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The Truth About Menopause and Weight Gain: A Gynecology Specialist Reveals What Really Works

“Menopause and weight gain often go hand in hand.

The interesting thing is that it does not necessarily start simultaneously. 

What women often overlook is the transitional phase, which could start up to 8 years before actual menopause and is called perimenopause.

And for most women, it’s that transition when they start gaining weight,” explains Dr. Margaret Martin, M.D. in Gynecology.

This often leads women to consult gynecologists, mistakenly believing they (or their lifestyle) are to blame for the rapid weight gain or their difficulty in losing weight.

It’s also one of the key reasons why nearly two-thirds of women aged 40 to 59 years and about three-fourths of women 60 years and older are overweight. 1

But the harsh truth is…

“There are no simple answers,” says Dr. Martin, who has 40 years of experience in gynecology. 

“The midlife spread that affects millions of women every year seems almost inevitable.”

“You’ll be surprised by how much weight women can gain during the transition period.”

Recent studies show that women typically gain an average of 1.5 pounds per year from their late 40s until their early 60s. 2 3

Doing the math, that’s about 30 pounds over those years.

And that’s one of the more conservative estimates!

Another research highlights a significant spike in weight gain occurring two years after the final period.

“On average, women gain 5-8% of their baseline body weight during this time,” says Dr. Susan Reed, vice chair for Research at the University of Washington Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. 4  

This means a woman weighing 170 pounds might expect to gain an average of 14 pounds in just the two years following her final period.

While some weight gain during menopause is normal, excessive weight gain can lead to health risks such as diabetes and heart disease. 5

Alarmingly, the number of women experiencing even more dramatic weight changes seems to be increasing every year.

“Women who rapidly gain 20, and sometimes even 30 pounds, have become common cases for me and my colleagues,” observes Dr. Margaret Martin.

However, Dr. Martin wants every woman to hear an important message:

“When you keep gaining weight, even if…

… you’ve changed your diet and started following more “healthy” recipes,

… you’re watching your calories and limiting snacks,

… you’ve started exercising or just being more active throughout the day,

… you simply do your best with the budget, time and information you have,

That ‘middle-age spread’ is not your fault.” 

Why is weight gain so common during menopause?

As you move from perimenopause to postmenopause, you might start noticing some unsettling changes: you could lose some muscle6, gain weight7, more body fat8, and even see it piling up around your middle9.

The exact reasons behind these changes are still being studied, but we do know several factors that contribute to weight gain during menopause, including: 

• Changes in reproductive and other hormones like estrogen
• Slowed metabolic rate
• Lower thyroid function
• Imbalances in your gut microbiome

Since multiple factors are at play, it’s difficult to precisely target those changes, even though some gynecologists try to do so. 

“Some of my colleagues — and I fight with them about it a lot — simply prescribe hormone replacement therapy (HRT).

First of all, it’s never been proven to be effective for weight loss. But it’s not even the biggest problem.

What’s really worrying is that it can put women’s health at risk.

Coronary heart disease and stroke11, as well as breast and womb cancer12 are some of the possible consequences of using HRT,” warns Dr. Martin. 

Oftentimes, women also turn to other weight loss solutions, especially if they had positive experiences with them in the past:

❌ Restricting particular foods, changing diet, or exercising more. But it doesn’t work anymore due to a slower metabolism and changes in how your body responds to insulin during menopause.

❌ Spending money on expensive weight loss supplements that are no longer effective because of menopause effects.

❌ Leaning on overly restrictive or fad diets, also known as “crash diets”. Besides leading to nutrient deficiencies, they often lead to feelings of deprivation and may result in binge eating.

“You can guess the question my patients are asking after failing to lose weight again and again. 

‘If none of these work, then what does?’

It took me years of observing my patients and reviewing countless studies before I could confidently answer that question,” says Dr. Margaret Martin.

“I didn’t expect THIS to be the answer.”

“Since we can’t do much to control our hormones or genes, the solution should be somewhere else. 

One day, I was chatting about this with my friend, who’s a registered dietitian in NYC. 

