3 Reasons why menopause weight loss diets fail and what works instead

Join Lynda Enright, a seasoned expert with 25 years of experience helping women thrive in midlife, as she reveals why traditional diets often fail during menopause and perimenopause. 

Learn about the three main reasons why cutting calories and fad diets are counterproductive for weight loss and health in midlife. Discover practical, science-based strategies to balance your hormones, stabilize blood sugar, and boost metabolism by focusing on nutrient-dense foods and sustainable lifestyle changes. 

Hear success stories from real clients like Angela and Pamela, who transformed their health with Lynda's guidance. If you're ready to stop dieting and start feeling better, this episode of Joyful Menopause is for you!

00:00 Introduction: Why Traditional Diets Fail in Midlife

00:37 The Truth About Traditional Diets in Menopause

00:43 Welcome to Joyful Menopause

01:02 Three Reasons Traditional Diets Fail Women in Midlife

02:28 Client Story: Angela's Journey

03:13 Hormonal Changes and Dieting Challenges

04:09 The Importance of Healthy Carbs and Fats

04:44 What to Do Instead: Sustainable Approaches

08:29 Client Story: Pamela's Transformation

09:59 Conclusion: Nourish Your Body for Long-Term Health

When you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you to feel your best during perimenopause and menopause:

1. Want more science-backed health tips? Click here to sign up for my free weekly newsletter for practical advice on navigating menopause with confidence:

2. Click here to get the free guide: 5 Natural Ways To Reduce Menopause Symptoms.

2. For more information about Lynda and how she supports women on their health journey, click here to learn more.

3. Interested in seeing if nutrition coaching with Lynda is right for you? Click here to book a free discovery call with Lynda.

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
If you've been cutting calories,skipping meals, or trying every
new diet trend only to see thescale refuse to budge, you're
not alone.
Traditional diets that worked inyour 20s and 30s just don't seem
to work anymore.
And today I'm going to tell youexactly why that is, and more
importantly, what you can doinstead to support your body,
balance your hormones, and feelbetter than ever in

(00:22):
perimenopause and menopause.
I've worked with hundreds ofwomen for 25 years in midlife
who feel stuck.
They were doing everythingright, eating less, exercising
more, following the latest diet,and yet they weren't seeing
results.
But here's the truth.
Traditional diets are actuallyworking against you in
menopause.
And today I'm going to tell youwhy.
So let's get started.

(00:43):
Menopause doesn't have to feellike you are living in someone
else's body.
Your host, Linda Enright, hasspent the last 25 years helping
women to thrive in midlife.
Here you'll find science basedpractical advice that you can
start using today to get realresults for your health.
Welcome to Joyful Menopause.
I want to start today byexplaining three of the reasons

(01:05):
why traditional diets fail womenin midlife.
I wonder if for most of yourlife, you've been led to believe
that eating less and moving moreis the answer for weight loss.
And I think often women are toldit's better for your health too.
The truth is.
The eat less, move more approachcan make it harder to lose
weight in menopause because itcan slow your metabolism.

(01:27):
So often diets focus on cuttingcalories, and yes, in your
younger years that maybe worked.
I'm not saying that quantity offood doesn't matter.
Of course, eating too much canstall weight loss, but what also
can happen is that reducingcalories too much can actually
slow down your metabolism.
This is a concept that I findpeople really struggle with a

(01:49):
lot.
Common sense definitely tells usthat eat less to reduce your
calories and move more to burnmore calories would be the
solution for weight loss.
But what can happen is that yourbody senses that it's not
getting enough fuel.
So it adapts by burning fewercalories and holding onto fat,
especially around the belly.
And I find it often leaves womenfeeling exhausted because you

(02:11):
just don't have the fuel and thenutrients your body needs to
function at its absolute best.
Research shows that extremecalorie restriction can lower
your resting metabolic rate andincrease cortisol levels, your
stress hormone, which makes fatstorage even easier.
Take my client, Angela, forinstance, she came to me because
she felt like she had triedeverything to lose weight.

(02:33):
She was restricting her caloriesto about 1200 calories a day.
She'd get up, she'd have a hardworkout with cardio and strength
in the morning, and then she'dgo for an hour walk after work.
She was hungry all the time, andshe was exhausted.
But she believed that's what shehad to do in order to lose
weight.
She was working so hard, and thescale would not budge a pound.

(02:56):
When we started working togetherI encouraged her to scale back
to one exercise session a daywith a day off during the week
for rest and we increased hercalories and focused on
optimizing her nutritionchoices.
She immediately started losingweight.
She was shocked.
I wasn't.
I see this happen often.
The second reason traditionaldiets often fail for women in

(03:17):
midlife is because hormonalchanges make fad dieting a
recipe for disaster.
Menopause isn't just aboutaging, it's about shifting
hormones.
As estrogen and progesteronedecline, your body becomes more
sensitive to stress blood sugarswings, inflammation.
Your body is, again, moresensitive to these things.
So the problem, most traditionaldiets don't take these into

(03:40):
account.
Highly restrictive diets canactually make things worse by
increasing cortisol and makingblood sugar imbalances more
extreme, this can then lead tomore cravings, mood swings, and
even weight gain in the longrun.
And when we get so caught up inreduction and macros, we often
lose sight of diet quality,leading to a diet that might be

(04:03):
nutrient depleted and often canactually be pro inflammatory,
having more inflammation.
The third reason is that cuttingtoo many carbs or fats can
backfire.
Many times women in menopausethink that they need to cut out
all the carbs or all the fats tolose weight.
But here's the thing.
Your body needs healthy carbsfor hormone production, and it

