July 14, 2025 • 30 mins
Have you noticed your body changing despite doing all the things?? That stubborn weight gain during perimenopause isn't your fault—and it's not about willpower or discipline.
Your body is responding to profound hormonal shifts that make traditional weight loss approaches ineffective. When oestrogen fluctuates and progesterone declines, your metabolism fundamentally changes. What few women realise is that fat tissue isn't just stored energy—it's an active endocrine organ producing hormones that further complicate the picture.
The science explains why the old "calories in, calories out" model falls short during this life stage. Stress, sleep disruption, and changing insulin sensitivity create the perfect storm for weight gain, particularly around your belly. Traditional diets often worsen the problem by increasing stress hormones and disrupting the delicate hormonal balance your body is trying to achieve.
The good news? There are evidence-based strategies that work with your changing physiology rather than against it. I share five game-changing approaches that have helped hundreds of my clients: eating to balance blood sugar (turning you into a fat-burning machine without counting calories), supporting your liver function, prioritising sleep quality, incorporating appropriate movement, and following personalised nutrition tailored to your unique biochemistry.
These strategies aren't quick fixes—they're sustainable solutions that address the root causes of perimenopausal weight gain. They'll help you feel at home in your body again, wearing the clothes you want without restriction or frustration.
Are you a woman feeling stressed, flat and experiencing the challenges of perimenopause?
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
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hi, I'm Susie Garden 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.
I'm your host, susie Garden.
I'm a perimenopause naturopathand weight loss nutritionist and
(00:48):
also your host.
If you're a woman in your late30s to early 50s who feels like
her body is suddenly workingagainst her, this episode is for
you Today.
I haven't done an episode onweight gain for a while, so I
thought today let's tackle oneof the most frustrating symptoms
(01:09):
of perimenopause.
It's probably the most frequentreason that women reach out to
me booking for their peri-weightloss assessments and sign up to
the GLOW protocol.
Often women have symptoms aswell of perimenopause, but it's
generally the weight gain thatis going to drive the motivation
(01:30):
, I guess, to actually makechange.
So here's the truth bomb I wantto drop right out of the gate.
Weight gain in peri is not yourfault, You're not lazy, you're
not undisciplined and, no, youhaven't just let yourself go.
In fact, the changes that yousee in your body in that time of
(01:54):
life are happening for veryreal biological reasons and it's
time that we talk about themand stop the blame game.
So let's dive in.
Let's talk about the myth ofwillpower and calories in,
calories out.
If you've been listening tothis podcast for a while, you
(02:16):
know I have a real bee in mybonnet about the old calories in
, calories out myth.
For decades we have been taughtthat weight loss is as simple
as eating less and moving more.
And look, that can work to adegree, particularly if you're
in your 20s.
But if you're in perimenopause,you've probably already
(02:36):
discovered that the old rulesdon't work anymore.
And this is the most commonthing that women say to me is
that I'm doing all of the thingsthat I normally do to control
my weight and it's just notshifting and in fact, I'm
putting more weight on.
You may be eating the same asyou've always done.
You may even have improved yourdiet and be eating more
(02:57):
healthily.
You might be walking, doingPilates, going to the gym,
riding a bike, doing some HIIT,and yet the belly fat is
creeping on.
The scale may not be budging,except in the wrong direction
for you and your clothes mightfeel tight, your muscles might
(03:17):
be absolutely disappearing, butessentially what you think is no
reason.
But you know what?
This isn't a matter ofwillpower, this is a matter of
physiology.
So let's look at what's actuallyhappening and changing inside
your body during this time oflife.
So there are hormonal shiftsthat sabotage weight loss and
(03:40):
actually promote weight gain,and in peri, your hormone levels
begin to fluctuate, and not insubtle ways, if you're in it,
you know what I mean.
So estrogen becomes a bitunpredictable.
You get these surges and thenthese lows and these surges, et
cetera.
Progesterone tends to justbottom out fairly quickly and
(04:01):
testosterone also starts todecline bottom out fairly
quickly and testosterone alsostarts to decline.
And cortisol, your primarystress hormone, is often ramping
up, because it's just generallya fairly stressful time of life
and just generally life ingeneral these days seems to be
just a little bit more stressfulthan it was sort of five, six
years ago, and that will keepyour cortisol up a little if
(04:24):
you're feeling like you're inthat stress kind of response.
And so how does that affectyour weight?
So, firstly, let's talk aboutestrogen and estrogen
variability.
So when estrogen dips, you tendto be more likely to store fat,
and especially around the belly.
And remember that not that longago we thought that fat tissue
(04:49):
was simply stored excess energywhen our energy intake from food
was more than our energyexpenditure.
Right, I'm sure you probablywere told that in biology at
school.
I remember being taught that.
I remember being taught thatfor decades in different kind of
my different healthcare careeriterations, it was always that
(05:11):
fat tissue is stored energy andit is.
But we also know that in fact,fat tissue is an active
endocrine organ.
So it's endocrine organs tendto secrete hormones.
So, like your thyroid gland isan endocrine organ, your
pancreas is an endocrine organ.
So we have multiple organs inour body that are under that
(05:33):
classification of being anendocrine organ.
So these organs secretehormones that influence the
function of other tissues andother systems, and that is what
fat tissue does it becomes anactive endocrine organ.
It's actually really complex.
I'm not going to get reallydeep into what that is all about
(05:53):
, but just specific to theconversation we're having today
is that fat cells can actually,when they're in this form of
being in excess, particularly inacting as an active endocrine
organ, fat cells can produceestrogen, and it is in small
amounts, but still it is there.
(06:13):
And there's a theory that thisis your body's way of trying to
preserve estrogen.
That is a theory there's.
Also, we store some estrogen inour fat tissue as well.
Also, you know, we store someestrogen in our fat tissue as
well.
