Some women are rather surprised to learn that perimenopausal weight gain occurs with no change in their diet or activity levels. A brief discussion on the subject is essential, so you can avoid what statistics tell us will happen to two-thirds of girls. Perimenopausal weight gain happens with no changes made by the woman due to the internal changes which are happening in her body.
Perimenopause
It is composed of the couple of years before menopause actually starts and may bring on a few of the indicators of full-blown menopause, such as hot flashes, night sweats and missed periods. Perimenopausal weight gain is just another one of those indicators of the start changes in a female’s body, mainly because the hormones are beginning to fluctuate wildly. When the body is under stress-which the body believes fluctuating hormones into be-it sends out cortisol and adrenalin into the body.
These hormones will, among other things, tell the body to begin holding on to its sources. Perimenopausal weight gain occurs, since the body has begun holding on-literally, for dear life-to the present shops of future energy, specifically, your fat cells. In addition to this, your body has another valid reason for holding on to your own fat. Fat can produce estrogen. So, once the ovaries have started shutting down, and no longer estrogen is available to the body from them, your body wants to keep the rest of the resources for estrogen which it can. It makes losing weight a bit more difficult, but there’s good news on that front.
Fat cells
Fat cells which are stored at and after menopause, and through perimenopause, is stored differently that before. Rather than being layers just under the skin level-which is known as subcutaneous fat-it is presently being stored viscerally. The fantastic thing is that visceral fat responds more quickly to weight loss efforts than subcutaneous fat. Which is extremely good news, because visceral fat is truly a lot more harmful to the body than subcutaneous fat.
Visceral fat
Visceral fat is stored in and around your own body’s organs and directly interacts with them, frequently interfering in their own processes. In actuality, visceral fat has been associated with the onset of several very loathsome diseases, specifically, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, coronary artery disease and cardiovascular disease. Another factor to take into account is that perimenopausal weight gain happens when a woman begins to slow down.
Conclusion
Perimenopause and menopause both promote slow metabolism. Add to this the fact that the demands on a woman’s time begin to slack off at this stage in her lifetime and she begins to slow down, and you’ve the makings for some significant perimenopausal weight gain. Needless to say, exercise and diet will be the key players to prevent perimenopausal weight gain. Talk to a nutritionist to learn vital tips for menu and meal planning. In terms of activities, whatever gets you up and moving, breathing and stretching counts as exercise. Try to work up to 30 minutes each day for a successful campaign against perimenopausal weight gain.