How do I lose weight after menopause?

The old playbook stops working, and that isn't your fault. On Ep. 409, Nikkiey explains that estrogen used to support muscle protein synthesis. Once that support is gone, the muscle that drives your metabolism shrinks, so walking more and eating less give you less and less back. Maggie Topham lived this. At 47 she was doing more cardio than ever and gaining weight faster than ever. Kelly was told to eat 1,200 calories, skip weights and walk. She got down to under 800 calories and was angry and hungry, without real results.

What worked was eating more, starting with protein. One WarriorBabe coach recommends a high-protein diet and gives 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight as the target. Maggie aims for 150 grams of protein a day, eats around 2,500 calories of mostly whole foods, and lost 60 pounds. Annette, 56, had been eating two meals a day after a five-year plateau. She learned to eat enough protein, carbs and fats and lost 21 pounds, averaging about a pound a week. On carbs, one coach says cutting them can raise cortisol, which she links to more belly fat. She suggests controlling them with rice, potatoes, oats, fruit and cream of rice, and getting fats from avocados, olive oil, nuts, seeds and fatty fish. Maggie describes muscle as a place for glucose to go: you need carbs to fuel the muscle and muscle to handle the carbs.

Strength training is the other half. Nikkiey says the women whose bodies changed did six core movements, and she stresses training your upper body as well as your legs. One coach adds that lifting helps maintain muscle and supports bone density.

Give it time. Kelly's coach told her it could take a year or more, and that made it easier to keep going. If you're managing hormones, medications or a medical condition, work with your doctor alongside your plan. It's the approach that needs to change, not you.