So, yeah, that is potentiallysomething that's happening when
our estrogen is dipping.
Also, progesterone that lowerprogesterone and progesterone,
(06:36):
remember, is your calminghormone, amongst other things,
and as it declines, sleep can bedisrupted, and that's a huge,
huge symptom in many, many women.
And also anxiety can rise andthere's a link between lack of
sleep and obesity, which is,they think, linked to blood
(06:57):
sugar regulation.
So we used to think that thelack of sleep drove obesity
because you're eating morecalories over more hours of the
day.
So there was an assumption thatif you were awake at night and
you were carrying excess weight,that it was probably because
you were raiding the fridge atthree o'clock in the morning.
But we know now that there'sactually way more to it than
(07:21):
that.
There is this link between lackof sleep and obesity and it's
actually linked more to bloodsugar that there is this link
between lack of sleep andobesity and it's actually linked
more to blood sugar regulation.
It's not involved with eatingat all, but when we're asleep we
have a very tight kind of bloodsugar regulation going on,
because obviously when we'resleeping we're not expending a
lot of energy, so we want tokeep the blood sugar a little
(07:43):
bit lower, so that really helpswith improving our blood sugar
balance, if you like.
Again, I don't want to go toomuch into the detail of that.
I don't think anyone reallywants to get into that boring
biochemistry.
And plus, you know, when you'rein an anxious state, for many
people there's a comfort eatingkind of situation that goes on.
(08:06):
So you might be having morecarbs, more refined sugars,
because, let's face it, ifyou're comfort eating, you're
generally not eating a bowl ofkale.
And also, if you're in like ananxious kind of state, your
cortisol can increase and thatwill impact your blood sugar and
drive some of these cravings.
So and you're having more ofthose sorts of foods that can
impact your blood sugar anddrive some of these cravings, so
and you're having more of thosesorts of foods that can
(08:28):
increase your blood sugar, thatwill raise your insulin and that
will promote fat storage.
Elevated cholesterol is anotherone.
So obviously, as I mentionedbefore, being in kind of late
thirties, forties, fifties canbe quite a stressful time, even
just from, you know, having astressful job.
(08:48):
Also, maybe, if you're you'vegot kids that are teenagers, if
you've got, um, aging parentsand, let's face it, life
generally is quite stressful andyou know this, both from a
physical sense of physicalstress and emotional stress.
If you're constantly in thisfight or flight mode, your
cortisol is going to remain sortof higher level and signaling
(09:13):
your body to hold onto fat.
So, yeah, that's a problem.
And a fourth way that yourhormones are influencing your
weight and particularlypromoting weight gain, is a the
reduction of sensitivity toinsulin.
So insulin is a hormone you'veprobably heard about it more in
(09:35):
the context of diabetes, but ithas a number of different roles
and including fat storage andthese hormonal shifts and we
know this from research is thatyou, your body, becomes less
responsive to insulin and thatmeans that your body will
produce more insulin to try andget it to work.
(09:58):
And again, insulin is a fatstorage hormone.
So if there's more insulin inthe blood, you're going to store
more fat, you're also going toget blood sugar swings.
If the insulin is working well,it will push the blood sugar
from the blood into the cellswhere the body actually uses it.
So that's one of the roles ofinsulin is to do that.
(10:20):
And if the sugar is stillhanging around in the blood or
if you start overproducinginsulin because it's not working
that well, I know for mepersonally, like I'm very
sensitive to sugar and if I havea sugary meal, I will feel
pretty good at the time and thenprobably half an hour to an
hour later, I feel like rubbishand that is the insulin sugar
(10:43):
crash.
So that means then you kind ofget driven to want to eat
something again to feel better.
So yeah, these blood sugarswings, increased fat storage
and more cravings becomes thisvicious cycle.
So no, these blood sugar swings, increased fat storage and more
cravings becomes this viciouscycle.
So no, you're not broken.
Your hormones are shiftinggears and your metabolism is
(11:03):
adjusting in response to this,and all of this is promoting
your weight gain.
If you're having that, yourweight gain, if you're having
that.
So why do traditional kind ofdiets in inverted commas stop
working?
Because you know you've donethis before.
You've managed your weightquite well, potentially.
(11:23):
Or you've may have been a yo-yodieter and you've put on weight
, but then you've been able torelease it using whatever it is
that you normally do, but thenthat just stops working.
And so let's look at some ofthe different kind of or the
typical, I should say weightloss advice that women are given
.
So obviously, the calories incalories out model.
(11:46):
We know that calorierestrictive diets increase
stress, which spikes cortisol.
We've just talked about whatthat does.
It's counterproductive to fatloss, but it can also slow your
metabolism.
If you're restricting caloriestoo much, as the body might
think that, you know we're goinginto a famine because, remember
, our nervous system is wiredfor survival and it's still
pretty primitive and it doesn'tknow that we can go to the
(12:09):
supermarket whenever we want, wecan get food whenever we want.
So if you're restrictingcalories particularly, I know
for myself when I was in my 40s,a PT recommended I did 1200
calories a day, which is justnuts.
I was starving and yeah, it cantrick your body into thinking
(12:30):
we're going into a famine andthat can slow your metabolism
down.
So that's potentially one ofthe reasons that that's
happening.
It also because often whenpeople are doing calorie
counting, that is not.
It depends who you're workingwith to do that, but many women
do that on their own and so it'snot necessarily coaching you
around the kinds of foods thatare going to be best for you.
(12:51):
And because you know if youwant to have 1200 calories and I
remember doing this myself if Iwanted to have a glass of wine
okay, glass of wine, 150calories I need to take account
of that into my day.
And so sometimes the quality ofthe food gets reduced because
you're wanting to fit in stillyour fun foods.
(13:13):
So that's why I don't lovecalorie counting.
I mean, there's a number ofreasons, but one of the main
ones is it doesn't promote goodfood choices.
