Weight loss after menopause

[mike_g]

Hi Robert,

My better half is 48, easing into menopause. She doesn't train. She is fairly fit, but it's carrying a few extra pounds, in her belly and arms.

I've told her spot reduction of weight from a specific area doesn't work, and she seems generally accepting of that.

However, when I tell her it just boils down to calories and macros, she responds with "post menopause women are different, more cortisol, belly fat, etc" a seemingly bulletproof argument.

What does an expert say to this? Are post menopause women really that different? Or would it boil down to the same weight loss advice for anyone: track calories, weigh daily, see what weekly average weight is doing, and make calorie intake changes accordingly?

[Robert Santana]

There is truth to what she is saying. Changes to fat storage patterns are a known phenomenon with menopausal women. Estrogen typically sends fat to the ass, thighs, and hips. Less estrogen = more of a typical male fat storage pattern (I.e. in the mid section). Best thing she can do is train because a post menopausal women who trains will look better than one who doesn't.

[mike_g]

Hey thanks Coach, that makes sense.

Encouraging her to train might be a challenge. Does anyone have pointers or an article on how to pull that off?

[Steven Kalin]

There is truth to what she is saying. Changes to fat storage patterns are a known phenomenon with menopausal women. Estrogen typically sends fat to the ass, thighs, and hips. Less estrogen = more of a typical male fat storage pattern (I.e. in the mid section). Best thing she can do is train because a post menopausal women who trains will look better than one who doesn't.

Would it not also be a good idea to talk to a hormone therapy doc?

[Robert Santana]

Hey thanks Coach, that makes sense.

Encouraging her to train might be a challenge. Does anyone have pointers or an article on how to pull that off?

Keep the stakes low and offer. You can lead a horse to water...

[HailMary]

Encouraging her to train might be a challenge. Does anyone have pointers or an article on how to pull that off?

I’d leave it be, if I were you. You train, she sees that, but she isn’t ready to start training herself. It’s not for everyone. Most people won’t train. Not everyone values a muscular body.

Peri-menopause & menopause & aging can be rough, really rough, for some women. Is it possible she might interpret your encouragement to train as criticism or displeasure about her changing body?

I agree with the suggestion for a hormone doc, when she’s ready.

[Steven Kalin]

I’d leave it be, if I were you. You train, she sees that, but she isn’t ready to start training herself. It’s not for everyone. Most people won’t train. Not everyone values a muscular body.

Peri-menopause & menopause & aging can be rough, really rough, for some women. Is it possible she might interpret your encouragement to train as criticism or displeasure about her changing body?

I agree with the suggestion for a hormone doc, when she’s ready.

This is a thing for my wife as well. She eats well, if not enough. But she’s 50, her doc has told her she has high cholesterol, she has frozen shoulder ( which is badly affecting her ability to train, and is also tied to menopause), and I was surprised at the pushback she got when she inquired about hormone therapy. I didn’t think that it had the stigma for women that it does for men, given that it mostly doesn’t involve the “T” word.

[HailMary]

and I was surprised at the pushback she got when she inquired about hormone therapy. I didn’t think that it had the stigma for women that it does for men, given that it mostly doesn’t involve the “T” word.

Oh, the media and the doctors scared the crap out of women over the WHI. Lots of problems with that study.

The Controversial History of Hormone Replacement Therapy - PMC

From the link above....."After the announcement of the first results of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI) in 2002, which showed that HRT had more detrimental than beneficial effects, HRT use dropped. The negative results of the study received wide publicity, creating panic among some users and new guidance for doctors prescribing HRT."

Interestingly, there are direct-to-consumer (women) bioidentical hormone replacement companies popping up online, such as Evernow, Midi, Thrive. There must be demand. Maybe this is indicative of widespread pushback and lack of enthusiasm for BHRT in the regular doctor's office. Why must people suffer, needlessly, over physiological dosing? I don't get it.

[J. Keith Nichols MD]

Menopause is ovarian failure. It's the equivalent of you being castrated. Would you want your hormones if you were castrated? So when she is menopausal, she goes from having healthy levels of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone to having none of them. There is nothing healthy about that. Women are protected from cardiovascular disease more than men when they're younger, but then it becomes the number one killer for them after menopause and it's directly related to their loss of hormones. The sooner she starts, hormone replacement therapy, the better for her health and longevity.

[brinethery]

Hey Mike,

If your spouse doesn't have risk factors like high alcohol consumption, smoking, etc, then she might be a candidate for topical hormone replacement therapy cream.

I am 36 years old and for a reason that is way too long to post here, I decided I no longer want the two estrogen crashes. I don't want to be cyclical. I am on topical estrogen and testosterone cream in the morning. For each cream, I put 1mL on the inner labia. In the evening, I use progesterone cream in the same area. Since starting on this regimen, the pounds just fell off. My bone density went way up, and the statistical Z-score shows that I'm in the 92nd percentile for bone density in my age group. I just recently lost 17lb in under 2 months.

If you would like further info, I'd be happy to reply and answer any questions. I hope she can get onto HRT, it's improved my life in SO many ways! And she really needs to get on estrogen ASAP because older post-menopausal women (10 yrs+) can't handle the estrogen. But if she gets on it now, she can stay on it forever. And she must be on progesterone if she's on estrogen. They're all extremely safe hormones if you don't drink much and are a non-smoker.