Many of my clients complain that they gained weight during menopause: “I care how I look. I don’t belong in this body. I hate this.”
While many medical doctors say that weight gain in menopause is normal, traditional medicine states that a healthy woman maintains her ideal body weight from the age of 18 throughout her life, increasing weight only during pregnancy and shedding extra pounds easily after birth.
So it is not “normal” to gain weight in menopause.
Weight gain is a sign that the body is missing important nutrients. For example, your endocrine organs need amino acids (protein) to produce enough hormones and balance them.
In this blog, you will get an easy solution for weight gain during hormonal changes.
Besides the lack of nutrients, there are more reasons why women tend to gain weight during menopause.
– Reduced muscle mass. Muscle mass uses energy (burns calories) so when we have less of it the body burns less energy overall, leading to weight gain. Unfortunately, this weight gain may appear as increased belly fat. Don’t settle with belly fat, you can fight it back with the right approach.
– During menopause if there’s too much sugar and not enough proteins in the diet there is an increase in the hunger hormone “ghrelin”. With an increase in this hormone comes the tendency is to feel hungrier. Too much sugar also decreased the “satiety” hormone “leptin” that helps us feel full after eating which can lead to overeating.
More ghrelin and less leptin = increased hunger and a decreased feeling of fullness…that’s a problem!
If you find it hard to fight sugar cravings, I have a 5-Day Sugar Free Challenge solution for just $14 >>>https://irinacazazaeva.click/5dsfchallenge-sales-page
To lose weight you need to eat the right breakfast.
Eating the right type of breakfast has been shown to help maintain muscle mass, balance hormones, levels of leptin, and ghrelin, in particular, aid weight loss and maintaining that lower weight.
What makes a food “optimal” for breakfast in menopause?
Foods that help to increase metabolic rate, fill you up and keep you feeling fuller longer.
Let’s have a look at the characteristics of these “optimal” foods.
Protein
Make sure to get protein in the mornings. Eating protein is critical for women in menopause.
As mentioned above, protein is the building block for decreasing hormones. Protein helps to increase metabolism, gives muscles the amino acids they need to produce stay strong. Protein also helps keep you feeling fuller longer which is great to try to offset that hunger hormone known as “ghrelin”.
Protein also helps to reduce bone loss that can happen very fast during this time.
Which foods are high in protein?
● Meat and poultry
● Fish and shellfish
● Eggs
● Beans and lentils
● Nuts and seeds (contain more fat than protein but still a great source of amino acids)
Read on and check out the great breakfast recipe for you to try tomorrow morning. It contains eggs which some say are the “perfect protein”.
In my special $14 offer you will find 8 balanced breakfast recipes and so much more>>> https://irinacazazaeva.click/5dsfchallenge-sales-page
Fiber
Fiber is very important to help stabilize your blood sugars to reduce cravings. The reason this is particularly important in menopause is that the risk of diabetes and heart disease increases after menopause due to an accumulation of visceral fat in the abdomen. (Yes, I’m talking about the infamous “belly fat”!).
Also, did you know that certain fibers you eat actually feed your friendly gut microbes? The ones that help you digest food and even make certain nutrients for you?
Which foods are high in fiber?
Here are just a few of the items you could add to your diet to increase fiber intake:
● Vegetables (squash, peas, sweet potato, artichokes, collard greens, pumpkin, parsnips, Brussels sprouts, etc.)
● Fruit (pears, avocados, blueberries, raspberries, blackberries, etc.)
● Nuts (almonds, pistachios, macadamia, hazelnuts, pecans, Brazil nuts, walnuts, dried coconut, etc.)
● Seeds (sesame, sunflower, pumpkin, chia, flax, etc.)
● Gluten-free grains (oat, quinoa, wild rice, etc.)
● Beans and lentils
Bonus points if you get at least some of your daily fiber from flax. Flax not only contains fiber but it is also a source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids. Flax has even been shown to help reduce both hot flashes and the risk of breast cancer. Win-win!
Conclusion:
What are “optimal” foods for breakfast that help to lose weight in menopause? Ones that give you ample protein and fiber.
If you want balanced sugar-free recipes, check out the 5-Day Sugar-Free Challenge for only $14, my special offer for you. You will get a perfect meal plan for 5 days (breakfasts, lunches, dinners, snacks, and desserts) plus 3 extra breakfast recipes and more:
· 5 days of focusing on fueling your body with nutritious, delicious foods
· Learning what’s in your food so you can make informed choices
· Curbing your sugar addiction (or discovering if you have one!)
· 5 days of choosing to be mindful about what you eat
· Avoiding all forms of sugar/artificial sweeteners in everything you eat
>>> https://irinacazazaeva.click/5dsfchallenge-sales-page
Breakfast Recipe (Protein and Fibre): Vegetable Egg Muffins
Makes 12
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 red pepper (diced)
2 cups baby spinach (chopped)
1 cup mushrooms (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (minced)
6 eggs
1 tablespoon flax (ground)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 F.
Grease or line a 12 serving muffin tin.
Heat a large frying pan over medium heat. Add oil and saute diced pepper until tender (about 5 minutes).
Add mushrooms and garlic to the frying pan and cook for an additional minute.
Whisk eggs and flax together in a medium bowl.
Place veggies into prepared muffin tin.
Pour the egg/flax mixture over the veggies.
Bake for 15 minutes or until the tops are firm to the touch and eggs are cooked.
Serve & Enjoy!
Tip: Use pastured eggs whenever possible.
References:
http://nutritionfacts.org/video/just-the-flax-maam/