The What and How to Eat After Menopause for Feeling Great, Reducing Risk, and Aging Well
The reality is that to flourish after 50 healthful eating matters. In this post, we review the book, The Menopause Diet Plan written by Registered Dietitian Nutritionists Hillary Wright and Elizabeth Ward, which outlines a pattern of eating to help you manage your weight, feel better, and reduce disease risk as you age.
Let’s face it, sometimes aging is hard to accept. I have to admit that I was initially in denial when my waistbands slowly started getting tighter and the numbers on the scale crept up ever so slightly year over year until one day when I looked in the mirror and I saw my mom. Don’t get me wrong, I love my mom, but it frightened me to see her physique staring back at me. Now, ladies, I am not going to lie and say I just reset my mindset and it’s been an easy journey since that day. It hasn’t.
It’s taken time to realize what and how I ate had to change as I aged to ensure I stayed well. Although I’ve always valued healthful eating and physical activity, what I was doing wasn’t enough to ensure my ongoing health and well-being. I had to adjust, and I am not alone.
When women think about aging and menopause, they describe their biggest fears as being body appearance changes, weight gain, and loss of mental acuity. Unfortunately, women in our society don’t talk openly about menopause, and as a result, we often suffer in silence wondering if what we are feeling and experiencing is “normal”.
Karyn and I started Rumblings out of a deep desire to stop the suffering in silence and start having conversations openly with other women our age. Our goal is to provide you with science-based resources to help you flourish after 50. Along the way, we also want to share stories of what’s worked for us and other women our age. The one thing we know for sure is that aging requires action to ensure we continue to thrive into the future.
One of our foundational principles (or Rocks) at Rumblings is to “live inside out”. And, what we eat is a key component of this Rock. Our food philosophy at Rumblings is based on science and what nourishes our souls. We focus on:
Looking inside to understand what and how much to eat
Feeding ourselves well with whole foods, mostly plants
Honoring tradition
Celebrating culture
Loving every damn morsel of food, we consume
We’re done with diets, guilt, and restriction! We prefer to focus on patterns of eating, intuitive eating, and enjoyment. Certainly, individual nutrition needs vary from person to person, but science tells us that this eating pattern promotes health and longevity.
A new book, The Menopause Diet Plan written by two Registered Dietitian Nutritionists, Hillary Wright and Elizabeth Ward, was released in September. The book excellently outlines the science behind how food choices impact aging well and tackles health concerns that result from the transition to menopause, including the following: weight gain, hot flashes, sleep difficulties, mood swings, fatigue, changes in digestion, muscle loss, memory changes, osteoporosis, and disease risk.
If you’re struggling with eating healthfully, physical changes, or chronic symptoms, this new book could be a nice reference for you as you age.
Weight Gain and Belly Fat Changes
Unfortunately, there is science to suggest that on average women gain about 1.5 pounds per year in their 40s and 50s — roughly 30 pounds. And, for many women who do not see the weight gain, they may experience a thickening around the belly. Declining estrogen levels and muscle mass are likely contributors, as well as, low levels of physical activity, unhealthful eating behaviors, lack of sleep, stress, and genetics.
The reality is that to flourish after 50 healthful eating matters. The Menopause Diet Plan outlines a pattern of eating that can help you manage your weight, feel better, and reduce disease risk as you age. Although the authors refer to this as a “diet” in the book title, they don’t promote dieting throughout the book, but rather focus on developing healthier habits for the rest of your life.
An Eating Pattern for Aging Well
The authors emphasize (and we agree!) that there is no one size fits all when it comes to food. However, there are eating patterns that are starting to emerge as healthful for most people. What we’re learning is that individual foods don’t make or break a healthful eating pattern and healthful eating doesn’t require perfection, instead it requires consistency.
However, women are different from men and during the transition from perimenopause to menopause our bodies change, and these changes are real and often very frustrating. Thankfully, there are now studies looking into these differences and exploring women-specific recommendations for confronting these challenges.
Eating healthfully as you age is about modifying your pattern of eating (habits) —not dieting. Making small but different choices regarding what you eat and how much you eat will help you to feel great and age well. Feeling great and living well are the goals more than just making temporary unsustainable changes in order to lose a few pounds.
The authors outline many specific details for patterns of healthful eating in the book, but two important ones to highlight for aging women include:
Eat fewer calories. To maintain weight, you likely need to eat less due to loss of muscle mass and possibly due to getting less physical activity than you did when you were younger. This obviously is disappointing but calls attention to the importance of being more mindful of how much you regularly eat. We’re going to highlight the importance of physical activity in a later blog post, but we want to call attention to the fact that physical activity, in any amount, helps counter the effects of aging and of course the need to reduce calorie intake as much.
When you eat matters. Don’t over restrict food during the day, as that typically results in eating more later in the day and evening. Research also suggests that metabolism functions differently based on the time of day — women better metabolize and store nutrients more optimally during daylight. Eat earlier in the day with a goal of winding down as early in the evening as possible and don’t skip meals.
We encourage you to read The Menopause Diet Plan, as the authors also do an excellent job walking through the science behind how specific foods influence your risk for heart disease, diabetes, cognitive decline, cancer, and osteoporosis as you age. Those chapters will also provide the rationale for the summary of food for aging recommendations outlined below:
Eat plants. Load half your plate with fruits and vegetables at every meal and choose a variety to ensure good health. Fruits and vegetables are also lower in calories and higher in fiber which will help you stay full longer after a meal.
Watch your protein intake. Aim for approximately 20 grams of protein at each meal and protein-rich snacks to keep you feeling fuller for longer while nourishing your muscles and bones. Midlife and menopausal women need more protein than recommended amounts.
Be mindful of carbohydrates. Choose three servings of whole grains each day. The Menopause Diet Plan limits carbohydrates to less than 50% of calories. This may be less than you’re currently consuming and something that you may want to explore.
Choose healthful fats. Use olive oil or canola oil. Other healthy fats with no trans fat and no more than 2 grams of saturated fat per tablespoon are also suggested.
Limit sugar and alcohol. They supply extra and unnecessary calories, so indulge on occasion and enjoy them when you do.
What about supplements? Perimenopause, menopause, and aging influence your vitamin and mineral needs. In The Menopause Diet Plan, the authors outline micronutrient needs and common challenges in getting recommendations. In reality, it’s hard to give a blanket statement for recommendations without fully understanding your current diet, risk factors, symptoms, and nutrition goals. Working with a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist is your best bet for customizing personal recommendations to supplement your current eating pattern.
If you’re looking for more prescriptive food recommendations, The Menopause Diet Plan offers three approaches to healthful eating —overall healthful eating advice (good if you’re looking for tips you can adopt to improve what and how you eat), a balanced plate approach (good if you prefer a more visual plate tool to guide your choices at meal times), and a calorie-oriented approach (great for those who like more structure).
At Rumblings, we promote eating nutrient-rich whole-foods, mostly plants (animal products as a treat or garnish), enjoying your food, eating when you’re hungry, and stopping when you’re full to ensure you thrive as you age. A healthful eating pattern nourishes your body and soul. The Menopause Diet Plan recommendations align with our food philosophy while providing you with more details about the why and how of healthful eating during the prime of your life.
As you experiment with these suggestions, let us know what is working for you. Gone are the days when we suffer alone. We need to share our struggles and successes so that we can learn from one another and flourish together!
Live inside out through healthful eating.
Together we Rumble!