How to lose weight for women over 45: Everything they told you about menopause weight loss is wrong

Everything They Told You About Menopause Weight Loss Is Wrong is out now

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If you're a woman over 45, you probably already noticed the tactics you used to use a decade ago don't work. In fact, nothing seems to work for you. That's because all those 'eat less, move more' messages do not apply to midlife women. Your metabolism isn't slowing down but it is changing. Let me show you how to fix it...

The messaging around weight loss - and specifically menopause weight loss is wrong. It is not a maths equation. At this stage in a woman's life, it becomes more about biology, and specifically your hormones: the balance of your sex hormones like oestrogen and progesterone (both of which decline in midlife) but even more so the hormones that regulate how you balance your energy and store fat, how you sleep and how you feel mentally.

In her new book Everything they told you about menopause weight loss is wrong (published 28th February) Menopause nutritionist Ailsa Hichens [based in Chelmsford, Essex but consulting nationwide] lifts the lid on exactly what is going on inside our body from perimenopause onwards as it relates to your menopause symptoms and weight loss woes. It's absolutely not about eating less and moving more!

It's not only the declining oestrogen and progesterone levels (two of the key 'female' hormones), it's the effect of those hormones on other hormones that regulate fat storage and the way we respond to stress. It's also the result of age-related muscle mass and changes in your digestive system. And the symptoms are felt everywhere in the body.

Even if you're not a woman who wants to lose weight, these hormonal changes put you more at risk of cardiovascular disease and even Alzheimer's - so working on your 'metabolism' is shoring up your health for the decades to come.

"Food and lifestyle change are the medicine you need. It’s not as hard as you expect. And there is less lettuce involved than you might think too," says Ailsa.

There are all kinds of different things you can measure and rebalance in your health but, for midlife women, the startingpoint is blood glucose control since this is central to how efficiently your body works.

Blood glucose levels do go up and down through the day in response to what you eat, and lifestyle factors like exercise and stress. This is completely normal. You would expect a small blood sugar excursion after ameal and this is not a big deal.

Your body is designed to cope. It’s the repeated pronounced spikes that cause problems in the long run. But it’s worth keeping in mind, each spike leads to the excess glucose being stored as fat - the opposite of what most women want.

Some helpful food tips for menopause weight loss

Always have a palm-sized amount of protein with every meal and snack. Breakfast is often the meal most lacking so it makes sense to start here.
Fill the majority of your plate with veggies and salad (fibre).
Go easy on the starchy carbs (bread, pastry, rice, pasta, and so on) and things containing added sugar (and never eat them on their own).
Add a tablespoon of healthy fats to each meal.

Although there are some specific foods that can dial up fat burning, these cannot be used in isolation. If you don’t have the basics right, you’re wasting your time. One of the easiest initial steps is to cut out added sugar since it’s such a foundational piece of the midlife weight loss puzzle.

If only it were as simple as that. What else matters, digestion, mindful eating, maybe getting some checks done like a thyroid panel and vitamin D status - this all impacts.

Sometimes the place to start is not even with food but with lifestyle. If you are cutting corners and not getting the sleep you need or you don’t have a solid stress reduction plan in place, and if you are still using cardio to burn off calories, these will all be hindering your efforts.

“Prioritising your sleep means you’ll wake up feeling more refreshed and motivated. You’ll have the headspace to take on new things and you’ll be more resilient, which makes all of the other pillars easier to do as time goes by. If you make getting to bed earlier your new thing, chances are you will then also have a headspace for planning and prepping what you are going to eat, so that makes the food piece easier,” says Ailsa.

The book Everything they told you about menopause weight loss is wrong is out now in paperback and ebook, on Amazon, Apple Books, Barnes & Noble, and rolling out nationwide. You can buy it https://amzn.to/41kFYF8