over the past 15 years in my
career who are going through this change and help them decrease the amount of weight gain you're
experiencing and lose that weight for good and i want to help you do the same thing so make sure
you watch this video all the way to the end and i'm going to go over four common causes of weight
gain during menopause or premenopause and three things that you can do to help prevent or lose
a menopause weight gain gonna get right into the good stuff but of course if you're new here make
sure you subscribe to my channel and hit the bell so you get a notification when i release a new
video every single week my name is michelle roots kinesiologist personal trainer nutrition coach
and fitness and fat loss motivation specialist and mother of two beautiful baby boys this
channel is all about helping you on your fitness and fat loss journey to become the best version
of yourself without all the diets and crazy workout regimens that you see all over the
internet and of course if you find this video helpful make sure you give it a like leave me
a comment below with any questions and feel free to share it with any friends and family that you
think might benefit from this information as well okay let's get right into it this video comes very
highly recommended from many of you my subscribers a lot of you asked for this so here it is i'm
providing you all the information you need to know and i really hope this is helpful wakey during
menopause why does it happen research has shown that the average woman gains one to two pounds
per year in their 50s and 60s and it commonly tends to subside right in the abdominal and belly
area but why does this happen and why is it such a common occurrence for women across the world
so what are the four common causes for weight gain in women going through menopause or even
pre-menopause okay common cause number one your hormones so a lot of times there's a lot of
hormonal changes going on during perimenopause and menopause most importantly a decrease in
estrogen as your estrogen levels are decreasing and decreasing your metabolism will be slowed
down your hunger cues will be affected so you will have an increased appetite of course so you'll be
eating more metabolism will be going down that will lead to weight gain and unfortunately due
to these hormonal changes that weight gain often settles in the midsection one reason number two
aging so in general both men and women as they age begin to lose their muscle mass at a faster rate
so if you've watched any of the other videos on my channel you know how important muscle mass
is to affect your basal metabolic rate so how many calories your body is burning on a regular
basis so especially women who are aging after your 30s you begin to lose your muscle mass at
a faster rate and of course going into menopause because of all these hormonal changes this rate
increases significantly so less muscle mass means your body's metabolism just naturally slows down
so you could actually be eating the exact same amount of calories you did five ten years ago but
now your metabolism is just a little bit slower so you won't be burning as many calories throughout
the day which of course will lead to weight gain common reason number three sleep problems so
again i talk a lot on this channel just to the average human being how important sleep is
in your journey to not only lose weight build lean muscles so especially in menopause one of
the common causes hot flashes anxiety waking up in the middle of the night for no reason i have
heard this from many women again not speaking from experience this lack of sleep will lead to
hormonal imbalances increased cortisol in the body in turn cause weight gain and most likely belly
fat i talk all about that in this video right here i'm talking about belly fat and cortisol i'll link
that video in the description below if you want to know more about all of these hormones and how
they affect how your body stores fat the fourth common reason for weight gain during menopause is
a lifestyle change so often when we're young we really want to work out hard and we want to get
the abs and the bikini body and all of these things and we want to feel strong and we want
to get gains in the gym and maybe as women start to age not every woman trust me i train a lot of
women going through menopause and one of them specifically can do 10 unassisted chin-ups and
she is goals so again not everybody but it's very very common that as women age or as any human age
they're less likely to hit the gym as hard or be as active in their everyday life and be as
conscious in moving their body so it could be a combination of all these four things
but definitely lifestyle and not moving as much not exercising enough could cause weight gain so
there you go guys there are four common causes as to why women commonly experience weight gain
during menopause or perimenopause so remember everybody is different not everybody is going
to experience this and it's not inevitable for every single female but if you are experiencing
some unexplained weight gain in your midsection or anywhere in your body and you're not sure
what you've done wrong or what's happening these are four things you might want to take a look at
maybe talk to your doctor and see if there's a few things you can help improve in order to prevent or
lose any of the weight that you have gained but now i'm going to talk about three things you can
do to help prevent this weight gain or if you have been experiencing some weight gain how to
help lose it or decrease how much weight you have gained in order to not only take care of your own
health especially when it comes to increased belly fat or visceral fat which is the belly
fat that sits around your organs that you can't see it's not the subcutaneous fat that we can grab
it's the fat inside around all of your organs so again anything we can do to help either prevent it
or just to help you feel better about yourself through this stage of life so tip number one
right out the gate i'm starting with exercise of course i am a personal trainer and kinesiologist
and i have worked with many women through this stage of life and they have reported back to me
99 of the time increasing their movement becoming more aware of their movement and exercise
throughout the day and throughout the week and performing strength training has helped not only
reduce some of the symptoms of menopause like hot flashes or changes in mood or sleep issues
we've also seen a decrease in that weight gain and building some muscle and a decrease in belly fat
and overall body fat percentage so exercise what do i mean by that so first of all you should be
talking to your doctor before starting any type of exercise or strength training routine or regimen
to make sure you are good to go well there's two things we should be doing daily movement
and strength training so if you've watched any of the other videos on my channel you know how much
i love strength training and how important it is but we'll talk about cardiovascular training
first so literally just movement something that is going to get your heart rate up so if you are
someone who doesn't like going to the gym going out for a walk getting about 5k 6k 7k steps a
day more the better and building yourself up that way so being more conscious of your daily movement
