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Healthy Home Economist / Archives / Fitness / Weight Gain in Menopause: Aging or Lifestyle?

Weight Gain in Menopause: Aging or Lifestyle?

by Sarah Pope / Affiliate Links ✔

By Guest Blogger Paula Jager, CSCS

Paula's Plan for Getting the Junk Outta the Trunk!

One morning mid February I had an urge to try on my bathing suit–I don’t know why I just did. Most likely because it had been cold, spring was around the corner and I had been hiding out in my sweats enjoying mass quantities of comfort foods.

I didn’t gain much weight–the scale could not be right! If I had gained it had to be muscle. Well, I put on that swimsuit, grabbed a mirror and checked my rear. I almost threw up, that could not possibly be my body looking back at me. What in the world had happened?

Here I am a CSCS and owner of a fitness facility that eats “right” and exercises year round. I am passionate in my efforts as well as my nature. I practically get on a pulpit and shout it from afar. How in the world could I have gained 11 pounds? And 9 ½ of it was in my rear–that’s pure genetics there. Could it be my age, I am 51? Could it be because I am post menopausal? I had always had older friends tell me about the “inevitable weight gain around the middle” at that stage in life to which in my “youth” I always replied “it’s what you eat and whether or not you move your arse”. I was the heaviest I had ever been in my entire life at 126 lbs and 19% body fat and had a roll around the middle. Could I possibly have been wrong? Does the body change? Well of course it changes as we age but was it really out of my control? I decided to test my hypothesis and treat myself as if I were a client. . .

I first ask a client what they are trying to accomplish–what their goals are. For in order to evoke change one must have goals, they must be measurable and you must have a strategy or plan. My goal is to reach 115 lbs and approximately 12% body fat by May 22nd. My start date was March 15th of which the first 12 days were a raw milk fast to cleanse and detoxify the body.

This Belly Roll Will be GONE by May 22, 2011!

I next ask a client to give me a food log; I must know what they are taking in before I can help them. So, for 3 solid weeks I logged everything I ate in www.fitday.com (an excellent free online diet journal) to see where I was. I changed not a thing as I wanted an honest assessment of what I had been consuming. Now mind you, I eat healthy, healthier than 95% of the people in this nation I would guesstimate. It is a priority in my life; for how I feel, for my health and energy levels and around this time of the year for how I look. It is my job and my life. I will give you keeping a food log is tedious, time consuming and not something I would do long term or for more than the duration of an occasional reality check. However, if I do not know what I am consuming and in what amounts I will not know what I need to change.

Here’s what I found. . .

The macronutrient ratios were near ideal: about 21% protein, 19% carbs and 60% fat on average. The foods were all from quality sources and home cooked. But my average daily caloric intake based on 2/19 — 3/10 was 2400 calories a day and my “indulgences” were averaging 2-3x a week coming from homemade ice cream, 70% organic cacao bars and grits. So maybe that’s why all that junk was in my trunk?

Based on the 3 week food log that I kept in Fit Day, eating as I had been all winter – I am surprised!  Yet the answer is clear and I now know what to change.  Most importantly, I have a plan. . .

Stay tuned for Part 2–where I am 5 weeks later and how I got there. . .

 

Paula Jager CSCS and Level 1 CrossFit and CF Nutrition Certified is the owner of CrossFit Jaguar.

Her exercise and nutrition programs yield life changing results

www.crossfitjaguar.com
[email protected]

 

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Category: Fitness
Sarah Pope

Sarah Pope MGA has been a Health and Nutrition Educator since 2002. She is a summa cum laude graduate in Economics from Furman University and holds a Master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania.

She is the author of three books: Amazon #1 bestseller Get Your Fats Straight, Traditional Remedies for Modern Families, and Living Green in an Artificial World.

Her four eBooks Good Diet…Bad Diet, Real Food Fermentation, Ketonomics, and Ancestrally Inspired Dairy-Free Recipes are available for complimentary download via Healthy Home Plus.

Her mission is dedicated to helping families effectively incorporate the principles of ancestral diets within the modern household. She is a sought after lecturer around the world for conferences, summits, and podcasts.

Sarah was awarded Activist of the Year in 2010 at the International Wise Traditions Conference, subsequently serving on the Board of Directors of the nutrition nonprofit the Weston A. Price Foundation for seven years.

Her work has been covered by numerous independent and major media including USA Today, ABC, and NBC among many others.

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Comments (40)

  1. jerian

    Jun 14, 2023 at 1:18 pm

    This is an older post are there any updates? The Fitday doesn’t seem to have a food diary anymore but I’d love to know of a comparable free journal. Or other resources that take into consideration eating whole farm/local raw dairy grass fed etc foods. I just feel they might or should track different.

    Reply
  2. PJ Stewart

    Mar 15, 2015 at 9:42 pm

    Hmmmm. I am 62. I am certainly post-menopausal. I am very fit and have been since I was 30. I know how to eat. Yet, I am at least 20 pounds overweight. This 20 pounds has crept up over the past 5 or 6 years. Am I sure I am aware of my eating? Yes. Am I sure I burn calories during exercise? Yes, I do Shaun T’s Focus T-25 7 days a week. Still fat. Explain that, please.

    Reply
  3. smithbush

    Oct 8, 2011 at 7:39 am

    Well thanks for the info. My wife is approaching towards menopause and she needs to be following these tips.

    Reply
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