Menopause and Weight Gain

Even Hallmark Came Up Empty On This One.

(Photo: smussyolay)

Does going through menopause automatically trigger a metabolism shift? Or is it only middle-aged lifestyle changes that cause so many women to pack on pounds during their menopausal years?

And perhaps more importantly: just what the hell are you supposed to do about it?

(BTW, for those younger women and men not the least bit interested in menopausal weight gain: normal general purpose whining will resume shortly.)

So Does Menopause Itself Cause Weight Gain?

Well, let's see what the experts say.

The Mayo Clinic--normally a respectable, sensible source of health information--says this about weight gain during menopause: "Hormonal changes alone don't necessarily trigger weight gain after menopause."  Instead, they say, "weight gain is usually related to a variety of lifestyle and genetic factors."  They insist menopausal women tend to exercise less, and "sometimes, factors such as children leaving — or returning — home, divorce, the death of a spouse or other life changes may contribute to weight gain after menopause. For others, a sense of contentment or simply letting go leads to weight gain."

To which Crabby McSlacker says: screw you, Mayo Clinic!

I swear it's not the lifestyle, it's the hormones. But perhaps I'm being overly swayed by anecdotal evidence? Especially as I'm now myself becoming an anecdote.

Crabby's Sad Tale of Hormonal Weight Gain

Actually, you can go ahead and put the Kleenex box away and tell those violins to stop playing--it's not really all that sad. We're only talking a 5 pound gain or so (albeit a scarily fast 5 lb gain). In fact, up until recently, I thought I was magically exempt from the menopausal weight gain thing. Remember how I was whining about my hysterectomy recovery? I couldn't exercise at anywhere near my former intensity for months and months (not just from surgery, but also from foot problems and a broken arm).  I didn't cut calories, yet somehow, I managed to stay the same size anyway. Whoopee! I was really psyched when I could start working out hard again.  I fantasized I might get leaner and stronger than ever!

But then... what the hell happened?  I started noticing something strange once I got back to my old routine... my pants started getting tighter!  My annual physical confirmed what I was trying not to see in the mirror: I was gaining weight. Also, my formerly brag-worthy cholesterol and blood glucose numbers suddenly shot skyward.

Coincidence?  I think not.  And for me, I swear it's not lifestyle factors. Even with the occasional indulgence (hello, kettlecorn, my new bff!), I eat healthier than I ever have.  I get more (and smarter) exercise, and I'm even using a supposedly calorie-torching stand-up desk instead of sitting. Nor am I, as the Mayo Clinic suggests, tearing my hair out worrying about my kids boomeranging back home and starting a garage band. (Not having kids makes that one a cinch). So where else can I place blame but The Pause?

It also fits in perfectly with what I've heard from quite a few other active healthy women:  something changed with menopause, and the old numbers suddenly stopped adding up the same way.  Even though my 5 minutes on google exhaustive scholarly research failed to turn up convincing research validating this theory (menopausal weight gain studies seem to be conflicting), I don't think we're all hallucinating this connection. And it only adds to the huge sympathy I have for those who struggle with uncooperative metabolisms. (I've always admired the heroic efforts those of you on the bigger side who are so conscientious about healthy eating and exercise and yet still battle the scale. It's so unfair!)

But Post-Menopausal Belly-Fat is Definitely Real

Even the buttheads at the Mayo Clinic (who think we must be sitting on our asses all day scarfing Doritos and weeping over our children in order to be gaining menopausal weight) do concede that dropping estrogen levels affect fat distribution. Thus, they admit, menopause can lead to excess belly fat. The Mayo folks also creepily remind us that belly fat increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, certain cancers and premature death.

Does HRT Help With Menopausal Weight Gain?

Hmm, you would think if my theory about hormones was correct, then going on hormone replacement therapy would help prevent weight gain after menopause. But yet again the HRT and weight research is conflicting. If there's any preventative effect at all, it certainly doesn't look to be huge.  But who am I to let silly evidence get in the way of a good theory? I'm still blaming my missing ovaries for those extra pounds, damn it!

