5 Top Weight Loss Blockers in Perimenopause

Struggling with weight loss during perimenopause can be like trying to solve a Rubik's Cube in the dark—frustrating and often futile. But light is at hand! In this episode, I shatter the age-old myth that age is a barrier to shedding weight, and instead, I focus on the reasons why weight can increase over 40 and what you can do about it. As I dissect the hormonal rollercoaster that can throw a wrench into your metabolism, including its effects on thyroid function and insulin levels, you’ll learn why these changes are more than just a bump on the road—they are the map to understanding your body's new weight loss landscape.

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Are you a woman feeling stressed, flat and experiencing the challenges of perimenopause or menopause?

It’s time to reclaim your youthful energy, radiance and self-assurance (and your ideal weight).

I’m here to help with my proven method.

Here's how I can support you -

1. Hit your health and wellbeing goals this year, balance your hormones and lose weight with your own personalised protocol, based on your body's biochemistry. Sounds awesome right!! Book a free 30 minute Peri Weight Loss Assessment with me so we can discuss your health and wellbeing goals and also see how I might be able to support you. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Book your call here. ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

2. Follow me on Instagram and Facebook - ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠@the.perimenopause.path

3. Join the waitlist for my innovative NEW 8 week group program, In Your Skin™️, for women in perimenopause and post-menopause who want effective solutions to manage skin changes at this time of life.

Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Suzy Gardin and this is the Ageless and
Awesome podcast.
I'm an age-defying naturopathand clinical nutritionist and
I'm here to bust myths aroundwomen's health and aging so that
you can be ageless and awesomein your 40s, 50s and beyond.
The Ageless and Awesome podcastis dedicated to helping women

(00:24):
through perimenopause andmenopause with great health, a
positive mindset and outrageousconfidence.
Hit, subscribe or follow nowand let's get started.
Hello, gorgeous one, andwelcome to this week's episode
of the Ageless and Awesomepodcast.
This week I'm focusing a littlebit more on weight loss because

(00:47):
obviously I speak to people menand women every week, because I
also work with men.
I know I don't talk a lot aboutthat, because I love working
with women in perimenopause.
I love working in weight lossand often I'm either working
with couples or menindependently that clearly
aren't in perimenopause but inmidlife and wanting to lose

(01:10):
weight Even actually, I've got acouple of guys in their 20s at
the moment as well.
I want to talk a little bitmore about weight loss and
specifically the five thingsthat stop weight loss in
perimenopause.
I'm going to get straight intoit.
Let's talk about number one,and these are not in any

(01:34):
particular order, but I alwayslike to put this one in number
one whenever I talk about this,which is actually mindset,
because it's something that canimpact any of us at any time,
and myself included.
If I'm not in the right mindsetfor anything, then it's just

(01:55):
not going to happen.
There's this great old I thinkHenry Ford gets attributed to
this.
I don't know if it's actuallyhim or not, but it's whether you
think you can or you think youcan't.
You think you can't, you'reright.
I find this to be especiallytrue.
I speak to a lot of people inthe pre-screening calls about

(02:17):
their challenges I guess anymedical conditions, but
specifically challenges andtheir weight loss journey,
because many people who I'mspeaking to have been on and off
different kinds of weight lossplans all of their lives.
And when I'm asking people whattheir weight loss goal is, I

(02:38):
reckon about 70% of the timethey will either undercook it or
they will say to me I thinkit's I don't know.
Let's say 15 kilos and they saybut I'd really like to lose 25,
but I've got to be realistic.
I'm over 40, I'm inperimenopause.
It's probably not possible forme to lose that weight.

