weight gain

Trifecta

Posted by Liz on Sep 29, 2008 in weight gain | 2 comments

Midsection weight gain is a hard pill to swallow, especially when you’re doing all the things that experts keep telling you to do, like watching your diet, exercising and limiting indulgences. In fact, it’s been reported that women in their midlife years gain as much as 1.1 pounds yearly over a five-year period, which places the odds of gaining weight about twice the average rate.  So what gives?

Last week, I wrote a post on the importance of moving your body. Several experts chimed in and added that regular weight training and a change in how and what you eat might help to stave off those pounds. In the particular report cited above, researchers wrote that the one pound a year weight gain equated with only an extra 10 calories a day and suggested that small, sustained changes in daily physical activity and diet can prevent further weight gain. Okay, that sounds reasonable, right?

Another study, published last year in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, showed that weight gain and changes in waist circumference in midlife are associated with both regular aging and  changes in ovarian function.  The good news in this study was that while waist circumference increased over a 6-year period, the rate of increase slowed one year after the final menstrual period.

BTW, the reason for the buildup of fatty of tissue has to do with balance. That is, as estrogen production declines, the body starts to rely on secondary production sites, such as body fat and skin. So, fatty tissue starts function like an endocrine organ instead of simply a passive vessel for energy storage. The body also struggles to hold onto bone mass and may compensate for its loss by holding on to extra body fat longer.

The news isn’t all bad however.

That ‘Old Black Magic’ has struck again!

Results of an animal study in the journal Maturitas show that black cohosh extract attenuates body weight gain and accumulation of intrabdominal fat and also lowers glucose levels to the same extent as estrogen. The effect on blood fats in this study was a bit more complex; black cohosh extract was associated with higher LDL-cholesterol levels and lower triglyceride levels and estrogen, the exact opposite. The researchers remain uncertain how these effects ultimately influence weight gain as well as associated health risks, such as the metabolic syndrome.

These study results undoubtedly need to be replicated in humans. But they do suggest a potentially viable strategy to battle weight gain: black cohosh.

So, perhaps the trifecta in overcoming menopausal weight gain is diet, exercise and black cohosh. Only time will tell.

Move Your Body

Posted by Liz on Sep 19, 2008 in weight gain | 6 comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A65Ok9WjOdE]

30 minutes of exercise a day will keep the menopause weight away.

Evidently, this may be  a dream. In fact, it turns out that you may need a lot more than 30 minutes of physical activity to maintain your desired weight.

Current guidelines specify that most folks need about 30 minutes a day for at least 5 times a week. That averages out to 150 minutes of exercise a week. However, keeping the weight off may require at least 55 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity five days week on top of normal activities, or 275 minutes a week.

Yikes! Who has time?

A recent study, published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, suggests that this amount of exercise, in combination with daily intake of about 1,200 to 1,500 calories, is important for sustaining weight loss of more than 10%. Now granted, the women in this study were overweight and obese to begin with, which is why I’m encouraging you to check out the abstract for more study details.

However, this begs the question, is the 55 minutes daily activity requirement relevant for women of normal weight?

I did a deeper dive into this issue to see if I could uncover some answers.

According to the USDA’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2005 (this report is published once every 10 years), adults need at least 60 to 90 minutes of daily physical activity to maintain normal weight (while, at the same time, not increasing caloric intake).

More specifically, you may need at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous exercise daily to stave off gradual, unhealthy body weight. 30 minutes daily can help prevent chronic diseases.  To achieve optimal physical fitness, the recommendations suggest that you incorporate cardiovascular conditioning, weight training, and resistance exercise to improve strength and endurance.

Sounds daunting, doesn’t it?

I’ve asked a few physical fitness experts to weigh in on this post so be sure to check the comments section. And I’d love to hear your questions as well – this is an important dialogue.

In the meantime, guess it’s time to get moving.

Wait!

Posted by Liz on May 24, 2008 in weight gain | 4 comments

Midlife expansion is no myth. J ust ask any woman in her mid-to-late forties and early fifties and she’ll probably tell you that she is having a wee bit of trouble maintaining her usual weight. Ask her where she’s put on a few inches and she’ll inevitably tell you her waist/abdomen. Even my thinnest friends complain!

So what gives? For many women, weight tends to shift during the perimenopausal years. Some folks say that you might gain as much as a pound a year. Yikes! So what can you do?

Well, there’s certainly not a magic pill because if there were, well, I’d be marketing it right on this site and and planning that trip down to the Galapagos or over to Mali. But don’t fret either.

Researchers suggest that contrary to popular belief, declining hormones are not the primary culprit. Rather, a decline in physical activity, coupled with changes in fat distribution, play a huge role. In 6-year study of premenopausal women who became menopausal, study participants lost an average of 6 lbs of fat free mass and experienced increases in fat by 5.5 pounds! Other data suggest that as women go through menopause, resting heart rate declines significantly both due to the natural aging process and declining hormone levels.

Overall, the best “prescription” for weight gain appears to be a change in attitude coupled with an increase in activity. A general rule of thumb is to lower your caloric intake and percentage of fats in your diet and make sure you’re getting in at least 30 minutes aerobic activity plus some resistance/weight-bearing exercise daily. Incorporating weight-bearing exercise especially during the perimenopausal years might help to counteract our natural loss of muscle and bone mass that occurs during the three to five years following menopause.

This bad joke that Mother Nature plays on our bodies can be dealt with pretty easily if we set our minds to it. Like a lot of things, I guess, it’s all about changing one’s mindset!