Foods to Eat to Avoid Weight Gain during Menopause

Menopausal symptoms are primarily caused by hormonal imbalances, and these symptoms will be prevented through having a healthy lifestyle. During menopause, Estrogen and Progesterone hormones decline. This hormonal imbalance affects a woman’s body, due to the effects it brings.

What are the menopause symptoms?

Menopausal symptoms will tend to occur during menopause, such as hot flashes, irritability, night sweats, weight gain, decrease in libido, decrease muscle mass, thinning or hair, and wrinkling. A woman’s breasts lose some fullness, and nipples become less pronounced. The bones will also decrease in strength, increasing a woman’s risk for osteoporosis. Weight gain is one of the common symptoms of menopause. There are many foods to eat in order to avoid weigh gain during menopause.

When does menopause starts?

A woman is considered to be in menopausal stage when she stops ovulating and her menstrual period ceases for over a year. Menopause usually occurs in the age of 45-55, the average is 51 years old. In these stages of life, a woman’s weight gradually increases due to hormonal imbalances.

Weight gain is part of women’s natural aging process. As a women gets older, her body mechanisms decline, and her physical strength will decline. This is reason why in menopausal stage, women are fond of workouts, aerobics and doing other physical activities. Constant inactivity tends to lose lean muscles, and these muscles will be replaced with fats. Remember that muscles burn more calories compared to fats.

How to avoid or stop weight gain during menopause 

In order to prevent and gradually stops gaining weight, a woman must be conscious on what she is eating. Avoid foods high in cholesterol, carbohydrates, and sugar, because these components promote more fat accumulation in the body. If she is exercising then she may eat that junk once in a while but avoid it on a day to day basis, please!

The irritating symptoms of menopause cause stress to the body. Hot flashes and night sweats are irritating symptoms. Of course, a woman does not want to wake up at night all sweat, because it brings uncomfortable feelings. Foods that could avoid these symptoms are those that are rich in phytoestrogens include beans, legumes, seaweed, yams, apples, potatoes, Soy, and carrots. It is also important to drink 8-full glasses per day to help you lose any water weight that you could be retaining, as well as helping your metabolism to increase.

Reducing fat intake is very helpful. Better eat healthier fats than saturated fats. The examples of healthy fats are olive oil, canola oil, or flaxseed oil. Frying foods greatly contribute weight gain, because these are saturated fats.

Weight gain is indeed preventable and can be managed when a woman can maintain a healthy lifestyle, with proper diet and regular exercises. Foods to avoid weight gain are hard to resist, thus self-disciple and motivation are important in helping you to stick on your diet all throughout.