Finally, there is no scientific basis for the idea that menopause has anything to do with weight loss or gain. But there is definitely danger for women around menopause and beyond trying to lose weight because losing our bone and muscle density which is the engine of our metabolism is a one-way street that we don’t want to drive down. All weight loss, good or bad involves losing bone and muscle density. So instead of losing weight after age 35 (roughly when bone density peaks) you want to gain muscle.
I am a fan of Stacy Sims and her research on women's fitness. I'm in the middle of a long podcast. I try to implement some of her recommendations - but "some", because "don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good enough". Like, many of her recommendations for peri- and menopausal women:
- Lift heavy, because it's hard to build and maintain muscle. Like lift until you get to 8 reps, with 2 more in the tank.
- Avoid long zone 2 cardio, we don't need it (though she fully admits she loves riding her bike on weekends for her mental health, so she does it anyway)
- Avoid F45 and Orangetheory, because it's all moderate intensity - it's not high enough intensity
- Sprint 1-2x a week, and this is an all out 30 second sprint, with as much recovery as you need to do it again. Repeat 4-5 times.
- Do not exercise fasted. It raises cortisol. It's best to have a small something (she herself has protein powder in her coffee with some oat milk).
- Eat 40 g protein within an hour after a hard workout.
So, for changing your body composition, increasing performance, and longevity, these things all work in a certain way (also, keep your calorie deficit to <200 cal a day or you'll lose lean body mass).
It's all pretty fascinating. There's more - this is just what I remember.
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I'm still trying to lose the menopause 20 lbs. The problem I see with menopause isn't necessarily the weight gain itself, it's the belly fat. It's a feature, not a bug. (The belly fat.)
