Menopause and Weight Loss - What's Working for Me

If you’re struggling with menopause and weight loss, you’re not alone. I’ve finally found what works for me, and I hope it helps you too!

Let’s talk about menopause and weight loss. I can tell you from experience that trying to lose weight after 40 sometimes feels impossible but if you’re willing to put in the work, you CAN do it. It took me a while to figure out what works for me, and it feels good to finally see the numbers on the scale go down!

This is not a medical site, so I’ll leave the medical side of menopause to the experts. That said, I’ve spent hundreds of hours researching, educating myself, and testing countless things. I may not be an expert on menopause, but I’m an expert in my own experience. What I am here to share is how I beat menopause weight gain and the things I did to feel better overall.

The symptoms of menopause can start in our early 40s. I’ve been in perimenopause for about five years now, and I’ve noticed some pretty drastic changes in the past year. Losing weight has become incredibly difficult. NOTHING I was doing was working. I was walking myself to death, eating less, and getting more frustrated by the day. I also had my first hot flash a few weeks ago and thought it was an allergic reaction. Not looking forward to that happening again.

The other thing I’ve noticed is that my quality of sleep has gone downhill. Getting good sleep is vital for overall health, but good sleep and weight loss go hand-in-hand. If you’re not sleeping well, it will be nearly impossible to lose weight. I wrote a whole article on how to get good sleep, and even my own tried-and-true methods weren’t helping.

Menopause and weight loss – what worked for me!

So, what worked? For most women, everything you used to do is probably not going to work anymore. Unfortunately, now is the time to make your health a priority and be intentional about the choices you make. Ultimately, good old-fashioned calorie counting, eating clean, fasting, good sleep, and burst training are what worked for me. Let’s talk about each one individually!

Counting calories (but not forever).

I’ve never counted calories, macros, or carbs. It’s always been something I just simply refused to do. That said, after hours and hours of research and educating myself, it became very clear that excess calories, especially during menopause, will cause weight gain.

Now before I lose you. I only had to do this for a few weeks. Having never counted my calories before, it was a real eye-opener. That small glass of red wine every evening was an extra 150 calories. That piece of cheese I was nibbling on every afternoon was about 200 calories. I learned very quickly that I was eating more calories than I thought I was, and counting calories helped me get that in check. The app I used was Lose It!. I used the free version, and it was very easy to understand. It didn’t take long to clearly see what I needed to change in my diet.

Clean eating is choosing foods that are as close to their natural form as possible.

Diets are not my thing, and you will never see me vilify an entire food group. I love food and cooking too much to completely deprive myself. That said, my body does not respond well to processed food, excess sugar, and inflammatory carbohydrates like white flour. When I eat those things, I gain weight, look puffy, and have no energy. Paying attention to how food makes you feel is part of doing the hard work.

I focus on protein, healthy fats (in moderation because all fat is high in calories), and lots of veggies. I’ve always loved vegetables, so eating this way comes naturally. A normal dinner is grilled steak with a huge salad and some kind of roasted veggie. It makes my mouth happy, and I don’t feel deprived at all. If you have a large appetite, keep a list of low-calorie foods on your refrigerator, and focus on adding more of those foods to your meals.

Pro tip: Instead of telling yourself “no” to bread or pasta with meals, tell yourself “if I’m still full, I’ll have it after my first plate”. It’s a mind trick. We all want what we can’t have. Chances are, you’ll be satisfied after your first plate and no longer want the bread or pasta.

Intermittent fasting.

I know everyone is sick of hearing about intermittent fasting, but I’ve been doing this long before it was the cool kid thing to do. I lost 85 pounds back in the 90s, and a strict rule that I had for myself was to never eat anything after 5 PM. It worked for me then, and it works for me now. We’ve always eaten dinner early in my family, so this is pretty easy to do.

Currently, I don’t eat or drink anything after 6 PM. I’m also getting up earlier and going to bed earlier, usually by 9 PM. The later you stay up, the harder it is to resist that late-night snack. A normal fast is about 12 to 13 hours, depending on when we have dinner and when I wake up.

When it comes to fasting, I’m not neurotic about it. Die-hard fasters won’t even add cream to their coffee. That’s a hard no for me. My first cup of coffee in the morning is what gets me out of bed, and I’m simply not willing to sacrifice the true joy it brings me ha!

