Menopausal weight gain is inevitable and troubling for majority of the women. It is one of the Menopause symptoms that often pushes women to seek natural remedies and adopt a healthy lifestyle.
While majority of the women start eating right, they still find it hard to lose the belly fat and menopausal weight gain that starts accumulating in the mid life years.
Is it normal to gain weight at menopause? Does menopausal weight gain denote something is wrong with your body? Why it is so hard to lose menopausal weight gain?
Some questions definitely may be coming to your mind. In this post, we are going to go learn how Ayurveda can help you to prevent weight gain and lose stubborn belly fat in menopause.
The best foods, Ayurvedic herbs and yoga asana to burn belly fat in menopause and how you can make exercise an integral part of your weight loss at menopause. Let’s begin!
Menopause Symptoms
Hormone fluctuations during menopause and perimenopause often lead to menopausal weight gain and change in body shape. However, if that was all, it perhaps may not have been so difficult.
Menopause often brings hormone imbalance symptoms and health troubles for many. Some of these symptoms are:
- Hot flashes and sweating
- Migraines
- Hair loss
- Problems with digestion
- Vaginitis
- Cellulitis
- Anxiety and palpitations
- Depression
What Triggers Menopausal Weight Gain?
Weight gain is a rapid increase in weight (usually more than 3 Kg) of a person. It may be due to an accumulation of excess calories or living a sedentary lifestyle, or even a metabolic problem.
The basic point of it is, fat gets deposited in the body, leading to an increase in weight.
Now, this cycle of weight gain can happen in anybody. But, why does menopause predisposes you to weight gain and what should you do about it?
Let’s check out the specific triggers of menopausal weight gain.
1. Hormone Imbalances
Remember that hormonal imbalances can lead to weight gain?
Well, if there’s one period of life where your hormones are in confusion, then it is menopause. Of course, menopause isn’t the only one. The hormones that could trouble you here are:
Estrogen
Estrogen levels often become high relative to Progesterone in the body. This causes typical symptoms of Estrogen dominance during perimenopause. High estrogen further disturbs other hormones in the body.
Also, high estrogen affects your fat metabolism. It makes you gain fat around your belly and slows down your metabolism through thyroid hormone.
Ghrelin
It is higher in perimenopause. This is the hunger hormone. With high levels of ghrelin, you always feel hungry and want to eat. Of course, overeating causes overweight.
Leptin
The satiety hormone, is affected by high estrogen levels. As a result, you don’t feel satisfied even after eating enough. So, you eat more and more and the cycle continues.
2. Aging
Menopause comes with age. With age, your activity levels decrease. What’s more likely to lead to weight gain if not being sedentary? With less physical activity, excess calories begin to accumulate.
Women have been seen to gain 2.2 kg plus or minus 4.41 kg in perimenopause. That’s a wide range, because, again, it depends on nature and nurture.
3. Stress
The stress of all the big changes in life as children leaving your nest, loss of a loved one, change in financial or personal situation, or physical and psychological changes in your body that come with age can also get to you.
Due to this, the stress hormone, cortisol, is produced in abundance so as to cope. Eventually, weight gain results.
Excess Weight at Menopause
Here’s why you should be concerned!
Now, excess weight gain at Menopause really indicates metabolism that is too slow. And also, it is a sign of underlying hormone imbalances, which triggered menopausal weight gain in the first place.
So, weight gain is really a symptom.
What often goes unnoticed by many menopausal women is the peripheral health complications of menopausal weight gain.
Health issues of Excess Menopausal Weight Gain
Poor metabolism and hormone imbalances, when not controlled in time can lead to high cholesterol levels and (silent) heart problems for many women in the age group 45 years plus.
- Edema
- Kidney problems
- Adrenal fatigue, depression and excess stress
- Liver problems
- Dry and flaky skin
- Respiratory problems
- Increased risk of colon and endometrial cancers
- Weak bones and Osteoporosis
Ayurvedic View of Menopausal Weight Gain
According to Ayurveda, excess body weight and fat is a sign of Kapha Imbalance. Besides weight gain, Kapha also leads to sluggishness in the body and mind.
That’s why women, who experience excess menopausal weight gain are also prone to health symptoms related to lethargy, depression, hypothyroidism, heaviness and water retention.
While Menopause is essentially a Vata and Pitta dosha dominant phase of life, we are seeing more and more cases of menopausal kapha imbalance these days.