Another really popular one isintermittent fasting.
And look, it can backfire,particularly if your adrenals
are already overworked.
So if you're already in apretty stressful kind of place,
(13:33):
you need to be fed in themorning, you need to have
complex carbs in the morning,and if you're doing fasting that
doesn't, you know you're notactually eating anything until
midday or 11, then you're kindof missing out on an opportunity
to nourish yourself.
And again, the quality of thefood.
That quality really matters.
And often people doingintermittent fasting aren't
(13:55):
necessarily focusing on foodquality, very similar to
counting calories, and somepeople do both.
They do calorie counting andintermittent fasting and, again,
not necessarily focusing onfood quality.
It's more just about eating.
And some people and I know Idon't know if that's still how
(14:16):
intermittent fasting ispositioned, but I know when it
first got really popular whichis probably I remember having
these discussions with peopledefinitely in 2019.
So maybe even 2018, maybebefore that um, a lot of people
they just could eat.
Basically, the mindset was Ican eat whatever I like, as long
as I'm only eating in aneight-hour meal window.
(14:38):
And I'm not sure if that's howthat's still positioned because,
honestly, I just have nothingto do with it.
But, yeah, your food qualityreally does matter.
The other thing with if you'redoing a diet, such a low-fat
diet which again, that's beenreally popular since about the
80s when the low fat movementstarted and again I could really
(15:00):
maybe I should do a wholepodcast episode on that but if
you're constantly on a low fatdiet, we actually need fat to
function.
I'm have at the moment, I'mhaving a skin cancer taken off
my head, my scalp, on Wednesday,and so I've had to stop all my
fish oil and my flaxseed oil,and I can feel it in my body.
(15:22):
I went for a bike rideyesterday.
My hands are so sore, whichthey normally are not, so I can
tell already that that thosehealthy fats and depriving
myself of that, because thereason I'm doing that is be it's
just, you know, a PSA, if youare on those products, that if
you are having any kind ofsurgical kind of procedure, then
(15:44):
, uh, you need to stop takingthose seven to 10 days prior to
that procedure, because they dopromote, um, bleeding.
As part of how they work in apositive way in the body is they
are blood thinners.
So you do need to be mindful ofthat and stopping that at least
seven to 10 days before yourprocedure.
So that's the place I'm in atthe moment.
(16:05):
But also low-fat diets candeprive you of the cholesterol,
because your body usescholesterol to make hormones
right.
So if you're not having enoughfat in your diet, then that can
impact your hormone productionand the lack of fat in your diet
also reduces your satiety.
So when you have good, healthyfats, you will feel fuller for
(16:28):
longer.
So please do not buy into thelow fat food phenomenon and it's
still a huge part of thepackaged food industry is
promoting products as being lowfat.
Have the full fat people.
It will make you feel full forlonger.
It's a less processed productand you're not getting any of
(16:51):
those artificial sweeteners intoyour body which are not
necessarily fantastic for us.
So, yeah, eat the full fat,enjoy it.
So the thing is, instead ofanother round of a different
type of diet again in invertedcommas what your body actually
needs, especially inperimenopause and postmenopause,
is nourishment, nourishment.
Postmenopause is nourishment,nourishment, regulation.
(17:14):
So blood glucose regulation,hormonal regulation and also
support.
And this is where personalizednutrition can come in.
This is not about being on adiet.
It is a personalized nutritionstrategy, lifestyle based on
your unique blood biochemistry,your metabolic needs, your body
(17:47):
shape, your medical conditions.
You know an actual plan forlife.
It's what I use in the GLOWprotocol, so you know exactly
what to eat, you know what theright portion size is for you,
you get the right macro balance,so you don't need to work all
of that out, and there's nohunger, because if you do feel
hungry, I just increase yourportion sizes to make sure that
you are nourished and that yourblood sugar is regulated.
(18:08):
So personalized nutrition is, Ifind, a game changer, for women
particularly.
Actually, it doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter how muchweight you want to lose, whether
it's the last few kilos orwhether you have 40, 50 kilos or
more to lose.
This is where personalizednutrition can be an absolute
game changer.
(18:29):
So here are some of thestrategies I use with my clients
in the GLOW protocol to helpthem lose weight during
perimenopause and postmenopausewithout deprivation or burnout.
So you're eating to balanceblood sugar.
Okay.
So that means you're startingthe day with protein and carbs
(18:53):
and healthy fats, allbeautifully balanced for your
particular biochemistry, Alsospacing your meals out and just
really ditching thatrollercoaster of highs and
crashes.
So eating to balance bloodsugar turns you into a fat
burning machine and it's gotnothing to do with calories,
(19:16):
nothing at all.
So that, I think, is key whenyou're thinking about what can I
do?
Eat to balance blood sugar andonce you have your blood sugar
beautifully balanced, you're notgoing to crave sugary treats.
And if you have a sugary treat,you are really going to feel it
and it's not going to feel good.
(19:36):
Number two liver support.
Your liver metabolizes hormonesand toxins and if it's
overwhelmed, your hormones won'tbe functioning properly, and so
you need to make sure you'vegot key nutrients in your diet,
and it's not about supplements.
This is about having keynutrients in your diet, like
(19:56):
leafy greens, cruciferousveggies adequate hydration
that's super important.
Most people are not drinkingenough water, like it's that
simple.
Most people are not drinkingenough water, and if you have
worked with me or you'velistened to this podcast for a
while, you will know that what Iuse for in a weight loss
(20:18):
context is 35 mils of water perkilo of body weight per day.
That is your individualizedwater goal, all right, and if
you're working on weight loss,then that is water intake.
If you're just more for generalhealth, it's often taken back
down to like 32 mils of waterper kilo of body weight, and
(20:41):
that can include water that's inor fluid that's in like a
smoothie or in a soup or thatkind of thing.