Burst training and weightlifting.

I’ll preface this by saying I hate exercising, so this was the hardest thing for me to change. The only form of exercise I enjoy is walking, but that’s not enough during menopause.

As our hormones fluctuate, metabolism goes down, cortisol goes up, and our body quite literally stores fat differently. In our 20s and 30s, we tend to gain weight in our butt, hips, and boobs. Once perimenopause hits, and our hormones go haywire, weight distribution changes, and extra weight goes right to our midsection. This is one of the reasons why menopausal women feel so bloated.

When I started burst training, I saw results almost immediately. Burst training is a short burst of increased exertion, followed by a period of rest. Not only has it been found to help your body burn fat for the next 24-36 hours, but it’s been found to reduce stubborn belly fat.

You only need to do a burst training workout 3-4 times a week to see results. In fact, overdoing it can have the reverse effect as it puts stress on your body, and any stress can increase cortisol. I still walk every day, but it looks a little different now. Instead of one long walk per day, I walk numerous times, and they look something like this:

total walking time of 20 minutes
3% incline at 3 miles per hour for 4 minutes
6% incline at 4.5 miles per hour for 2 minutes
3% incline at 3 miles per hour for 4 minutes
6% incline at 4.5 miles per hour for 2 minutes
3% incline at 3 miles per hour for 4 minutes
6% incline at 4.5 miles per hour for 2 minutes
cooldown at 2% incline at 2 miles per hour for 2 minutes
cooldown at 0% incline at 1 mile per hour for 1 minute

As far as bust training goes, this is a light workout. Anything you can do at home to get your heart rate up will work. If you don’t have a treadmill, try walking in place for 20 minutes, stopping to do some jumping jacks, burpees, pushups, or going up and down the stairs. There are tons of great burst training workouts on YouTube!

Strength training has been shown to help you lose weight faster and keep it off. Muscle burns calories even when we aren’t active. Before I walk, I do a set of squats and modified pushups, and then I do a second set after my walk. This is something I’m still working on and need to be doing more of.

Do whatever it takes to get good sleep.

I cannot stress the importance of good sleep enough, whether you’re in menopause or not. I can tell you from personal experience that when I am not sleeping well, nothing I do to lose weight is effective!

The things that have been working for me lately are Delta 8 with CBN, magnesium (I’ll get more into that below), and moving my body enough during the day. If you’re sedentary, your body is simply not exerting enough energy to be tired at night. I’ve noticed I sleep significantly better on days I’m busy and not sitting too much.

What is Delta 8?

I know Delta 8 is controversial, but it’s legal here in Nashville, and I decide to try it after my brain surgery. The seizure medicines and steroids they had me on were making me feel crazy. That’s when I decided to try Delta 8, and I’m so glad I did. It helped with the pain, anxiety, and most importantly my sleep. I take 3Chi Delta-8 Comfortably Numb Tincture with CBN. The CBN is what makes this formula different. I could try and explain, but this article does a much better job than I could.

Does Delta 8 make you feel high? It can but it’s not as potent as marijuana (Delta 9). Start slow and find the right dose for you. I DO NOT like the feeling of being buzzed, drunk, or evenly a little high. Since I only take this for sleep, I take it right before bed. By the time it kicks in fully, it gets me through that 2 to 4 AM window, which is when I usually wake up. Since I’m sleeping, I never feel the effects of the Delta 8.

Magnesium for sleep (and much more)

Magnesium is the one supplement that I will not be without. If I forget it on vacation, you better believe I’m finding a Walgreens or getting it delivered stat! The type of magnesium you use matters big time. There are several different types, and they all do different things. Dr. Axe has a great article on this.

I take this magnesium supplement to help keep things moving if you know what I mean, and I take this one to help with overall muscle relaxation and sleep. You can also take Epsom salt baths before bed to relax and calm your whole body. Warm baths are a GREAT way to fall asleep faster. As your body cools down, it naturally induces sleep. In fact, sometimes I fall asleep so fast after a hot bath that I’ll wake up with my book still on my chest!

After my daughter gave birth, good sleep with something she struggled with. She tried a plethora of different things and said magnesium helped her the most.

Menopause and weight loss are both very individual things. Everyone’s experience is different, and we can all learn from one another. Please share your menopause journey n the comments below!