Fast Weight Gain

Women have to deal with a whole range of symptoms as they approach menopause, one of the most frustrating being rapid or fast weight gain, which they then find extremely difficult to get rid of. Weight gain can be both physically and emotionally debilitating, causing a range of problems ranging from self-esteem issues through to health problems linked with obesity and being overweight.

In order to understand why menopausal women experience fast weight gain and for strategies to combat it read over the following paragraphs.

What constitutes weight gain during menopause?

Weight gain, obviously, refers to when a person increases their body mass, whether that be through increased fat, muscle or fluid content. Weight gain as experienced by menopausal women tends to be focused around the mid-section of the body (unfortunately accumulating around the abdomen), when the average woman between 45 and 55 will put on between 10 to 15 pounds.

4 easy signs that indicate you´re putting on weight

1. Fat accumulation around the stomach and abdomen
2. An overall increase in body fat percentage
3. Increase in breast size
4. Change in overall body shape

And of course, most women will be able to tell they are putting on weight by the worst enemy during this time - the scales.

What are the causes of fast weight gain during menopause?

As the hormones decrease and prepare for a permanently lowered hormonal level, a woman going through menopause is more likely to put on weight. This is because hormones play various important roles in the body – including weight gain.

What are the various roles of hormones in increasing weight?

Estrogen – As the body produces less estrogen leading into menopause, it attempts to stimulate the hormone in other areas of the body apart from the ovaries. Fat cells have the ability to produce estrogen, therefore the body starts to convert calories into fat in order to restore lowered estrogen levels.

Progesterone – Water retention and subsequent bloating is caused by decreased progesterone levels suffered during menopause.

Androgen – The increased amount of androgen hormone at the onset of menopause is responsible for transferring the new weight to the mid-section instead of the hips.

Testosterone – As testosterone levels drop during menopause, fewer calories are transformed into lean muscle mass. As a consequence more fat builds up.

What can be done to avoid fast weight gain?

Obviously the healthiest course of action for combating weight gain is to focus on lifestyle changes that will deal practically with the added weight. For example, the most logical response to weight gain is to exercise more and eat healthier.

Combining changed lifestyle habits with natural medicines has also proven to be very effective. Herbal remedies will often work to restore the hormone levels which are causing the problems to begin with.

Finally, there are also drugs and surgeries that some women opt for, which should always be used as a measure of last resort after natural strategies have failed and the weight gain has been so fast and so rapid as to cause serious medical risks.

For more information on fast weight gain during menopause and detailed options towards treatments for weight gain follow this link.

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