Number three that I really workon with my clients is sleep.
Sleep is sacred.
One night of poor sleepincreases your hunger hormones.
We haven't even dived intohunger hormones like leptin and
(21:03):
ghrelin.
One night of poor sleep alsodecreases insulin sensitivity,
really messes with your bloodsugar, and remember, blood sugar
control equals fat burningmachine.
So things like creating a sleeproutine really helpful.
That doesn't need to beanything complicated at all.
(21:25):
Managing screen time makes ahuge difference Making sure that
you know, once you've haddinner, all of the overhead
lights go off and you only havelovely soft lamp light so that
it helps with your melatoninproduction.
Making sure you're not eatingsugar later at night when I say
later at night, I mean after,about you know, seven o'clock.
And of course, if you're goingout and you're having dessert,
(21:47):
that's a different scenario.
I'm talking about just in yourregular life.
In your regular life, of courseyou can still have treats, but
in your regular life and I'vebeen guilty of this of having a
little after dinner kind ofchocolate habit about you know,
45 minutes after having dinnerhaving a little bit of chocolate
.
If you're trying to lose weight, that is not a good idea.
(22:08):
If you're having sleep issues,that is not a good idea because
it really does that blood sugaragain rise and crash will impact
your sleep Also.
Alcohol is another one that ifyou're having even just a couple
of one or two glasses of wine,that can impact your sleep.
(22:29):
Also, when we're looking atweight loss gentle movement Also
when we're looking at weightloss gentle movement.
So if you want to do HIIT, youcan.
Again, the way I assess thatwith people is you know what is
your general cortisol lookinglike and you don't necessarily
have to test it unless there's aI don't test it unless there's
a clinical reason.
There are certain signs andsymptoms that I look at which
(22:50):
tell me whether or not yourcortisol might be dysregulated,
that I look at, which tell mewhether or not your cortisol
might be dysregulated.
So if you're if and if yourcortisol is dysregulated, then
HIIT is not really recommended,because we want to try and keep
your cortisol down, not bring itup by doing HIIT, which is high
intensity interval training, um, so movements such as a brisk
walk where you can only justhold a conversation, that is fat
(23:13):
burning zone.
Yoga is nice.
In terms of doing that.
For weight loss I wouldn't sayit's great, but it's great for
stress management, which isgreat for weight loss.
Resistance training is awesome.
It really supports yourmetabolism because it helps you
to build muscle and that musclewill burn more energy at rest.
It's also super important ifyou're in peri, cause your
(23:36):
muscles are going to be startingto really I don't like to use
the word deteriorate, but that'show I felt when it was starting
to happen to me before I wasputting all of the measures in
place that I've done.
But yeah, it is.
It is quite the battle to keepyour muscle mass when you hit
your 40s and certainly 50s, soreally having a good
(24:00):
concentration of effort on thatpays off dramatically.
Reformer Pilates, I find, isreally good, particularly for
bringing your waist measurementdown because of all of the core
work that you do.
So all of these types ofexercises and movement dancing
is a great one.
Actually dancing I love becausemany people love doing it.
(24:22):
So it's way easier to domovement when you love it than
it is if you're just draggingyourself to the gym.
And the thing is when you'restarting to see results.
It is so much more motivating.
And also, again, when you havea different type of goal.
When you're younger you oftenare working out to look good,
whereas when you've got in yourmind well, I need to keep my
(24:43):
bones strong, I need to keep mymuscle mass, I need to make sure
that I'm actually going to beable to enjoy the activities I
love when I get older and arenot sort of getting frail Like
if you look at your parents andsee the state of their physical
bodies, then that canpotentially give you a good
(25:07):
indication of what your futuremight look like if you have a
similar lifestyle to what theyhave had.
Yeah, and obviously the otherthing I use when I'm working
with weight loss in women ispersonalized nutrition.
So, as I think I mentionedbefore, the GLOW protocol uses
your blood data to determine,plus a few other measures to
(25:31):
determine, the exact foods thatare going to bring your
metabolism back into balance.
It is food as medicine, which Ilove, not just relying on
supplements.
It's food as medicine, so it'svery sustainable long-term
because we do have to eat andthere is structure there for you
and there is strategy there foryou as an individual.
(25:53):
So they are the top five thingsI'm just going to recap.
So eat to balance blood sugarsuper important to get into fat
burning zone, supporting yourliver and you can do that with
leafy greens, cruciferous veg Ifyou're not sure what I'm
talking about, just Google itand drinking enough water.
Sleep is sacred.
Manage and guard your sleep,like your life depends on it,
(26:16):
because it is so important formany reasons other than what
I've even discussed today.
Movement that suits your bodyand where you're at in your life
, and personalized nutrition isthe ideal.
So if you feel like your bodyis betraying you, please know
it's not.
(26:37):
Your body is simply adapting toa new phase and it needs
different tools, and the goodnews is those tools do exist.
I created the perimenopause path, still building it, still
working out where it's going togo.
I definitely am very sure ofwhere the GLOW protocol is going
(26:57):
, and I created these to empowerwomen just like you with
information and strategies thatactually work.
So if this episode resonatedwith you, I invite you to book a
free peri-weight lossassessment with me.
We'll look at what's going onwith you.
We'll map out a clear pathforward.
I'll tell you a little bitabout the GLOW protocol and how
(27:19):
you can work with me if you wantto.
I never ask you to sign up onthat call.
I want you to make sure that I'mthe right fit for you and I
absolutely want to make surethat you're the right fit for
the program and to work with me.
You really deserve to feel athome in your body again.
You really deserve to wear theclothes you want to wear.
I've had so many women say tome more recently.
(27:41):
You know my clothes aren'tfitting and I don't want to buy
new clothes because I don't wantto go up a size.
Well, there's only one solutionto that, and that is actually
to take action.
