Feeling like an apple these days?

Cripes I’m drawing faces on fruit. Must be lockdown take 2!

Midlife weight gain why does it happen?

It’s basically a perfect storm of hormones and lifestyle.

Firstly the drop in oestrogen at the peri menopause/menopause causes changes in fat distribution. It can also cause bloating. Hence the pear becomes the apple. You may also feel that you are putting on weight but you may just be putting it on more around your middle rather than other parts of the body.

Lifestyle factors also cause weight gain:

Years of yo yo dieting can cause weight accumulation in the end. Additionally we lose 8% of our muscle mass per decade after 40. Muscle burns more energy than fat so the more muscle we have the more we can eat. We can combat this sarcopenia to help fight against weight gain by lifting weights, doing bodyweight exercises - squats, press ups etc. Additionally this will help fight against osteoporosis. Short bursts of HITT will help also with weight loss, insulin resistance and risk of diabetes. Yoga or additional more relaxing exercise can help to reduce cortisol levels which contributes to weight gain around the middle.

So varying the exercise you do is important and noting too that over exercising can also increase cortisol. You CAN do too much exercise. More below on why this is not good.

Evidence shows that having fewer meals i.e. just 3 meals a day as opposed to eating little and often helps with weight gain and to manage insulin resistance. Fasting in an 16 hour window can work well for some but simply eating just 3 meals and not snacking will generally mean most of us fast without thinking about it for at least 12 hours. This way the digestive system gets the rest it needs and improves gut health too.

Diet-eating processed /sugary foods/ alcohol interferes with our gut brain messaging system.

Sleep - this massively messes with our natural cycle and plays havoc with hormones. Lack of sleep can make us eat 300ckals extra per day. This is something that can really be affected during the peri menopause/ menopause. HRT could help this. It can be a vicious circle otherwise.

Stress- can make us lean towards sweet/fatty processed foods/ alcohol. Stress and cortisol being released also contributes to the storage of fat around the middle. Our body can’t distinguish between modern stress of money worries/family problems/work and truly life threatening stress where we need a quick release of energy to save our life. It’s stored here to be readily available for energy to run away from the tiger that never comes....…..

So lots of factors are involved. Small changes in each area will make a big difference. Eating over less time during the day, later breakfast, no snacks at night. Improve sleep patterns, mix up your exercise routine, lift weights, cut down on the processed foods. It will all make a difference.