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Why Women Gain Weight During Menopause
Why do Women gain weight during menopause? There are many factors involved in menopausal weight gain of which these are just a few.
Peri-menopause is that time when women first begin to have erratic periods, hot flashes and night sweats. Most people just call it plain 'ole menopause, so for the sake of brevity and my spell checker, I'll do the same.
In addition to the symptoms mentioned above the average menopausal woman will have gain ten pounds by the time she is finished with this stage of her life. When you 5'1" like I am ten pounds is HUGE! And if you already have a few "estra" pounds to begin with (like I do!), then this menopausal weight gain can be a disaster.
Although it is not known exactly what causes the weight gain, there are several contributing factors.
Hormonal changes: namely the reduction of estrogen produced by our bodies. The American Chemical Society did a study in 2007 finding that when estrogen levels are reduced it immediately caused the subjects (mice) to "eat more food, burn less energy and pack on the pounds?" These poor little mice even gained the weight where I did - right around the middle! Now I don't know if you're like me or not - but I refuse to take estrogen supplements because of the inherent cancer risk.
Decreased Activity: I used to get home from work, do a load of laundry, fix dinner, help with homework, and a myriad of other tasks from 6AM - 8PM. Don't get me wrong, I didn't do anything more than most mothers and women, but I was pretty active. Now, I get home from work and plop on the couch or in front of the computer. I've always felt that since the kids were gone it was MY time now! Well, it is but I have since learned that this is MY time to exercise...... at least a little!
Caloric Intake: According to the FDA menopausal women should reduce their daily caloric intake to 1600 calories for the average woman. That's 400 less than they "let" us have at 30 years! I cooked for 7 when all my children were littel. I tried to cook things that they liked in order to get them to eat. Well, I don't quite cook THAT much anymore - but I do make too much, and I just haven't changed my menu selections to much either. I cooked for convenience a lot - and still do!
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