So thanks for listening today.
I've loved having you.
Don't forget to subscribe, sothis podcast just goes straight
into your device every week.
Share this episode with afriend who needs to hear it.
(28:04):
And, yeah, come over and jointhe conversation on Instagram at
the perimenopause path.
Thanks so much for joining meon the Ageless and Awesome
podcast.
If you liked this episode,please make sure you click the
little plus button if you're onApple Podcasts, or the follow
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(28:26):
delivered to you every singleweek.
If you feel like writing me afive-star review, you would
absolutely make my day.
If you found this episoderesonated with you, head over to
my Instagram and DM me attheperimenopausepar.
I would love to connect withyou.
Hi, I'm Susie Garden 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.
I'm your host, susie Garden.
I'm a perimenopause naturopathand weight loss nutritionist and
(00:48):
also your host.
If you're a woman in your late30s to early 50s who feels like
her body is suddenly workingagainst her, this episode is for
you Today.
I haven't done an episode onweight gain for a while, so I
thought today let's tackle oneof the most frustrating symptoms
(01:09):
of perimenopause.
It's probably the most frequentreason that women reach out to
me booking for their peri-weightloss assessments and sign up to
the GLOW protocol.
Often women have symptoms aswell of perimenopause, but it's
generally the weight gain thatis going to drive the motivation
(01:30):
, I guess, to actually makechange.
So here's the truth bomb I wantto drop right out of the gate.
Weight gain in peri is not yourfault, You're not lazy, you're
not undisciplined and, no, youhaven't just let yourself go.
In fact, the changes that yousee in your body in that time of
(01:54):
life are happening for veryreal biological reasons and it's
time that we talk about themand stop the blame game.
So let's dive in.
Let's talk about the myth ofwillpower and calories in,
calories out.
If you've been listening tothis podcast for a while, you
(02:16):
know I have a real bee in mybonnet about the old calories in
, calories out myth.
For decades we have been taughtthat weight loss is as simple
as eating less and moving more.
And look, that can work to adegree, particularly if you're
in your 20s.
But if you're in perimenopause,you've probably already
(02:36):
discovered that the old rulesdon't work anymore.
And this is the most commonthing that women say to me is
that I'm doing all of the thingsthat I normally do to control
my weight and it's just notshifting and in fact, I'm
putting more weight on.
You may be eating the same asyou've always done.
You may even have improved yourdiet and be eating more
(02:57):
healthily.
You might be walking, doingPilates, going to the gym,
riding a bike, doing some HIIT,and yet the belly fat is
creeping on.
The scale may not be budging,except in the wrong direction
for you and your clothes mightfeel tight, your muscles might
(03:17):
be absolutely disappearing, butessentially what you think is no
reason.
But you know what?
This isn't a matter ofwillpower, this is a matter of
physiology.
So let's look at what's actuallyhappening and changing inside
your body during this time oflife.
So there are hormonal shiftsthat sabotage weight loss and
(03:40):
actually promote weight gain,and in peri, your hormone levels
begin to fluctuate, and not insubtle ways, if you're in it,
you know what I mean.
So estrogen becomes a bitunpredictable.
You get these surges and thenthese lows and these surges, et
cetera.
Progesterone tends to justbottom out fairly quickly and
(04:01):
testosterone also starts todecline bottom out fairly
quickly and testosterone alsostarts to decline.
And cortisol, your primarystress hormone, is often ramping
up, because it's just generallya fairly stressful time of life
and just generally life ingeneral these days seems to be
just a little bit more stressfulthan it was sort of five, six
years ago, and that will keepyour cortisol up a little if
(04:24):
you're feeling like you're inthat stress kind of response.
And so how does that affectyour weight?
So, firstly, let's talk aboutestrogen and estrogen
variability.
So when estrogen dips, you tendto be more likely to store fat,
and especially around the belly.
And remember that not that longago we thought that fat tissue
(04:49):
was simply stored excess energywhen our energy intake from food
was more than our energyexpenditure.
Right, I'm sure you probablywere told that in biology at
school.
I remember being taught that.
I remember being taught thatfor decades in different kind of
my different healthcare careeriterations, it was always that
(05:11):
fat tissue is stored energy andit is.
But we also know that in fact,fat tissue is an active
endocrine organ.
So it's endocrine organs tendto secrete hormones.
So, like your thyroid gland isan endocrine organ, your
pancreas is an endocrine organ.
So we have multiple organs inour body that are under that
(05:33):
classification of being anendocrine organ.
So these organs secretehormones that influence the
function of other tissues andother systems, and that is what
fat tissue does it becomes anactive endocrine organ.
It's actually really complex.
I'm not going to get reallydeep into what that is all about
(05:53):
, but just specific to theconversation we're having today
is that fat cells can actually,when they're in this form of
being in excess, particularly inacting as an active endocrine
organ, fat cells can produceestrogen, and it is in small
amounts, but still it is there.
(06:13):
And there's a theory that thisis your body's way of trying to
preserve estrogen.
That is a theory there's.
Also, we store some estrogen inour fat tissue as well.
Also, you know, we store someestrogen in our fat tissue as
well.
So, yeah, that is potentiallysomething that's happening when
our estrogen is dipping.
Also, progesterone that lowerprogesterone and progesterone,
(06:36):
remember, is your calminghormone, amongst other things,
and as it declines, sleep can bedisrupted, and that's a huge,
huge symptom in many, many women.
And also anxiety can rise andthere's a link between lack of
sleep and obesity, which is,they think, linked to blood
(06:57):
sugar regulation.
So we used to think that thelack of sleep drove obesity
because you're eating morecalories over more hours of the
day.
So there was an assumption thatif you were awake at night and
you were carrying excess weight,that it was probably because
you were raiding the fridge atthree o'clock in the morning.
But we know now that there'sactually way more to it than
(07:21):
that.