most importantly is finding something that you enjoy doing if you like cycling get yourself
on a bike grab a bunch of friends and go for a bike ride if you like swimming go to the pool
and swim so any type of cardiovascular activity is easier on your joints is comfortable and you
truly enjoy it and it feels good that is what's most important try and get two or three sessions
of 30 to 40 minutes a week of moderate intensity cardio so you are getting your heart rate up so
one that is great for heart health two it's just great for extra calorie burn and to help
prevent weight gain or of course increase weight loss and next strength training so this could be
body weight strength training resistance bands dumbbells barbells machines whatever you feel
comfortable with again if you have never strength trained before i highly recommend hiring a coach
to make sure you're performing things with proper form to get the most out of your exercises so why
strength training one we want to build more lean muscle or prevent that sarcopenia which is loss
of lean muscle just because we are getting older so if you continue to strength train through this
phase of life you are either going to prevent the amount of muscle you lose but also probably and
most likely build some lean muscle so you can feel strong is going to help prevent the likelihood of
osteoporosis so again unfortunately women during menopause are at a higher risk of experiencing
osteoporosis so a decrease in the strength of your bones performing weight-bearing exercises and
strength training will help increase the strength of your bones as well so of course decrease the
risk of osteoporosis and number three be able to move through life just feeling a bit better so
improving your core strength building some muscles so you can carry your groceries you can pick up
your grandkids you can chase after your grandkids again this will lead to more movement throughout
your day and just functioning better in life which is what you want and prevent that weight gain
okay and tip number three sleep i know a lot of you are laughing right now and trust me i've
heard it all again not speaking from experience but i see a lot of clients on a weekly basis who
complain to me consistently about how they weren't able to sleep and they don't know why and yada
yada but if there's anything that you can do to help prioritize your sleep so whether it's going
to bed at the same time every night whether it's a digital detox at least one to two hours before bed
phones away screens away reading a book to help you feel tired or talking to your doctor to see
if there's any kind of supplementation you can take that will help you sleep because
in the end sleep is so important not only to function in life keep your metabolism going
manage your hormone levels prevent that spike in cortisol and often just everybody in general
i know for myself when i haven't slept i find my sugar cravings are through the roof because when
you are lacking sleep you are seeking other things to give you energy so if you're not getting sleep
often your body will start seeking that energy from other things and you will start craving
sugar to help try and give you that energy boost so again i understand that a lot of times sleep
is not an option i have been a new mom twice to newborns i completely understand sometimes sleep
is just out of your control and it's not an option so do your best to try and see where you can make
some changes in your sleep cycle what time you're going to bed maybe trying to go to bed earlier
or getting up earlier or not taking a nap in the middle of the afternoon so that you are tired when
it comes to night time see if there's anything you can do to help make that sleep situation just
a little bit better and i promise you it will go a long way and tip number four you might want to
take a look at your overall nutrition so as we mentioned earlier your metabolism has probably
gone down and your hunger cues so most likely you are burning less calories throughout the day so
your basal metabolic rate so how many calories you burn if you literally just laid in bed all day i
talk all about basal metabolic rate in this video right here if you want to know more i'll link that
in the description below so i'm not saying you should be going on a low calorie 1200 calorie
starvation diet trust me please do not do that i talk all about that in this video here as well
please go check that out if you are currently eating 1200 or less calories a day you'll find
out why that's not a good idea so of course in the end weight loss equals calories in versus calories
out but looking at the quality of your calories so the micronutrients and macronutrients of the
foods you're eating even just becoming more aware of what you're eating i'm not saying you have
to track your calories every day if you're not someone who really wants to do that just trying
to make healthier choices decrease your sugar intake decrease um alcohol intake i'm not saying
you have to cut it out completely maybe just not a glass of wine every single night maybe keep it to
the weekends or special occasions of course these hidden calories can quickly add up so trying to
eat more whole foods less processed foods more foods that are really nutrient dense proteins
carbs good fats talk all about micronutrients and macronutrients in this video right here again
i'll link that below for you too so this is just something that you might want to become more aware
of what you are eating in order to support gaining muscle maintaining whatever muscle you do have
immune support and of course overall health okay guys so there you go i tried to keep it quick and
to the point if you are someone who is heading into menopause or you're going through menopause
and you're experiencing weight gain and you're not sure why and you want to either prevent it or try
and lose some of the weight you gained during this phase of life i really hope these tips helped you
out and again let me know in the comments below or leave any of your questions below and i'm happy
to help if you are wanting to get into movement or strength training i've got a free four-week
lifestyle shift and workout plan including all the workout videos already on my channel here all
broken down into a four-week calendar to follow i'll link that in the description below i've also
created an eight-week beginner friendly training program for the gym that follows progressive
overload and teaches you how to strength train safely and effectively in two four week phases
i've got a three day and a four day split again i'll link that in the description below as well if
you want to start building some muscle and create a body recomposition which i talk about in this
video right here i'll link that video below or if you'd like to work with me individually with
my one-on-one personalized nutrition and fitness coaching i'll leave the information for that in
the description below as well have a great week guys and i really want to make sure i'm making
content that you enjoy and that you need the answers to so if you have any other video topics
you want me to make videos on feel free to shoot me a dm on instagram or of course leave any ideas
in the comments below i'm here for you guys to help answer all of your questions and make your
fitness and fat loss journey the simplest it can be with the best results have a great week
you