DO YOU STILL BELIEVE THESE 3 OUTDATED MENOPAUSE WEIGHT LOSS DIET MYTHS?
I am a member of quite a few menopause weight loss diet groups online from way back when I was struggling with my own weight. There is a recurrent theme that I notice running through the discussions which always makes me sad.
There are so many women facing menopause weight gain armed only with the lies that the diet industry fed them in the 1980’s and 90’s. This was the time of the low-fat no-fat craze. The grapefruit and cabbage soup starvation diets. The crazy high energy aerobics classes, all legwarmers, neon leotards and big hair.
Those old fad diets are as outmoded as the hair and fashions of the era.
But so many women are hitting Menopause and still sticking with what they learned back in the ’80s and 90’s when it comes to weight loss diets.
When they don’t lose any weight they think they are a failure. They think Menopause makes it impossible to lose weight. They think they will be stuck with that Menopause belly forever. They become discouraged and that’s such a shame.
So today I just wanted to quickly debunk some common myths about losing weight at menopause as I receive emails from many ladies struggling with their weight and disheartened about it.
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Myth # 1 You need to cut calories and starve yourself to lose anything once you hit menopause
We have always been told that its just “calories in, calories out” a simplistic equation that make it look like losing weight is easy. You just have to eat less and move more right?
ABSOLUTELY WRONG. It’s just not that simple.
An apple and a biscuit both contain around 100 calories but they will both have very different effects on the waistline. Calories are not all created equal.
As well as this, calorie-restricted diets have side effects.
Cutting out food in this way can lead to deficiencies in certain nutrients and this, in turn, can lead to cravings. Cravings are a nightmare to battle and propel you towards that big slice of amazing looking cake. It’s very hard to battle the brain in that mode. It’s doing all it can to protect you from starvation
And low-calorie diets make you SOOO paranoid about food! You become obsessed with counting calories and petrified of eating anything with a lot of calories in it. I pretty much teetered on the edge of an eating disorder through the 80s and 90s and knew the calorie content of every food off by heart. This is no way to live at all
Thankfully today, losing weight has evolved and there are healthy diets which allow you to lose weight without having to starve.
We now know that by lowering carbs and eating healthy fats and proteins you can lose weight, even around menopause without feeling that awful deprived gnawing feeling.
No more living on a grape and a lettuce leaf to lose weight.
Myth #2 Exercise is the key to weight loss.
This old myth goes hand in hand with number 1. If you just do more exercise you will burn calories and lose weight. If the weight isn’t shifting you just aren’t trying hard enough!. Exercise harder, faster more!
Oh purleese!
Exercise has many benefits, especially for mental health, but it may not be the best way to achieve weight loss around 50. Many women don’t realise that if they get their diet right they can lose weight WITHOUT doing any exercise.
In fact, doing too much of the wrong kind of exercise can actually increase stress hormones and make you put weight on. Crazy right!
I fully admit that I don’t exercise. I have never enjoyed it and never found a sport I loved. But I managed to get to my goal weight by eating the right way.
Losing weight is all about getting your diet right. As they say, “You can’t outrun a bad diet”
So get that bit right and you will be on your way to Menopause Weight Loss
Myth #3 You can’t target weight loss at the Belly area.
Weight gain in the belly area is one of the worst and most upsetting aspects of Menopause. Where once you had a slim waist you now feel that you have slabs of lard welded to it. We are told its just part of menopause and nothing can be done about it. No diet will target it
Well, that is just not true.
Its true that a million sit ups will not target the surface fat we have on our bellies.
However, the Fat that gathers around the belly at Menopause is called Visceral fat. It surrounds the internal organs.
If your body is out of balance the fat will head for your belly with the pinpoint targeting of a heat-seeking missile.
But if you get your body back into balance, the visceral fat will melt away. And how do you balance your body?
Naturally by eating the right foods.
It can be done. There’s no reason why you have to put up with that wobbly nemesis just because you are going through Menopause.
It’s not you. It’s the diet industry
I hope debunking these 3 diet myths has helped you to realise that if you have struggled to lose weight it’s not because you lack willpower or self-control.
You were just using outdated methods that we all believed were the right way to do things. And let’s face it. The diet industry doesn’t want you to succeed. There’s no money in that for them. Those outdated diet plans were doomed to fail. The game was set up against you.
So please take heart. You didn’t fail. The diets failed you
Love and light
Helen