This trend also follows unusually high numbers of other kapha imbalance health problems in men and women of all age groups. Not to mention, it is fueled by the usual suspects:
- Sedentary lifestyle
- Excess empty calories and poor nutrition
- Too much stress
- Lack of quality sleep
Ayurvedic Tips to Lose Belly Fat and Menopausal Weight Gain
Now that you know the real reason of menopausal weight gain, it is much easier to understand and adopt the change to lose it all.
Let’s check out what Ayurveda guides us to lose belly fat and stubborn weight at Menopause. We will cover the guidelines in 4 parts:
- Herbs
- Diet
- Lifestyle
- Yoga
1. Get Active
Regular physical activity and exercise helps to balance hormones that trigger menopausal weight gain. Exercise is an important part of weight reduction plan.
It helps to use up calories stored in body as fat. In addition, it also relieves tension and tones up the muscles of the body.
When you follow a consistent exercise regime, it will help you to reduce menopause symptoms. And slowly you will be able to melt away the stubborn weight and belly fat.
Walking and Yoga are the best exercises to begin with. However, stay regular with your chosen fitness regime and add complex workouts as and when required.
Here are some ways in which you should stay active:
- Walking briskly for 30 mins a day is an achievable target that you can begin with.
- Try as much as possible to not live a sedentary lifestyle. Always take up a chance to move and not sit.
- Use steps instead of elevators, involve in sports rather than computer/video games and do more physical activity rather than getting things done by others.
- Perform activities to gain muscle as it helps burn calories faster.
- Take up volunteering activities in the neighborhood to keep yourself moving. Exercise lightly after each meal.
- Do not engage in overtly stressful activities. More stress means more cortisol. More cortisol leads to weight gain.
2. Exercise Plan (7 Days) for Menopausal Weight Gain
Here’s a 1 week exercise plan to get started with weight loss at Menopause.
3. Sound Sleep
With our hectic schedules nowadays sleep is often neglected, but if you want to lose body fat that needs to change. Here’s why:
- Insufficient sleep increases the level of fatigue, you either skip exercise or not able to do as much as you would have if you had rested enough.
- Lack of sleep really disturbs your hormone levels, your cortisol and hunger hormones increase. This makes you crave for sugary and high calorie foods.
- Due to lack of sleep, you end up disturbing the schedule of your next day. Either you slip in unhealthy foods to make up for the hunger or missed meals that you couldn’t prepare yourself.
On the other hand, sufficient hours of restful sleep reduce the level of cortisol and increase your satiety hormones. It also paves the way for natural detoxification of your body to lose belly fat.
That’s why it is so important to have good sleep at night.
4. Get Rid of the Toxins
Remove environmental toxins and body toxins by practicing a healthy lifestyle.
- Remove all plastics and processed foods, which lead to buildup of toxins in the body.
- Get rid of chemicals based personal care and household products that deposit extra Estrogen in your system.
- Practice Ayurvedic detox or Panchakarma to clear off the toxins with Ayurvedic herbs and therapies.
- Remove stimulants such as alcohol and smoking that load your body’s detox pathways.
5. Manage and Reduce Stress
Excess stress build up high cortisol levels in the body. Cortisol suppresses metabolism as it prepares the body for the fight and flight response. It also pushes in excess glucose in the blood, raising blood sugar levels.
Thus, high stress makes you prone to gain excess weight and health complications. It is same for all age groups, just that at Menopause your body is a bit more sensitive to it.
Manage and lower stress by:
- Deep breathing exercises and yogic breathing
- Spending time in nature and with your loved ones
- Remove and reduce stress triggers
- Take time off and invest in self care measures
- Deep body massage
Herbs to Detox and Lose Menopause Weight Naturally
Many natural herbs are used to treat health issues due to their healing properties. Ayurvedic herbs are a way to cleanse excess toxins from your body.
And the best part is they also support nutrition by providing micro nutrients that your body is perhaps deficient in.
6. Amla
Amla is recommended to cleanse excess toxins from the GI tract and help keep the colon clean. Regular consumption helps to reduce cholesterol levels. It also has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties.
This gentle detoxifying herb supports regular bowel function and is also rich in antioxidants, supporting immune function.
7. Shatavari
Shatavari root is an excellent adaptogen and hormone balancing herb. It has immuno-modulatory and antioxidant properties.
