You do have control over your body in Menopause
Is menopause making you feel like you’re losing control of your body?
Hormonal shifts, especially those in peri & post menopause can definitely make you feel like your body is rebelling. I promise you what’s happening is real. It’s NOT in your head. And you do have control over your body - you just need to make some adjustments.
Hormones are powerful! Tiny hormone shifts create major changes throughout your body. Metabolism, digestion, mood, sleep, and cellular function are all impacted. Even your strength and power are affected! Hormones work in concert with each other and when one’s off key, the whole orchestra goes awry.
Peri and post menopause often feel baffling, backwards, and downright frustrating. To understand these changes – the sudden belly fat, no motivation, mood swings or a complete lack of response to training, we have to look at the key hormones that are shifting in this phase of life. For this discussion we’ll start with estrogens are they’re possibly the most influential hormone at play.
Estradiol also called E2:
Is the main driver for building muscle. It helps stimulate muscle protein synthesis (MPS).
Encourages our mitochondria to use fats as fuel.
Helps glucose get inside our muscle cells to be used as fuel.
Improves insulin sensitivity.
Influences serotonin and our moods.
Estradiol stimulates growth of hormonally sensitive tissue or glands, notably the uterine lining and breasts. This growth is necessary to thicken the uterine lining and prepare for a potential pregnancy. These changes are most noticeable right before your period - breast tenderness before your period anyone? Bloating? Estradiol also increases water retention, sugar cravings and influences serotonin levels in your brain.
These estrogen fluctuations and related serotonin spikes and crashes contribute to mood swings, depression & anxiety. Those mood changes typically show up before your period when you’re having regular cycles and can be very unpredictable in peri menopause when hormone shifts are erratic.
In menopause your estradiol and progesterone levels drop and stay low while Luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) go up. When estradiol flatlines:
It’s harder to build muscle & maintain strength
Your risk for metabolic syndrome and diabetes notable increases due to insulin resistance and difficulty managing simple carbohydrates efficiently. This set up can rapidly increase belly fat.
Serotonin can follow estradiol and flatline leading to a more constant state of low motivation, depression and vague feelings of being “flat”.
So, what can you do? You can adjust your nutrition + training strategies. It’s not about being low carb or dieting/restricting calories. It’s changing the source of carbohydrates and WHEN you eat them. As your body naturally moves towards being insulin resistant (the opposite of what we want for maximum health) nutritional routines need to shift to accommodate. That means eating foods with a lower glycemic index, pairing a protein and plant-based fat with your carbohydrate, and trying to get most of your carbs from low starch vegetables versus refined grains.
Timing your carbohydrates around your workouts is a great trick to help your body utilize carbohydrates more efficiently. Exercise increases insulin sensitivity for a short period of time after working out to help restore glycogen levels in the liver and muscles more efficiently. You can use this to your advantage – maximize recovery by adequately replenishing glycogen stores and more effectively utilize carbohydrates with less negative impact on your glucose/insulin regulation. In short, this means your body uses the carbohydrates more efficiently helping to prevent diabetes and any unwanted belly fat.
Adding in strength training is an absolute must to maintain & build muscle. With the loss of estrogen, you need a different stimulus for muscle growth and preservation. Strength training, especially heavy lifting is a fantastic way to build muscle and improve glucose/insulin regulation. HIIT style of workouts are a great tool as well in menopause to keep your body strong, fit, and resilient.
Peri and post menopause really are a transition; you need to adapt and adjust to work WITH your body as it changes. Understanding how to support your body specifically and gaining clarity on the what’s and why’s is one of the more empowering things you can do for yourself. You are worth it.
In summary, the 4 steps to help you adapt and adjust to menopause that work with your hormones minimizing unwanted changes while keeping your vibrant are:
Source the bulk of your carbs from vegetables instead of refined grains.
Eat adequate protein at every meal or snack to balance your blood sugars.
Eat your starchy or simple carbs right after your workout.
Start lifting heavy! Strength training and HIIT should be priority workouts.
Stay in pursuit,
Dr. Marsha✨