BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb low carb and menopause

I lost 70 pounds eating low carb and had no problem maintaining for almost 2 years. At Christmas I indulged and gained 5 pounds but wasnt concerned. I just got back on track but I am now up by 10 pounds and am starting to worry. I am 51 and my periods are becoming irregular so I am sure I am perimenopausel. Could this be effecting my weight? I am tempted to buy a book called The Menopause Diet but from what Ive read, it is low carb. Help!

Definitely all the hormone changes women go through at menopause will affect their weight. It could easily mean that your "daily carb level" is changing - that before you could eat 80g/day and not gain weight, but now you would have to eat 70g/day and not gain weight.

Also, people just naturally change activity levels over time. Let's say you just got SLIGHTLY more sedentary over the past year. So instead of burning 1800 calories a day, now you're only burning 1600 calories. You might not notice after a few weeks, but over the months they would slowly cause your fat levels to rise.

I'd go ask the menopause editor, she has an entire site dedicated to that. But really, your body weight comes down to what you eat, and what you burn off. If you are eating a mix right now that is more than you can burn off, then you either have to start being more active - or you have to re-balance your food so that it is less carby.