Hey Reader,
I'm always amazed at how easy weight loss can be. The problem is that, as women, we have been trained to think that weight loss has to be hard. Truth be told, it is hard if you focus on the typical things we've been taught to do: lower your calorie intake, exercise more, and use the scale to measure your success. Let's face it: if these things worked, you'd do it once, and your problem would be solved.
Susan's story
My client, Susan, gained 40 pounds during the menopause transition. She did all the "right things" and felt prepared for an easy transition. She was in the best shape of her life.
Sadly, she was blindsided because she had never learned how to support her body appropriately. In reality, she entered menopause in a state of severe depletion.Once her hormones began to decrease, she lost the precious protection they provided.
We did three things differently that helped her lose weight.
#1. Her calorie intake was too low, averaging about 1200 calories. I calculated her basal metabolic rate ( calories needed for survival, not including activity) to be 1375 calories. She was in starvation mode, which made her resistant to fat loss. We slowly started bumping up her calorie intake until we reached 1900 calories.
Pro Tip: Use this link, to calculate your basal metabolic rate. To calculate your total caloric needs, multiply your basal metabolic rate by 1.2 if you are sedentary, 1.3 for moderately active, and 1.4 for extremely active.
2. Her stress level was high. She was dealing with a very stressful situation in her family. She needed to find ways to destress regularly. After exploring several options, she added weekly massages and infrared sauna sessions.
3. Her workouts were too intense which was just putting more stress of her depleted body. We lowered the intensity of her exercise routine from HIT classes to yoga and walking. Read more about this here.
Four months later, she was down 35 pounds and felt happier and healthier.
She learned that low-calorie dieting, combined with high-intensity workouts plus the added stress life can bring, was a recipe for weight gain. In menopause, she lost the support of hormones like estrogen and progesterone, which had provided protection throughout her life.
The menopause transition can be a beautiful time of transformation. It is meant to be a time of letting go of what no longer serves us and finally treating ourselves with the respect and compassion we deserve. How cool is that? Supporting your body after the hormonal changes in perimenopause is the key to a smooth transition!
Respond to this email and tell me your thoughts about your menopause journey!
Your friend,
Angie
P.S
Want to learn more about how you can support a healthy metabolism?
Here is my free training on weight loss resistance! Enjoy!