(04:24):
needs healthy fats for brainfunction, metabolism, and even
mood stability.
The key is choosing the rightkinds of carbs and fats, ones
that fuel your body, not spikeyour blood sugar or contribute
to inflammation.
Today, we're talking about whytraditional diets don't work for
women during perimenopause andmenopause.
And now let's talk about what todo instead, how to have a

(04:47):
sustainable approach for hormonebalance to reach your health
goals.
The first thing that's importantis to balance your blood sugar
levels.
Instead of restricting caloriesor cutting entire food groups
out, focus on stabilizing bloodsugar.
This means eating a combinationof protein, fiber, and a healthy
fat at every meal.
This can help keep insulinlevels steady, reduce cravings,

(05:09):
and support a healthymetabolism.
So a meal might look like eggs,avocado, and berries, maybe for
breakfast.
For lunch, you could have asalad with lots of vegetables,
with chicken, or maybe cannedsalmon with olive oil and
vinegar for dressing.
A good rule of thumb is to buildyour plate with at least 20 to
30 grams of protein, somehealthy fats like olive oil or
nuts, and fiber from vegetablesor whole grains.

(05:32):
The second thing you can do isto eat in a way that supports
your hormones.
Your body needs the rightbuilding blocks for hormone
production.
That means more omega 3 fatsfrom salmon, tuna, flax seeds,
or chia seeds.
It means magnesium rich foodslike leafy greens, nuts, seeds,
and edamame soybeans.

(05:52):
And fiber from vegetables andfruits so it can help your body
to naturally detoxify excessestrogen.
Number three, stop starvingyourself.
Fuel your body consistently.
Skipping meals or drasticallycutting portions leads to energy
crashes, mood swings, and aslower metabolism.

(06:13):
Instead, aim to eat balancedmeals throughout the day.
Some women do better when theyeat three meals a day.
Others adding a snack or maybeeven two can be helpful to keep
energy levels stable and yourbody nourished.
And even intermittent fastingcan work for some people and
still remain balanced.
You can check out my otherpodcast on intermittent fasting
to learn more about that.

(06:34):
The point is, there is not a onesize fits all for the timing of
eating.
You should listen to your bodyand see what feels good for you,
but severely restricting andundernourishing is not the
answer.
And the fourth important thingyou can do to have a sustainable
approach to balancing yourhormones and reaching your
health goals is to focus onnutrient density, not just

(06:57):
calories.
Not all calories are createdequal, so think about a
processed, maybe 200 caloriesnack bar.
Will not fuel your body the sameway that 200 calories of
avocados, nuts, and proteinwill.
Eating nutrient dense foodsgives your body the vitamins and
minerals it needs to supportmetabolism, reduce inflammation,

(07:18):
and keep you feeling full andenergized.
So what does that mean?
It means focusing on wholefoods.
When shopping, stay on the outerring of the store.
Skip the middle part as much aspossible where foods are more
processed.
Read ingredient labels andchoose foods that you can
understand what the ingredientsare and there are few of them.
If you can't read it, maybe youshouldn't eat it.

(07:40):
One of the biggest shifts Iteach my clients is to stop
focusing on perfection and startfocusing on progress.
Small, sustainable changesabsolutely will add up.
Traditional diets often failbecause they're built on
extremes.
The real secret to lastinghealth in menopause is to find
what works for your body andmake gradual changes that you

(08:03):
can actually stick with.
So if you've been strugglingwith weight gain, energy
crashes, or just feeling likeyour body is working against
you, know this.
It is not your fault, and youdon't have to keep doing what
isn't working.
Instead of chasing another diet,Start fueling your body in a way
that supports your hormones.
Eat to balance blood sugar,focus on whole, nutrient dense

(08:25):
foods, and make changes you cansustain for the long term.
Before I end today, I want toshare Pamela's story with you.
Pamela came to me struggling tolose weight, but more than that,
she felt exhausted all the timeand was dealing with
constipation.
As a nurse with long shifts andan unpredictable schedule, she
often relied on conveniencefoods or skipped meals entirely.

(08:47):
She thought it wasn't that badwhen she skipped meals because
at least she'd eat less andmaybe that would help her lose
weight.
But the lack of nutrients in theprocessed foods plus skipping
meals were stressors on herbody, potentially slowing her
metabolism and absolutelycreating inflammation.
So I worked with Pamela tocreate a plan for batch cooking
and prepping meals in advance Soshe had nourishing options ready

(09:10):
to go.
We also found simple homemadesnacks she could bring with her
like trail mix to keep herenergy up when she wasn't able
to take a full meal break.
We focused on getting enoughprotein, again that 20 to 30
grams per meal, and nutrientdense meals rather than
processed foods.
And also, with nutrient testing,we found what vitamins and

(09:30):
minerals she personally wasdepleted in, so we could focus
on maximizing her nutrition tomeet those needs.
She didn't find it difficult.
It just took a bit more planningthan what she was doing already.
The first thing she noticed washer energy was increasing.
She came home from work withoutcrashing, and within a couple of
months, she lost 10 pounds.
Not because she was countingcalories, but because she was

(09:52):
nourishing her body in a waythat worked for her.
Her digestion improved also,which felt really great.
Thank you for joining me ontoday's episode of Joyful
Menopause.
If you're ready to stop dietingand start feeling better, I'd
love to help.
Click the link in thedescription below.
I'd be happy to set up a time tochat and find out what's going
on with you and your health.

(10:13):
Until next time, take care ofyourself and be well.