Menopause Weight Gain

Are you like me? Frustrated about the sudden weight gain? And your eating habits haven’t changed. Where did I get this extra weight and it is mostly in my stomach.  I woke up one day and looked in the mirror and said " Who are you’!! And who’s stomach is that?" I was horrifed, but not until my husband ever so nicely suggested that I should loose weight that I got serious about it.  But to my chagrin it wasn’t as easy as it use to be. When I was younger I could simply cut back and in a few weeks I could see the difference.  Oh, it is much harder now, but it is possible. 

Put yourself on a scheduled diet and stick to it.  I started the South Beach Diet and my grocery bill tripled the first week.  The diet was wonderful but this was not good for the budget I decided to follow the diet without making the recipes that called for expensive and rarely used items.  The South Beach Diet also allows discretion in what type of substitues to use.  So instead of artifial sugar like Splenda or Equal, I used my Stevia (a natural sweetner) and was very content. Why add chemicals to all those decisioius fresh vegetables the recipes called for.

Anyway, by following the diet without those items my grocery bill was much better and so I continued with this effective diet. I loved it because I was rarely hungry and after a week I wasn’t craving the carbohydrares I used to eat consistently.  I was content and looked forward to eating the foods that were permitted.

Also, the first week on the diet I lived in the kitchen.  Again, that was not good, I have a career.  And being in the kitchen all day was not going to help it, especialy for the former "queen of Carbs " lady. Oh, did I mention that I Hate to cook! However, I have learned to make the best and quickest omlettes.  The diet has turned into a new way of eating and I can’t believe how quickly my carbohydrate urges were gone. I eat 6x’s per day. By eating 6 smaller meals a day and the right foods I saw immediate results. The theory was good and it worked. I started loosing weight.  To me it was a very good theory.  

Do not neglect exercise.  If we are serious about this then we must implement a light exercise routine for your llifestyle.  I, like many women, live a very busy and sometimes hectic schedule.  I decided to blow up my exercise ball (that I had deflated for 10 years) and  put it in the family room and do sit ups in between activities.  For instance after I finish writing this post, I’m going downstairs to do 100 sit ups.  5 minutes 4 times a day. Yipee I’m now starting to see a difference.

I will keep you posted, I see a difference, yet I also still see my tummy!

Keep in mind that exercise and good nutrition are the best way to tackle mid life weight gain, however there are a few weight loss products that are geared specifically for us. 

Estrothin™I believe it has too much caffeine.  I have learned that Caffeine not only triggers hot flashes, but also stimultes the appetite. There are too many caffeine based stimulants (yerba matte and green tea) in the product. For many people, consuming high amounts of caffeine can lead to elevated heart rate, increased blood pressure, nervousness, sweating among other symptoms. This is an obvious drawback with caffeine based products. According to many physicians specializing in the treatment of menopause, increased levels of caffeine intake can exaserbate symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, and insomnia precipitously worse. Caffeine can also increase the risk of osteoporosis that affects many menopausal women. Given that fact, Estrothin™ may not be the right product for someone experiencing menopausal weight gain.

Zalestra™include black cohosh, mega soy extract, DHEA, Indole 3 Carbinol, borage oil and vitex fruit extract. These ingredients are intended to alleviate negative symptoms associated with menopause while providing the necessary protective properties for women in this stage of life.

Estrolean™ was one of the first menopausal weight loss products on the market. It’s formula is somewhat dated but it does contain some ingredients that have shown to be beneficial in alleviating menopausal symptoms. Like Zalestra™, the EstroLean™ formula does not contain strong stimulant based ingredients. Estrolean™ addresses weight loss with a relatively small amount of thermogenic (fat burning) properties. Estrolean™ also contains naturally occurring estrogen which addresses the hormonal imbalance responsible for symptoms associated with menopause and weight gain.

Overall, many of the ingredients contained in these products actually trigger hot flashes. Therefore I suggest to stick to the most well known plan of dieting- It is called the reduction of calories. Oh, don’t forget to exercise.

Let me know what works for you!

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This entry was posted on Monday, July 2nd, 2007 at 11:15 pm and is filed under Menopause Weight Gain. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.