From pre-menopause through post-menopause, your declining sex hormones wreak havoc on your metabolism. Lower estrogen means less insulin sensitivity leading to fat storage around your middle. Lower estrogen influences thyroid hormone uptake leading to a sluggish metabolism. Declining progesterone levels lead to adrenal dysfunction. Erratic adrenal cortisol production creates a poor stress response leading to sugar and fat cravings. Lower testosterone levels in menopause cause you to lose muscle and bone. You not only have a thicker waist but you’re getting saggy and gaining that menopausal weight gain.
If you follow these three easy Hormone Healing steps, you’re going to maintain a slim, fit, strong body throughout menopause.
#1: Get Up Early and Exercise
Getting up with the sun tells your Hypothalamus to start producing dopamine which revs up your adrenals and gets you ready for the day. Your hypothalamus needs your adrenals to produce cortisol to release stored glucose so it can do its job of commanding all your body systems. If you have a healthy circadian rhythm and are not insulin resistant, you should wake up hungry! When you sleep in late, the high levels of prolactin keeps your metabolism sluggish and energy low. Only Hypothalamic dopamine lowers prolactin, so get to bed early so you can get up early.
Exercising first thing in the morning raises your metabolism to youthful levels. It doesn’t have to be long. Just twenty minutes of exercise in the morning sunshine helps. Add a bit of interval training – three twenty-second bursts of speed at least three times a week and you’ll reverse menopausal insulin resistance and lose that belly fat. Then come home and break your fast with a healthy balanced breakfast. Be sure to avoid high-intensity exercise later in the day as it raises your cortisol which breaks down that lean muscle you’re building and increases your fat storage.
#2: Eat like your Ancestors
Our bodies are still programmed to follow the same diet that our hunter and gatherer ancestors did. When meat was available, that’s what we ate, supplemented with some fresh vegetables. When the hunters would leave to hunt, then we would eat whatever carbs we had gathered – root veggies and grains.
I follow a pulsatile insulin resistant diet to prevent menopausal weight gain. Most of the time, you’re eating protein, fats, and nonstarchy vegetables. Just like our ancestors who would feast for days maybe up to a week on whatever the hunters brought home. Then two to three days of eating carbs. Then back on the low carb insulin resistant diet.
This same diet can also help you lose menopause induced fat. Just follow the low carb insulin resistant diet longer. For at least a couple of weeks to induce fat loss. Introduce carbs for a day or two. If you gain weight with the additional carbs, then follow the insulin resistant diet longer, breaking every 2-3 weeks to add carbs. Once you’ve lost that body fat and your weight stabilizes, you can follow the 5-7 days of low carb eating with 1-2 days of carbs.
If you follow the low carb paleo type diet too long, your Hypothalamus will think you’re starving and lower your metabolism forcing you to store fat. So break it up with some healthy carbs like fruits, starchy vegetables, and ancient whole grains.
#3: Get Your Hormones in Balance
This is tricky because you’re going through menopause. Yet if you support your Hypothalamus, you can ease the transition and avoid menopausal weight gain with better adrenal and thyroid function meaning a more efficient metabolism.
When I was in pre-menopause, I got thermography done as a non-invasive way to evaluate my body. The thermographer was surprised at how “warm” my thyroid was. Usually women in their forties have cool thyroid glands which indicate underactive thyroids. I attribute my youthful active thyroid and slim perimenopausal body to supporting my hypothalamus with Genesis Gold. In fact by taking Genesis Gold® regularly since my late thirties, I was able to delay going through menopause a good ten years after my younger sisters did.
To balance your hormones – You can use plant-derived bio-identical hormone replacement therapy. You can use herbal Hormonal mimics like chasteberry, black cohosh, and maca. Or you can get holistic support for your Hypothalamus and all the rest of your hormones with Genesis Gold®.
Now you know how to control menopausal weight gain yet it’s not easy to lose that menopausal fat if the rest of your hormones are out of balance:
Download My Menopause Checklist
Then get started in the Hormone Reboot Training for you to discover how to treat your menopausal symptoms naturally. Plus you’ll get access to my pulsatile insulin resistant diet. It’s free!
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