Not everyone is thrilled about reaching middle age - especially women. Getting older means things get more difficult, health becomes more of an issue, and you can’t do the same things you did when you were younger. Weight loss is a major concern for those getting older and it doesn’t help that hormonal weight gain likes to rear its ugly head during the middle age years.
Entering perimenopause (the stage before the full onset of menopause) causes changes in the brain that can actually affect your hunger and the foods you consume. When perimenopause hits, the brain is less sensitive to estrogen. The presence of estrogen controls the serotonin, norepinephrine, acetylcholine, and dopamine levels. These are neurotransmitters that control your mood, memory, and appetite. The less estrogen your brain responds to, the more likely you are to eat more and experience a lack of appetite control. In order to know how to approach the topic of hormonal weight gain, it’s important to understand the process of hunger and what factors are responsible. Ghrelin is a hormone that is secreted in your stomach and tells your brain’s cells when you are very hungry. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that often causes trouble because it plays a role in motivating you to eat. When you’ve continued to chow down even when you’re already full, that’s the dopamine at work. Cortisol is a stress hormone that is produced in the adrenal glands and is the culprit of stimulating hunger when its levels in the body are too low. Leptin is a protein made by the body’s fat cells, which are responsible for letting the brain know when you are full.
The best way to handle hormonal weight gain is to learn how to accommodate the hormonal changes and work with them instead of against them. Making the right lifestyle changes is a major step in dealing with hormonal weight gain. You’ll want to start incorporating at least 30 minutes of exercise a day during the middle age years (yoga, meditation, and brisk walking are ideal exercises), as well as maintaining a healthy daily diet. To curb hunger pangs and the tendency to overeat, it is important that you learn how to break down your meal plan into five to six small meals throughout the day and reducing the portions of your breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Snack in between the main three meals and choose food items that are low in fat and healthy such as fruits and vegetables. Because you’ll want your brain to hold onto as much estrogen as possible to maintain a hormonal balance, you should look into creating a diet rich in estrogenic foods. Potatoes, soy, apples, alfalfa, rice, yams, and wheat are food items that can produce more estrogen in your body, preventing hormonal weight loss.
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