Does menopause have to mean an apple shape? Is it possible to lose weight and thickness gained after menopause? Sharon sent us this question via our Ask Our Healthy Weight Loss Team a Question feature (look to your right). It’s a question near and dear to my heart as I’ve personally dealt with this and work with many women as they are going through this stage of life and worry about how their bodies are changing. Abdominal weight gain is one of the most common complaints we see among women who are going through perimenopause or menopause. We are often told to just accept it, but do we have to? Let’s look at the causes and whether we can do anything about them. Why Do Women Gain Weight during Menopause? It’s different for every woman but hormonal fluctuations as we go through menopause do seem to trigger varying degrees of increased abdominal girth for many women. Some of the weight gain might be viewed as the natural course of things, but much of it is not. Let’s discuss what seems to be natural first. As our ovaries stop producing estrogen, our bodies begin to seek out other sources. One of the best sources is abdominal fat. All fat cells produce estrogen but abdominal fat is a particularly available source. Why our bodies do this isn’t absolutely clear but some experts speculate it may be an attempt to preserve bone mass.

Original Source of Reader Question: Can We Lose Weight Gained After Menopause?