(03:00):
And again, henry Ford, whetheryou think you can or you think
you can't.
You're right and thinking thatweight firstly, that weight gain
is inevitable and that there'snothing you can do about it when
you get in your 40s or your 50s, is absolutely not true.
So if you have that thought,then you're going to make

(03:23):
choices and decisions with thatthought influencing you.
So having a mindset that isgoing to support you to make
more positive choices isimperative, particularly when
you're embarking on a weightloss journey or any kind of
health journey.
And it really doesn't matterwhat happened with your mother

(03:45):
or your sister or your friendsthat have gone through this
period of time.
You don't have to have theirstory.
Even if you have the same bodysort of shape as your female
relatives, that doesn't meanthat you are going to have that,
and if you do have it currently, it doesn't mean that that's

(04:07):
the way it has to be.
If that's not what you want,and that's why, when I'm working
with people, the very firstthing I do is request that they
complete the very first modulethat I provide in the Glow
Protocol VIP space.
I also provide it for peoplethat are just doing metabolic

(04:27):
balance on its own, and it's allabout creating an inspiring
mindset so that you are comingon this journey feeling inspired
and not feeling like, oh, I'llgive this a go, but I don't know
if it's going to work.
And you know, my friend told methat I'm wasting my time doing
this, etc.
Etc.
Etc, etc.

(04:47):
So having a really positivemindset around your, any choices
that you're making, will make ahuge difference in how
successful you are with any kindof changes that you're making
to your lifestyle.
So mindset is absolutely numberone when I'm looking at what

(05:10):
are the top five things thatstop weight loss in
perimenopause.
So have a think about that foryourself, what that might mean
to you, how you've approachedthings in the past when it comes
to making changes to yourlifestyle with a view to
reaching some health goals.
So number two of the probablythe second thing I think is

(05:32):
really important when it comesto stopping weight loss in
perimenopause is the hormonalchanges that happen.
Now you know most of us willreally think when you think
about hormonal changes inperimenopause, you're thinking
of the estrogen and progesteronechanges, but there are so many
more as well, and twospecifically are thyroid

(05:54):
hormones and also insulin, whichis another hormone, and when
the estrogen starts surging asit does in peri, it will impact
your thyroid hormones and thekind of physiology behind that.
The reason why is we havesomething in our blood called T4

(06:17):
.
T4 is the thyroid hormone, t4binding globulin, or TBG, and
estrogen, when it's elevated, isknown to increase TBG.
So this T4 binding globulinconcentration and when that
happens, that can lead to whatwe call subclinical

(06:38):
hypothyroidism and that is thekind of thyroid condition that
leads to weight gain and feelingsluggish and feeling cold and
that you know we get thesehormonal surge sorry, these
estrogen surges in perimenopausethat can cause this.
So therefore, you know you canget this blocking of weight loss

(07:03):
and a lack of motivation, awhole bunch of other things that
happen in hypothyroidismbecause of the hormonal changes
of estrogen.
The other thing is insulin.
Insulin is important.
You probably know about it fromperhaps knowing people with
diabetes.
They inject themselves withinsulin which allows the glucose

(07:25):
to go into the cells and do thejob that it does and when we
hit our 40s and 50s nowperimenopausal is that we can
become insulin resistant, thatinsulin doesn't work as well as
we need it to and that can alsolead to a sluggishness when it

(07:50):
comes to weight loss.
So we want to make sure ourinsulin and glucose are
beautifully balanced so thatthat glucose metabolism is
working well.
That gives you energy.
It also helps stop that weightaccumulation around the torso or
around the waist, which is whatcan really be problematic,

(08:12):
particularly in perimenopause.
So our hormonal changes reallymatter and that's why doing some
of the things that you used todo.
This is another common thingthat women say to me is I'm
doing all of the things I usedto do to keep my weight stable
and it's just not workinganymore.
And that's why I get reallyangry with these PTs that are

(08:34):
recommending 1200 calorie a daydiets and flogging yourself at
the gym to lose weight.
For women in perimenopause,it's not necessarily going to be
the best option for them tosupport their hormones and to
actually give weight loss.
It's going to be sustainableand it's going to make you feel
good and energized and motivatedrather than absolutely depleted

(08:56):
.
Number three, when I'm lookingat the things that stop weight
loss in perimenopause is thelack of sleep, and this happens
because our progesterone dropsaway and that can cause sleep
disruption.
And the thing is with sleepdisruption if you've listened to
the podcast for a while, youmay have heard me talk about
this before when we havedisrupted sleep.