So What's The Best Way to Deal With Menopausal Weight Gain?

Well, when you go off googling, the general advice on preventing menopausal weight gain seems to be aimed at sedentary consumers of junk-food. It consists mostly of the obvious suggestions to eat healthy, limit portions, and get some exercise. Duh, right? But what if you've already been doing all that?

As I see it, there are a couple of sensible options:

1. Forget the Scale and Your Clothing Size, and Focus on Health.

Remember the study that come out a few years ago that said thin people actually die younger than those who are overweight? It's only when you get to be obese that longevity is compromised. (Funny, isn't it, how there's never much publicity about this?)

So if that's the case, then rather than worry about the girth of your hips, thighs, butt, etc, it would make most sense to focus on getting a good variety of exercise, eating healthy foods, and paying attention to whether you're become more of an "apple" than a "pear." If you're putting on weight in the belly, that's more dangerous, but there are more targeted approaches for losing belly fat. You can find more of these at WebMD and Mayo Clinic and elsewhere. (Just don't fall for the One Rule for a Flat Stomach ok?)

2. See if You Can Tweak Your Eating and Exercise Routines Just a Little More.

What if you think you're doing everything you can already? Well, some of you are, and you may be out of luck. But some us just pretend we are, when we know damn well that there are steps we could be taking that we just don't feel like doing. For some of you it could be doing more weight training, or cardio intervals, or cutting out a big hunk of refined grains and sugar, or commuting by bike or on foot instead of driving. Chances are there is something you used to do once that you let go of, or some new thing you've been reading about that you know makes sense. Take a minute and see if the answer isn't right there in front of you, waiting for you to just get motivated enough to give it a try.

Is it worth it? Perhaps not! Then see #1 above.

Crabby's "Sad" Tale: To Be Continued...

Alarmed at the prospect of having to buy new pants (I loathe clothes shopping), I instituted a new Healthy Eating and Exercise Program a couple weeks ago. It's early yet, but... wow, it seems to be working! I'm not feeling deprived, my pants are fitting better, and I'm enjoying saying a big "F@#ck You" to menopausal weight gain.

Is my new approach Shocking and Groundbreaking? Hell no, it's the oldest trick in the book. Would my approach work for everyone? Of course not! Nothing does; we're all unique little snowflakes, remember?

If I were a less lazy blogger I'd outline it right here, right now, but this post is long enough already. In the unlikely event you're actually curious about my recent experimentation, stay tuned, and I'll post about it next Monday.

So, anyone else struggle with Menopausal (or Perimenopausal) Weight Gain? Or have other metabolism-based frustrations? I'd love to hear what worked (or didn't) for you!

BPA and Other Plastics: Are they Poisoning Us?

Photo: marc e marc

BPA, or bisphenol A, has been in the news again recently. You remember BPA, right? It's a chemical found in polycarbonate plastics, like baby bottles, and in canned food and beverage linings.

BPA has just the sort of handy properties you'd want in something that cozies up next to your food and beverages. It's an endrocrine disrupter linked to numerous health problems, like diabetes, heart disease, and liver toxicity. Oh, and pregnant women and children are supposed to be especially careful to avoid exposure because of potential developmental problems. Good thing it's in so many baby bottles!

Most recently BPA has been in the news because the trendy eco-conscious aluminum water bottle people, Sigg, just sheepishly admitted they were using the stuff in their liners until August of 2008. Whoops!

Photo: mcj2a

So all the careful consumers who'd switched from Nalgene's polycarbonate bottles because they had BPA's and went to Sigg's aluminum bottles instead? It seems some of them are a little steamed.

(And let's not even get into the whole drinking water safety issue. Apparently, due to lax EPA enforcement, there's some Pretty Darn Nasty Stuff out there.)

But back to BPA. It was also just in the news because a recent Harvard Study found that drinking one's water out of a hard plastic polycarbonate bottle instead of a stainless steel one does indeed appear to raise BPA amounts in the body.