There is this link between lackof sleep and obesity and it's
actually linked more to bloodsugar that there is this link
between lack of sleep andobesity and it's actually linked
more to blood sugar regulation.
It's not involved with eatingat all, but when we're asleep we
have a very tight kind of bloodsugar regulation going on,
because obviously when we'resleeping we're not expending a
lot of energy, so we want tokeep the blood sugar a little
(07:43):
bit lower, so that really helpswith improving our blood sugar
balance, if you like.
Again, I don't want to go toomuch into the detail of that.
I don't think anyone reallywants to get into that boring
biochemistry.
And plus, you know, when you'rein an anxious state, for many
people there's a comfort eatingkind of situation that goes on.
(08:06):
So you might be having morecarbs, more refined sugars,
because, let's face it, ifyou're comfort eating, you're
generally not eating a bowl ofkale.
And also, if you're in like ananxious kind of state, your
cortisol can increase and thatwill impact your blood sugar and
drive some of these cravings.
So and you're having more ofthose sorts of foods that can
impact your blood sugar anddrive some of these cravings, so
and you're having more of thosesorts of foods that can
(08:28):
increase your blood sugar, thatwill raise your insulin and that
will promote fat storage.
Elevated cholesterol is anotherone.
So obviously, as I mentionedbefore, being in kind of late
thirties, forties, fifties canbe quite a stressful time, even
just from, you know, having astressful job.
(08:48):
Also, maybe, if you're you'vegot kids that are teenagers, if
you've got, um, aging parentsand, let's face it, life
generally is quite stressful andyou know this, both from a
physical sense of physicalstress and emotional stress.
If you're constantly in thisfight or flight mode, your
cortisol is going to remain sortof higher level and signaling
(09:13):
your body to hold onto fat.
So, yeah, that's a problem.
And a fourth way that yourhormones are influencing your
weight and particularlypromoting weight gain, is a the
reduction of sensitivity toinsulin.
So insulin is a hormone you'veprobably heard about it more in
(09:35):
the context of diabetes, but ithas a number of different roles
and including fat storage andthese hormonal shifts and we
know this from research is thatyou, your body, becomes less
responsive to insulin and thatmeans that your body will
produce more insulin to try andget it to work.
(09:58):
And again, insulin is a fatstorage hormone.
So if there's more insulin inthe blood, you're going to store
more fat, you're also going toget blood sugar swings.
If the insulin is working well,it will push the blood sugar
from the blood into the cellswhere the body actually uses it.
So that's one of the roles ofinsulin is to do that.
(10:20):
And if the sugar is stillhanging around in the blood or
if you start overproducinginsulin because it's not working
that well, I know for mepersonally, like I'm very
sensitive to sugar and if I havea sugary meal, I will feel
pretty good at the time and thenprobably half an hour to an
hour later, I feel like rubbishand that is the insulin sugar
(10:43):
crash.
So that means then you kind ofget driven to want to eat
something again to feel better.
So yeah, these blood sugarswings, increased fat storage
and more cravings becomes thisvicious cycle.
So no, these blood sugar swings, increased fat storage and more
cravings becomes this viciouscycle.
So no, you're not broken.
Your hormones are shiftinggears and your metabolism is
(11:03):
adjusting in response to this,and all of this is promoting
your weight gain.
If you're having that, yourweight gain, if you're having
that.
So why do traditional kind ofdiets in inverted commas stop
working?
Because you know you've donethis before.
You've managed your weightquite well, potentially.
(11:23):
Or you've may have been a yo-yodieter and you've put on weight
, but then you've been able torelease it using whatever it is
that you normally do, but thenthat just stops working.
And so let's look at some ofthe different kind of or the
typical, I should say weightloss advice that women are given
.
So obviously, the calories incalories out model.
(11:46):
We know that calorierestrictive diets increase
stress, which spikes cortisol.
We've just talked about whatthat does.
It's counterproductive to fatloss, but it can also slow your
metabolism.
If you're restricting caloriestoo much, as the body might
think that, you know we're goinginto a famine because, remember
, our nervous system is wiredfor survival and it's still
pretty primitive and it doesn'tknow that we can go to the
(12:09):
supermarket whenever we want, wecan get food whenever we want.
So if you're restrictingcalories particularly, I know
for myself when I was in my 40s,a PT recommended I did 1200
calories a day, which is justnuts.
I was starving and yeah, it cantrick your body into thinking
(12:30):
we're going into a famine andthat can slow your metabolism
down.
So that's potentially one ofthe reasons that that's
happening.
It also because often whenpeople are doing calorie
counting, that is not.
It depends who you're workingwith to do that, but many women
do that on their own and so it'snot necessarily coaching you
around the kinds of foods thatare going to be best for you.
(12:51):
And because you know if youwant to have 1200 calories and I
remember doing this myself if Iwanted to have a glass of wine
okay, glass of wine, 150calories I need to take account
of that into my day.
And so sometimes the quality ofthe food gets reduced because
you're wanting to fit in stillyour fun foods.
(13:13):
So that's why I don't lovecalorie counting.
I mean, there's a number ofreasons, but one of the main
ones is it doesn't promote goodfood choices.
Another really popular one isintermittent fasting.
And look, it can backfire,particularly if your adrenals
are already overworked.
So if you're already in apretty stressful kind of place,
(13:33):
you need to be fed in themorning, you need to have
complex carbs in the morning,and if you're doing fasting that
doesn't, you know you're notactually eating anything until
midday or 11, then you're kindof missing out on an opportunity
to nourish yourself.
And again, the quality of thefood.
That quality really matters.
And often people doingintermittent fasting aren't
(13:55):
necessarily focusing on foodquality, very similar to
counting calories, and somepeople do both.
They do calorie counting andintermittent fasting and, again,
not necessarily focusing onfood quality.
It's more just about eating.
