Losing Weight During Menopause
I was about 50 years old when I began to experience full-blown menopause. I noticed all kinds of symptoms, hot flashes, night sweats joint pain to name a few, but the most perplexing symptom was the weight gain. Almost overnight I found that my clothes didn’t fit– my favorite pair of jeans actually burst from the dress! Thank goodness I was wearing a long tunic style shirt that covered the incident. It happened while I was at the front of my classroom, teaching high school junior English!
What shocked me the most was how sudden the weight gain accumulated. I gained around 30 pounds within a few months. I made sure to stay away from sugar and snacks, no more sweetener in my coffee. I even gave up artificial sweeteners and Stevia, just to be safe. I gave up bread, pasta, and rice, opting for simple dishes with veggies and proteins. I was already working out every morning at Orange Theory, so I added 2 to 3 evening workouts per week. I was doing two workouts on some days, but the weight kept piling on. I was completely stumped.
When I bought this when I brought this up to my doctor, her solution was, quotation mark eat less, move more. You know when we age, we don’t move as much., So we don’t need as much food. Marks, I went home feeling the wild and desperate. Her advice was not applicable. I was moving more than ever while. Also paying attention to what I was eating. But that wasn’t working!! My weight gain was not a matter of calories in calories out. So I started researching about menopause– it’s a change in hormonal balance. Our home, our hormones regulate everything in our bodies: insulin levels, temperature, energy, mood, to name a few. And, yes, wait. I also discovered several studies that suggested intermittent fasting as a way to keep insulin levels and check. Could this also be the answer to menopausal hormone balance? I figured I had nothing to lose. After all, fasting does not require expensive specialty diets nor time consuming workout plans. It does not require signing up for a gym, personal trainer, prepackaged meals in a box subscriptions, or counting points, like an in passionate game of Farkle.
What I discovered was that intermittent fasting SAVED me money. I stopped snacking or eating on the go. The time I used to spend making breakfast and packing lunch is now spent walking my springer spaniel and reading before work. But the best part about intermittent fasting, I lost the menopause weight! Over a four month period, I lost the extra 30 pounds 20 hour intermittent fast.
Here’s what a fasting day looks like for me:
Wake up around 4 AM. Drink mineral water. Plain black coffee, no cream, sugar, collagen, etc.
Go to work from 7 AM to 4 PM. Drink water throughout the day. I always add a few drops of trace minerals. My goal is to drink anywhere from 84 ounces to 128 ounces of water daily.
4 PM: Snack time! My go-to snack is a bowl of whole-milk, plain yogurt with organic berries and a drizzle of local honey. After fasting all day, this tastes amazing!
6:30 PM: Dinner with my family. I make sure to stop eating before 8 PM to keep my eating window under four hours.
9:30 PM: Bedtime.
I repeated this routine– 20 hours of fasting (only water and black coffee)with a four hour window to eat a snack and dinner. I repeated this during the work week, Monday through Friday. On the days that I work, this is easy to implement, since I am very busy at my job with a very short lunchtime of 30 minutes. With almost zero idle time at work, I rarely think about eating. There’s also no access to food in the building, so I don’t pack a lunch or snacks. Since I've limited my access to food once I get to work, I don’t have the option of eating anyway. This takes willpower completely out of the equation.
The first few days were hard. I was hungry. But I knew the 4 PM snack time was on the horizon, and I always had an easy to grab option waiting for me when the 20 hours were up. Two years later, this is still my routine and I can’t imagine not doing intermittent fasting. Not only did I lose the weight, my other menopause symptoms like hot flashes, joint pain, insomnia, swollen hands and feet, etc. went away after just a few days of 20 hour intermittent fasting. Here's the thing: I don’t feel like the old me… I feel like an even BETTER version of the old me! I look and feel younger and more vibrant than I did before menopause. I can think clearly, I have energy, and I am back to feeling comfortable in my own skin (and my blue jeans, LOL!).
Dear Reader, if you can relate to my struggles and frustration with menopause, and the typical medical interventions haven’t worked for you, consider trying something new. If you’re curious or want to learn more, I highly recommend the work of Dr. Jason Fung. His book and YouTube channel helped me understand the science behind fasting, how it works, and WHY it works. It was easy to understand, and I was able to devise a plan that worked for me.
Your health is your greatest resource. Health is wealth. For me, I had to struggle with my health to realize how true this old adage really is.
I pray you find the answers that you’re looking for to achieve success with your own health journey.
Here's to your health!
Jennifer Kaye