How does rapid weight gain happen in peri menopause?

There are a bunch of reasons that weight gain can be much more noticeable in peri menopause than it might’ve done in the past.

Your body values fat

Your body is REALLY clever. It functions all on its own and makes intuitive decisions all day every day without you even realising or having to lift a finger.

Your body knows how important fat is to your survival and it wants to hang onto it, especially in stressful times.

You’ll have heard the example of how cortisol and adrenalin used to skyrocket for cavepeople, when faced with a predator who viewed them as a delicious meal. There’s no predator now in everyday life, but our bodies and brains still see danger, and they see it REALLY easily.

Traffic jams, irritating texts, stuff on the news that’s distressing – you name it, there are distressing events happening all around you, day in day out.

When your  body sees “danger” in these forms, it goes into survival mode.

This means that it prioritises survival – blood flow, immediately accessible energy, heightened senses.

Fat loss is so low down on your body’s priority, you can forget about any chance of losing weight.

And in peri menopause, when your hormones and stress levels are all over the shop, it’s no wonder your body hangs on tight to that fat you’re stressing about getting rid of.

That will hopefully be a real light bulb moment for some of you who haven’t considered stubborn fat in this way before. Now you know, there are some things you can do to help yourself.

Fat produces oestrogen

When oestrogen can be scarce during peri, if your body fat is producing oestrogen, do you think your body wants to let it go?

Hell no!

Chemicals and hormones are running riot

Blood sugar levels can go through the floor when your hormones are roaming around like wild animals. 

If you’re affected by the stereotypical 3pm afternoon energy slump, you’ll be familiar with the difficulty of perhaps wanting to choose a healthy, more steady source of energy, versus a ‘give me all that sugar right now and then give me some more’ approach.

That sugar gets converted to fat, and stored away for a rainy day.

This all sounds pretty crappy, am I doomed?

Not necessarily, but it IS harder to lose fat in peri menopause than in years before. Hormones, years of eating patterns and food choices stack up against you, but you’re not done for and you CAN lose the fat.

Strength training, eating a tonne of fibre (start with greens) and intermittent fasting (up until the week before your period, if you still have periods) can all help.

I’ll go into further detail in the very near future!