Losing the ‘matronly look’ of menopause
Why do women gain weight at menopause? What can they do to shed those extra pounds? And can an older woman exercise too much? Smart Fitness answers your workout queries.
Q1: As a menopausal woman, my fitness routine consists of some Pilates (one to two times a week) and the treadmill (30 to 50 minutes, three times a week). I have always been rather trim, but over the last six to eight months I’ve been gaining weight and am now about 10 pounds overweight. I try to watch my diet. What exercise advice would you give me to trim off the “matronly look” I am now sporting?
Q2: I’m a 53-year-old woman who has always been slim. Since menopause the weight has been creeping on. I don’t overeat, so why is belly fat my problem? Some days I eat little and walk an awful lot.
A: As if hot flashes and mood swings weren’t enough, menopause also can promote weight gain, a pound or more a year on average, says Dr. Cynthia Stuenkel, a spokesperson for the North American Menopause Society. Typically, it settles in the midsection, hips and thighs.
It’s not clear exactly why the pounds pack on though, says Stuenkel, a professor of medicine at the University of California, San Diego. There’s debate over whether it’s mostly due to hormonal changes or other factors that are related to aging.
Doctors do know that hormone replacement therapy doesn’t seem to prevent weight gain, she says. “And there’s no question that our metabolism decreases, and our calorie requirements to maintain our weight decline,” she says.
Unfortunately, that means that menopausal women may need to eat fewer calories or burn more through exercise in order to stay at the same weight. And to lose weight, they’ll need to work even harder, probably in both areas.
“It’s no magic bullet,” says Stuenkel. “It comes back to the things we always say — diet and lifestyle.”
One study found that women who do work at diet and exercise can stave off weight gain as they enter menopause — and stay healthier, too. The Women’s Healthy Lifestyle Project involved more than 500 premenopausal women, half of whom were instructed to follow a reduced-fat, 1,300-calorie-a-day diet and increase their physical activity (to burn 1,000 to 1,500 calories a week through exercise), while the other half did not follow any special intervention.
Results published in the journal Circulation showed that during nearly 4.5 years of follow-up, the women who worked hard at diet and exercise did not gain weight but actually lost an average of .2 pounds. Meanwhile, those in the other group gained an average of 5.2 pounds — roughly a pound a year. The women in the intervention group also were healthier with regard to their blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood levels of glucose and insulin.
While health experts often recommend 30 minutes a day of moderate physical activity to boost health, many endorse much more — 60 to 90 minutes a day — for weight loss.
Reader No. 1, you say you’re doing the treadmill 30 to 50 minutes three times a week, so you may want to try increasing your aerobic activity. Keep in mind that an exercise program that worked for you in your 20s, 30s or even 40s may not be enough now, says Los Angeles personal trainer Kathy Kaehler, author of “Fit and Sexy for Life.”
“You must work harder,” says Kaehler, also a columnist for msnbc.com’s Fit List.
Reader No. 2, your walking program may not be enough to burn off the fat, especially if you’re strolling along.
Both of you should experiment to find what’s working for you, and aim to mix things up, Kaehler says. When you do the same activities over and over, such as the treadmill or walking outdoors, your body isn’t challenged as much as when you regularly do different activities. So consider biking, tennis, swimming, step class or whatever else you enjoy.
