Are you experiencing an unwanted shift in your weight now that you have reached your 40’s? Sex hormones are a powerful factor in maintaining a healthy weight and when women reach their 40’s this is a common time to enter perimenopause.
Perimenopause is when the sex hormones estrogen begins to drop and can make your weight begin to rise if you are living the same way as you were in your 30’s and younger. Here are some tips to shift your weight back:
- Spring Clean Your Pantry
When you open your pantry is it full of chips, chocolate, alcohol and other sometimes foods? These foods can easily be eaten in excess and do nothing to help your overall health or weight. Have a pantry spring clean and check the blog titled ‘ Restock Your Pantry Staples’ for some ideas.
- Sleep Well
Are you getting enough quality sleep each night? Without at least 6-8 hours each night your body’s hunger hormones go out of whack. Your hunger hormone called ghrelin increases and this makes managing your food intake even harder. Make sure you are taking the time each day to wind down, switch off from technology and allow your body to rest and recover.
- Remember to Keep Moving
Exercise is a keyway to expend extra energy to make maintaining a healthy weight more achievable. Aim for 30 minutes each day for health and for weight loss 60 minutes. Weight training 2-3 times a week is key to help your body build and maintain muscle mass. This assists in keeping your metabolism up as muscle is an active tissue and takes energy for your body to maintain in your body.
Take home message: Change throughout life is normal and it is important to be kind to yourself. Try these three strategies to improve your health and remove any added kilos which may have crept on recently.