(09:17):
It really interferes with ourblood glucose levels and, again,
our insulin levels, becausewhen we go into deep sleep, our
blood sugar is maintained at afairly low sort of level, and
this is.
It's quite a complex biologicalthing that goes on, which is
amazing.
It means that we're not wakingup because we're hungry.

(09:37):
It's keeping us asleep and it'sregulating our glucose level,
and when we have a lot of sleepdisruption, this hasn't happened
overnight and this wreaks havocwith our blood glucose
metabolism.
I think it used to be thoughtthat people put on weight, or
more likely to be overweight,when they had insomnia, and I

(09:58):
think it used to be thought thatit's because people were at the
fridge eating during the nightand then going straight back to
bed.
But we know that now thatthat's not actually the case.
It's way more complex than that.
Number four is stress Again thatthis is a progesterone issue,
also an estrogen issue, but thatdecrease in progesterone can

(10:20):
cause what we call HPA axisdestabilization.
Our HPA axis is responsible formany things, including our
stress response and ourrelaxation response, and so it
means that perhaps sometimes formany women, coping with stress
can be a little more challengingthan in their 20s and 30s.

(10:42):
And so when we're in thatstress response, our cortisol
levels which is one of ourstress hormones, as cortisol can
be increased and thatinterferes with our blood
glucose metabolism and it alsopromotes weight gain, again
around the waist Awesome.
And that can be a real problemwhen it comes to blocking weight

(11:05):
loss as well and promotingweight gain.
So stress is another big one.
The final one I'm going to talkabout today is inflammation, and
the thing is our estrogen issuch an important hormone to us
women and it has ananti-inflammatory effect.
So when we start getting thatdecrease in insulin, we can get

(11:26):
an increase in inflammation andthat can manifest as so many
things.
It can manifest as brain fog,it can manifest as joint pain,
muscle pain oh gosh, so manythings.
And that increase ininflammation also is a blocker
to weight loss.
And guess what, the more weight, more extra weight you are

(11:47):
carrying, the more chances thereare that you are inflamed.
In fact, when I was at uni, welearned that an obese body is an
inflamed body.
So when you have that increasedinflammation, it's a real
blocker to weight loss.
And that's something when I'mworking with people in their
programs in the Glow Protocoland Metabolic Balance.

(12:10):
The big thing we're working onis reducing inflammation,
balancing hormones, making surethe insulin and glucose is also
beautifully balanced, working onmindset and sleep, and all of
this together is what gives usour fantastic results.
It's not just about the food,although the food is a pretty

(12:30):
important component of it.
It's the holistic approach thatreally gets those fantastic
results.
So I'm just going to recap andmy top five things that stop
weight loss in perimenopause.
So mindset is a big one.
Hormonal changes reallyinfluence our weight and where
our fat is distributed.

(12:51):
Lack of sleep, which happenswith our reduced progesterone
and estrogen, stress are notmanaging our stress and having
increased inflammation in thebody, generally related to
decreased estrogen, but also ifyou are already carrying some
extra weight, then that willalso contribute to it.

(13:14):
So I hope this has been helpfuland that if any of these apply
to you, that you may think well,what can I do about it?
I've got lots and lots ofpodcast episodes which look at a
number of these differentthings, so just go back through
the catalogue and check them out.
Otherwise, if you're wanting tobook in for a pre-screening

(13:34):
call with me to discuss you knowwhat personalized sort of
approaches we can take more thanhappy to have a chat.
You can just click on the linkin the show notes and book in
your free chat with me.
I hope you've been having agreat day.
If you celebrate Easter, happyEaster for this weekend.

(13:56):
I'm recording this in the weekof Easter 2024 and I will be
back on Thursday for Q&A.
Have a good week.
Thanks so much for joining metoday on the Ageless and Lawson
podcast.
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(14:17):
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(14:39):
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