And some people and I know Idon't know if that's still how
(14:16):
intermittent fasting ispositioned, but I know when it
first got really popular whichis probably I remember having
these discussions with peopledefinitely in 2019.
So maybe even 2018, maybebefore that um, a lot of people
they just could eat.
Basically, the mindset was Ican eat whatever I like, as long
as I'm only eating in aneight-hour meal window.
(14:38):
And I'm not sure if that's howthat's still positioned because,
honestly, I just have nothingto do with it.
But, yeah, your food qualityreally does matter.
The other thing with if you'redoing a diet, such a low-fat
diet which again, that's beenreally popular since about the
80s when the low fat movementstarted and again I could really
(15:00):
maybe I should do a wholepodcast episode on that but if
you're constantly on a low fatdiet, we actually need fat to
function.
I'm have at the moment, I'mhaving a skin cancer taken off
my head, my scalp, on Wednesday,and so I've had to stop all my
fish oil and my flaxseed oil,and I can feel it in my body.
(15:22):
I went for a bike rideyesterday.
My hands are so sore, whichthey normally are not, so I can
tell already that that thosehealthy fats and depriving
myself of that, because thereason I'm doing that is be it's
just, you know, a PSA, if youare on those products, that if
you are having any kind ofsurgical kind of procedure, then
(15:44):
, uh, you need to stop takingthose seven to 10 days prior to
that procedure, because they dopromote, um, bleeding.
As part of how they work in apositive way in the body is they
are blood thinners.
So you do need to be mindful ofthat and stopping that at least
seven to 10 days before yourprocedure.
So that's the place I'm in atthe moment.
(16:05):
But also low-fat diets candeprive you of the cholesterol,
because your body usescholesterol to make hormones
right.
So if you're not having enoughfat in your diet, then that can
impact your hormone productionand the lack of fat in your diet
also reduces your satiety.
So when you have good, healthyfats, you will feel fuller for
(16:28):
longer.
So please do not buy into thelow fat food phenomenon and it's
still a huge part of thepackaged food industry is
promoting products as being lowfat.
Have the full fat people.
It will make you feel full forlonger.
It's a less processed productand you're not getting any of
(16:51):
those artificial sweeteners intoyour body which are not
necessarily fantastic for us.
So, yeah, eat the full fat,enjoy it.
So the thing is, instead ofanother round of a different
type of diet again in invertedcommas what your body actually
needs, especially inperimenopause and postmenopause,
is nourishment, nourishment.
Postmenopause is nourishment,nourishment, regulation.
(17:14):
So blood glucose regulation,hormonal regulation and also
support.
And this is where personalizednutrition can come in.
This is not about being on adiet.
It is a personalized nutritionstrategy, lifestyle based on
your unique blood biochemistry,your metabolic needs, your body
(17:47):
shape, your medical conditions.
You know an actual plan forlife.
It's what I use in the GLOWprotocol, so you know exactly
what to eat, you know what theright portion size is for you,
you get the right macro balance,so you don't need to work all
of that out, and there's nohunger, because if you do feel
hungry, I just increase yourportion sizes to make sure that
you are nourished and that yourblood sugar is regulated.
(18:08):
So personalized nutrition is, Ifind, a game changer, for women
particularly.
Actually, it doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter how muchweight you want to lose, whether
it's the last few kilos orwhether you have 40, 50 kilos or
more to lose.
This is where personalizednutrition can be an absolute
game changer.
(18:29):
So here are some of thestrategies I use with my clients
in the GLOW protocol to helpthem lose weight during
perimenopause and postmenopausewithout deprivation or burnout.
So you're eating to balanceblood sugar.
Okay.
So that means you're startingthe day with protein and carbs
(18:53):
and healthy fats, allbeautifully balanced for your
particular biochemistry, Alsospacing your meals out and just
really ditching thatrollercoaster of highs and
crashes.
So eating to balance bloodsugar turns you into a fat
burning machine and it's gotnothing to do with calories,
(19:16):
nothing at all.
So that, I think, is key whenyou're thinking about what can I
do?
Eat to balance blood sugar andonce you have your blood sugar
beautifully balanced, you're notgoing to crave sugary treats.
And if you have a sugary treat,you are really going to feel it
and it's not going to feel good.
(19:36):
Number two liver support.
Your liver metabolizes hormonesand toxins and if it's
overwhelmed, your hormones won'tbe functioning properly, and so
you need to make sure you'vegot key nutrients in your diet,
and it's not about supplements.
This is about having keynutrients in your diet, like
(19:56):
leafy greens, cruciferousveggies adequate hydration
that's super important.
Most people are not drinkingenough water, like it's that
simple.
Most people are not drinkingenough water, and if you have
worked with me or you'velistened to this podcast for a
while, you will know that what Iuse for in a weight loss
(20:18):
context is 35 mils of water perkilo of body weight per day.
That is your individualizedwater goal, all right, and if
you're working on weight loss,then that is water intake.
If you're just more for generalhealth, it's often taken back
down to like 32 mils of waterper kilo of body weight, and
(20:41):
that can include water that's inor fluid that's in like a
smoothie or in a soup or thatkind of thing.
Number three that I really workon with my clients is sleep.
Sleep is sacred.
One night of poor sleepincreases your hunger hormones.
We haven't even dived intohunger hormones like leptin and
(21:03):
ghrelin.
One night of poor sleep alsodecreases insulin sensitivity,
really messes with your bloodsugar, and remember, blood sugar
control equals fat burningmachine.
So things like creating a sleeproutine really helpful.
That doesn't need to beanything complicated at all.
(21:25):
Managing screen time makes ahuge difference Making sure that
you know, once you've haddinner, all of the overhead
lights go off and you only havelovely soft lamp light so that
it helps with your melatoninproduction.