And I wondered what works for her clients, particularly those aged 45-60, in terms of weight loss,” Dr. Martin reflects on her journey towards a breakthrough.

The friend confirmed that it’s one of the most challenging age groups to work with, as typical weight loss solutions that work for 30-year-olds don’t work for them. They just don’t.

However, what gave good and quite quick results to most of the women when nothing else worked was intermittent fasting.

“I found it quite surprising that intermittent fasting helped not only with weight loss but also eased the anxiety, stress, and emotional swings so common in menopause,” Dr. Martin notes.

This feedback sounded intriguing enough to push Dr. Martin to investigate further by talking to a few other experts from the endocrinology and gastroenterology departments and looking into some studies.

How intermittent fasting transforms menopausal health

The more she researched, the more it made sense to her.

It turns out, numerous studies have shown that intermittent fasting is great for losing weight and keeping it off, especially for women after menopause. ¹³

But there’s more.

Intermittent fasting can also lower your risk of heart disease and diabetes, which are big concerns during menopause. ¹⁴

Plus, it helps keep your muscles strong, boosts your mood, and improves mental health by lowering blood pressure and triglycerides, and enhancing insulin sensitivity. ¹⁴

And it doesn’t stop there. 

Intermittent fasting also helps balance key hormones like insulin and cortisol, which are crucial for managing weight and blood sugar during menopause. 13

“You may reasonably ask — just like I did — if it’s so beneficial, why isn’t it more widely known?

Well, there’s always a catch.

But thankfully, it’s one we can handle,” says Dr. Martin.

“I also had this common misconception about fasting.”

“As my dietitian friend explained to me, people tend to oversimplify fasting. 

They often think it’s just about not eating. 

But there’s so much more to it.

And if you don’t do it correctly, the chances you’ll achive desired results are also low,” explains Dr. Martin.

For example, it doesn’t make much sense to start fasting without confidently knowing the answers to some basic questions:

• “What is the correct fasting window for you to lose the most weight? How does it change as women transition from perimenopause to postmenopause?”
• “How often can you fast?”
• “Does longer fasting always mean better results?”
• “Can you eat anything during the fasting periods?”
• “Does coffee, tea, or water break the fast?”
• “How should you break your fast?”

The good news is that you don’t have to figure everything out on your own.

“But since I know the current rates dietitians charge, I understand that their services may not be affordable for everyone. 

The same goes for navigating the overwhelming amount of information on your own — it can be quite daunting.

That’s why I asked my friend for recommendations of affordable, yet effective solutions, and she had one in mind!

But first, I decided to try it myself before recommending it to my patients (even though it works great for my friend’s clients). 

After all, I also could use losing some pounds,” shares Dr. Margaret Martin.

Here’s how you can get started for free in just 2 minutes

First, Dr. Martin took a short and free health quiz (link below). 

In under 2 minutes, she got her own personalized intermittent fasting book.

It took all the guesswork from her shoulders as she could access meal plans for the suggested fasting methods and preferred diets.

“All the info was crafted and verified by expert nutritionists and totally made sense to me,” says Dr. Martin.

She was offered to follow a 12:12 protocol (when you have a 12-hour eating window and then fast for the next 12 hours).

“Even though I expected it after everything I’ve learned before, I still was surprised to see pounds shedding off the first time I stepped on a scale,” shares Dr. Martin.

But that wasn’t the only result of her little experiment. Just a week in, she already could feel other common benefits of fasting:

✅ Better mood and mind clarity

✅ Little to no food cravings

✅ Reduced anxiety and mood swings

✅ Increased energy

✅ Improved metabolism, and…

✅ Almost fully eliminated menopause symptoms like hot flashes and sleep problems! 

“It’s recently been 2 years since I constantly use this program in my work. 

It keeps delivering great results for my patients, helping them achieve quick and lasting weight loss results. 

But what’s most important for me — it does it in a healthy way instead of bombarding their bodies with endless hormones and supplements.

So if you’re also struggling with menopause and middle-age spread, I suggest you also complete that short and free health quiz and at least see how your sustainable weight loss journey could look”, concludes Dr. Martin.