Shatavari enhances resilience to physical and mental stress. It is used for general debility, hyperacidity, urinary problems.
Shatavari is excellent to balance female hormones, for PMS and menopausal symptoms.
8. Triphala
Triphala is a powerful Ayurvedic Rasayana (Herbal elixir known to promote longevity and rejuvenation).
It deeply cleanses our body and helps to flush out wastes and toxins. Triphala has powerful antioxidants to rejuvenate, inhibit inflammation, promote healthy build of body cells, and blood purification.
9. Ashwagandha
Ashwagandha is a powerful adaptogen and a revered Ayurvedic elixir for rejuvenation and nourishment. It is a natural supplement to lower cortisol and balance thyroid hormones.
It reduces stress and increases our body’s strength. Regular consumption of Ashwagandha elevates the brain chemicals, helps to relax, and establishes hormone balance.
10. Guduchi
Guduchi or Giloy is one of the most powerful herbs for eliminating toxins from the blood and liver. Traditionally Guduchi is used for inflammation of the skin and cooling fevers.
It is detoxifying, antiparasitic, anti-viral, and anti-bacterial. Guduchi is indicated whenever a cooling and reducing therapy is needed.
11. Dandelion Greens
It helps in weight loss by limiting calorie intake through suppression of hunger. Dandelion also stimulates secretion of gastric enzymes and induces satiation.
It promotes the breakdown of fat and cholesterol in the body. Dandelion is also a diuretic, which helps the body get rid of excess water weight.
12. Yoga Poses to Lose Menopausal Belly Fat
Yoga goes much deeper than just the physical movement of the body. Regular practice of suitable yoga asana help to tone the muscles thus increase strength, relax the mind to reduce stress levels and also increase bone density.
That’s why yoga is one of the best ways to naturally support your metabolism and weight loss during menopause.
Here are some yoga asana that you can practice to find relief from Menopause symptoms and to lose belly fat.
- Setu Bandhasana (Bridge)
- Bhujangasana (Cobra)
- Dhanurasana (Bow)
- Ardha Matsyendrasana (Seated Half Spinal Twist)
- Natarajasana (Supine Dancing Shiva)
- Chakki Chalanasana (Churning Mill Pose)
- Janu Sirsasana (One Legged Seated Forward Bend)
- Surya Namaskara (Sun Salutations)
13. Ayurvedic Diet Habits to Support Weight Loss at Menopause
- Manage and reduce your calorie intake, specifically if you are taking in too much processed foods and simple carbohydrates.
- Take your dinner before 7 PM. This will give your body sufficient time to digest the food before you sleep.
- Use less salt and replace table salt with rock salt.
- Consumption of more fruits and vegetables along with whole grains and lean meats, nuts, and beans is a safe and healthy start to lose menopausal weight gain. They are lower in calories, provide essential micronutrients such as Vitamins, Minerals, and Antioxidants.
- Consume plenty of complex carbohydrates. they will keep you full and provide B Vitamins and essential minerals. Some examples are root vegetables, whole grains, beans, lentils and vegetables.
- Avoid snacking in between meals. Remove processed foods and quick meals. They push in empty calories and devoid you of essential nutrients from your meals.
- Remove sugar in the form of white sugar, artificial sugar and all sugary processed foods.
- Reduce and remove caffeine. It leads to quick spike in your activity level, but eventually causes energy crashes. This makes you eat more sugary foods.
- Remove alcohol and smoking altogether. Both of these have similar stimulating effect as caffeine on the body, a quick energy boost and then crash. Also, alcohol and smoking cause and make hormone imbalance worse.
Before you Go!
These Ayurvedic weight loss tips will help you to get rid of menopausal weight gain spontaneously. And they will also make you healthier, stronger and more resistant to disease.
Moreover, there are no side effects and no extra cost is involved. These weight loss guidelines can easily be followed at home and be adopted without any extra effort.
Nature provides us with the best tools to fight off health disorders that come in our way. Let us all adopt a holistic and healthy lifestyle and promote health for our better future!
With proper management, you can get through menopause with minimal or no hassles. So, get started today!
Now we want to hear from you. Do write to us for any queries and feedback. If you have tried any of the above weight loss approaches, then do share your experience with us. We will get back to you the soonest.
Wishing you vibrant health!
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