Making sure you're not eatingsugar later at night when I say
later at night, I mean after,about you know, seven o'clock.
And of course, if you're goingout and you're having dessert,
(21:47):
that's a different scenario.
I'm talking about just in yourregular life.
In your regular life, of courseyou can still have treats, but
in your regular life and I'vebeen guilty of this of having a
little after dinner kind ofchocolate habit about you know,
45 minutes after having dinnerhaving a little bit of chocolate
.
If you're trying to lose weight, that is not a good idea.
(22:08):
If you're having sleep issues,that is not a good idea because
it really does that blood sugaragain rise and crash will impact
your sleep Also.
Alcohol is another one that ifyou're having even just a couple
of one or two glasses of wine,that can impact your sleep.
(22:29):
Also, when we're looking atweight loss gentle movement Also
when we're looking at weightloss gentle movement.
So if you want to do HIIT, youcan.
Again, the way I assess thatwith people is you know what is
your general cortisol lookinglike and you don't necessarily
have to test it unless there's aI don't test it unless there's
a clinical reason.
There are certain signs andsymptoms that I look at which
(22:50):
tell me whether or not yourcortisol might be dysregulated,
that I look at, which tell mewhether or not your cortisol
might be dysregulated.
So if you're if and if yourcortisol is dysregulated, then
HIIT is not really recommended,because we want to try and keep
your cortisol down, not bring itup by doing HIIT, which is high
intensity interval training, um, so movements such as a brisk
walk where you can only justhold a conversation, that is fat
(23:13):
burning zone.
Yoga is nice.
In terms of doing that.
For weight loss I wouldn't sayit's great, but it's great for
stress management, which isgreat for weight loss.
Resistance training is awesome.
It really supports yourmetabolism because it helps you
to build muscle and that musclewill burn more energy at rest.
It's also super important ifyou're in peri, cause your
(23:36):
muscles are going to be startingto really I don't like to use
the word deteriorate, but that'show I felt when it was starting
to happen to me before I wasputting all of the measures in
place that I've done.
But yeah, it is.
It is quite the battle to keepyour muscle mass when you hit
your 40s and certainly 50s, soreally having a good
(24:00):
concentration of effort on thatpays off dramatically.
Reformer Pilates, I find, isreally good, particularly for
bringing your waist measurementdown because of all of the core
work that you do.
So all of these types ofexercises and movement dancing
is a great one.
Actually dancing I love becausemany people love doing it.
(24:22):
So it's way easier to domovement when you love it than
it is if you're just draggingyourself to the gym.
And the thing is when you'restarting to see results.
It is so much more motivating.
And also, again, when you havea different type of goal.
When you're younger you oftenare working out to look good,
whereas when you've got in yourmind well, I need to keep my
(24:43):
bones strong, I need to keep mymuscle mass, I need to make sure
that I'm actually going to beable to enjoy the activities I
love when I get older and arenot sort of getting frail Like
if you look at your parents andsee the state of their physical
bodies, then that canpotentially give you a good
(25:07):
indication of what your futuremight look like if you have a
similar lifestyle to what theyhave had.
Yeah, and obviously the otherthing I use when I'm working
with weight loss in women ispersonalized nutrition.
So, as I think I mentionedbefore, the GLOW protocol uses
your blood data to determine,plus a few other measures to
(25:31):
determine, the exact foods thatare going to bring your
metabolism back into balance.
It is food as medicine, which Ilove, not just relying on
supplements.
It's food as medicine, so it'svery sustainable long-term
because we do have to eat andthere is structure there for you
and there is strategy there foryou as an individual.
(25:53):
So they are the top five thingsI'm just going to recap.
So eat to balance blood sugarsuper important to get into fat
burning zone, supporting yourliver and you can do that with
leafy greens, cruciferous veg Ifyou're not sure what I'm
talking about, just Google itand drinking enough water.
Sleep is sacred.
Manage and guard your sleep,like your life depends on it,
(26:16):
because it is so important formany reasons other than what
I've even discussed today.
Movement that suits your bodyand where you're at in your life
, and personalized nutrition isthe ideal.
So if you feel like your bodyis betraying you, please know
it's not.
(26:37):
Your body is simply adapting toa new phase and it needs
different tools, and the goodnews is those tools do exist.
I created the perimenopause path, still building it, still
working out where it's going togo.
I definitely am very sure ofwhere the GLOW protocol is going
(26:57):
, and I created these to empowerwomen just like you with
information and strategies thatactually work.
So if this episode resonatedwith you, I invite you to book a
free peri-weight lossassessment with me.
We'll look at what's going onwith you.
We'll map out a clear pathforward.
I'll tell you a little bitabout the GLOW protocol and how
(27:19):
you can work with me if you wantto.
I never ask you to sign up onthat call.
I want you to make sure that I'mthe right fit for you and I
absolutely want to make surethat you're the right fit for
the program and to work with me.
You really deserve to feel athome in your body again.
You really deserve to wear theclothes you want to wear.
I've had so many women say tome more recently.
(27:41):
You know my clothes aren'tfitting and I don't want to buy
new clothes because I don't wantto go up a size.
Well, there's only one solutionto that, and that is actually
to take action.
So thanks for listening today.
I've loved having you.
Don't forget to subscribe, sothis podcast just goes straight
into your device every week.
Share this episode with afriend who needs to hear it.
(28:04):
And, yeah, come over and jointhe conversation on Instagram at
the perimenopause path.
Thanks so much for joining meon the Ageless and Awesome
podcast.
If you liked this episode,please make sure you click the
little plus button if you're onApple Podcasts, or the follow
button if you're on Spotify, sothat you get each new episode
(28:26):
delivered to you every singleweek.
If you feel like writing me afive-star review, you would
absolutely make my day.
If you found this episoderesonated with you, head over to
my Instagram and DM me attheperimenopausepar.
I would love to connect withyou.
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