Most women experience the "middle-age spread" that comes along with menopause. This means a woman's shape changes along with a gain in weight around the midsection. Although this weight gain is normal, it brings health risks along with it. Shifts in hormones, along with aging, make it tougher to shed these pounds.
Function
A menopausal woman's hormones affect fat storage, appetite and metabolism. Fluctuating testosterone, estrogen, testosterone and androgen levels can make fighting weight gain tough.
Testosterone levels decrease. This is the hormone that helps a woman's body create lean muscle mass, which boosts metabolism. Lower testosterone levels may result in muscle loss and thus a lower metabolism, making a woman's body burn calories more slowly, according to Epigee.org.
At the same time, her ovaries produce less estrogen, so her body seeks other places to get it. Fat cells produce estrogen, so her body increases focus on converting calories into fat to boost estrogen levels.
Progesterone levels also decrease, which can lead to bloating from water weight. The first sign of menopause often is an increase of androgen in a woman's body, which leads to weight around the abdominals instead of in around the hips, buttocks and thighs. It becomes harder to redistribute weight evenly around the body. Women who were previously "pear shaped" become "apple shaped."
Misconceptions
Changing hormones during menopause are not always to blame for weight gain, according to the Mayo Clinic. Lifestyle factors along with aging often play a role. Factors that alter body composition are getting less exercise, which is common among menopausal women; eating more, which means calories get converted to fat; and burning fewer calories because of decreased metabolism. Metabolism decreases with age whether a person is experiencing menopause or not, advises the Mayo Clinic, because aging promotes a shift to less muscle and more fat.
Time Frame
Some 90 percent of menopausal women will gain weight between age 35 and 55. Most put on 10 to 15 pounds. This weight often comes on gradually at the rate of about one pound a year during perimenopause, according to Epigee.org. A woman usually notices that maintaining her usual weight becomes difficult sometime during her 40s or 50s. Women who have surgical or early menopause sometimes have weight gain that is more rapid and extreme.
Warning
The concern with menopausal weight gain is not all cosmetic. Weight gain after menopause is a risk factor for breast cancer, according to Harvard Medical School. Women who gain an additional 20 to 30 pounds during adulthood are 40 percent more likely to develop breast cancer after menopause compared with women who gain five pounds or less. Estrogen is a factor because it is believed to promote breast cancer development. With weight gain, a woman's fat tissue produces estrogen and keeps this hormone circulating in the body after the ovaries quit producing it.
Excess weight also ups a woman's risk of high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease and stroke, especially weight gain in the abdominal area, according to the Mayo Clinic. Excessive weight gain during menopause can be a sign that something is wrong with a woman's blood sugars, hormone levels or eating habits, so women who experience rapid gains should see a doctor, advises Epigee.org.
Prevention/Solution
Although battling weight gain during menopause can be frustrating, there are many steps a woman can take, including eating a balanced diet. Cut consumption of refined sugars and saturated fats and add more fruits and vegetables, advises the Mayo Clinic. Also increase your physical activity level, using both aerobic exercise to raise metabolism and strength training to increase muscle mass.
Although crash diets may be tempting avoid them, advises Epigee.org, because starvation will slow metabolism. Instead, take in about 200 fewer calories a day, which should compensate for a slower metabolism, advises the Mayo Clinic. Also, keep intake of caffeine, alcohol and nicotine to a minimum.