And it's not just BPA we're supposed to worry about, either. There are other plasticky culprits that one hears are dangerous. Like, for example, phthalates, which are plasticizers found in a variety of products including sweet, innocent-looking toys like rubber duckies.

(But, um, excuse me scientists: Which one of you clever kids decided to coin a word starting with the letters "PHTH"? I think we should ban phthalates based on spelling alone. Otherwise, people will be spitting all over each other trying to say it properly.)

Anyway, after coming across an interesting post over at Truth 2 Being Fit about plastics, I set out to investigate whether this was something I should worry about.

Wanna know what I discovered?

Photo: dpade1337

Actually, there's good news and bad news. And then worse news and even worse news and then maybe some slightly hopeful news.

Too much to digest? Well, I'll make it easy.

Since most of us tend to pick and choose the information we pay attention to based on (1) our typical emotional style, and (2) what we already believe to be true, I'll break it down by pre-existing mindset. Just pick yours, and you can skip all the rest since you won't pay attention anyway!

1. For the action-oriented pragmatists: check out Jody's post mentioned above, or the source of her safety information over at Care 2. These posts remind you that many plastic food and beverage containers come with those little recycling numbers, which can also alert you to the Evil kind of plastics in them!

In short: the numbers 1, 2, 4 and 5 are usually a better bet than the numbers 3, 6, and 7, which could contain dangerous chemicals.

Other things you can do: switch to a water bottle made with stainless steel (not aluminum, like Sigg). I've got bottles made by Klean Kanteen and Enviroproducts. They don't have (or need) plastic liners like aluminum bottles do, and you can clean them really easily, by hand or in the dishwasher.

(Note: I'm not even getting paid or free-producted to say that!)

You might also want to choose glass or cardboard or ceramics containers over cans or hard plastic containers; avoid microwaving in plastic; avoid putting hot liquids in plastic; throw away old scratched beat-to-shit tupperware type things; and just generally try to avoid a lot of exposure to plastic or can linings on or near your food.

Also, the Environmental Working Group has some resources on avoiding BPA, like a guide to infant foods and baby bottles, and a report on BPA in canned foods. Canned milk? Not so bad. Canned meat or pasta? Not so good. (Wait a minute...canned pasta? Ewww!)

2. For Those Tired of Melodramatic Health Warnings Who Don't Give a Rat's Ass about BPA or other plastics: Lucky you, there's absolutely nothing you need to know!

3. For Those Who Think it's a Conspiracy and They're All Out to Kill Us: Want further proof of your suspicions? Check out the Newsweek articles on the dangers of BPA and the creepy way the FDA has distorted the research to avoid regulating it. And just spend some time over at the EWG and discover how almost every product in modern life, from sunscreen to shampoo to produce to cell phones, is full of toxins or radioactivity or some other scary crap that's gonna kill us one day, and the government has been not been particularly interested in trying to stop it.

4. For The Only Mildly Concerned, as well as the Lazy, or the Hopeful: So yeah, basically there's all kinds of dangerous stuff out there, and remembering to follow a few of the rules for avoiding unnecessary exposure makes sense. When you can remember. Or when there's an reasonably priced, convenient way to do it.

But there's a little bit of cause for hope! We have a new administration, and there are new people starting to head up many of our government agencies, and there seems to be a growing awareness that our federal regulators have gotten far too cuddly with those whom they are supposed to be regulating. Maybe someday they might actually do something about making sure the stuff we buy is safe!

So which of the above mindsets do I have?

Probably a little bit of all of them.

I'm mostly weary that it's always such a f@cking battle to go to the grocery store and not come home with poison, just because it's more profitable for companies if they don't have to worry whether the stuff they sell us will eventually kill us or not.

I'm just a lazy blogger, not a scientist. I'd like for people with actual qualifications to do real, unbiased research and find out what's dangerous and what isn't. And if it's not safe, perhaps it shouldn't be on the shelves!

What do you folks think about the dangers (or not) of plastics, pesticides, or other potential toxins making their way into our bodies?