If you're in midlife, tell me if this sounds familiar:
“I haven’t changed anything about how I eat, or how I exercise... but...”
“...I can’t fit into my clothes anymore.”
“...I’m not getting the same results from my workouts.”
“...I feel so tired all the time.”
“...it seems like none of my favourite foods agree with me anymore.”
The changes that menopause brings, including hormonal changes and changes
related to aging, are real. The pants—or the weights on your barbell—don’t lie.
Luckily, some simple tweaks to your eating habits can go a long way. And that’s exactly what you’re going to learn today—the three building blocks of a menopause nutrition plan (plus a bonus strategy), which include actions you can start working on right now.
A solid menopause nutrition plan includes three high-impact strategies that you can use to:
Have more, and longer-lasting energy.
Help retain (or even gain!) muscle mass to stay strong and keep the metabolism humming along.
Sleep better.
Feel more satisfied with meals.
Achieve body composition goals, if desired.
Importantly, these aren’t strict rules. They’re principles that you can customize so they align with your unique goals, needs, priorities, and preferences.
The three strategies are:
Get enough protein.
Eat plenty of vegetables and fruits.
Eat slowly.
(Plus, as a bonus strategy, you may want to assess your beverage intake as well, so I’ll cover that one briefly too.) Let’s take a look.
Strategy 1: Eat Enough Protein
As we get older, we’re less able to respond to protein and may have trouble digesting and absorbing it. That means we need to eat more protein throughout the day to stay well nourished.
Protein is extra important for women as they age, because we tend to lose muscle tissue over time, and eating enough high-quality protein helps maintain (and possibly even build) muscle mass as we get older.
Eating more protein helps you feel fuller longer, so you feel more satisfied overall and have fewer cravings.
Protein helps repair and rebuild body tissues along with other important things like enzymes, hormones, or parts of our immune system. So eating more protein will help boost overall recovery and well-being.
So how much protein should you eat? For women who are in perimenopause, menopause or postmenopause and who want to stay active, healthy, and strong, the recommendation is to eat 0.8 grams per pound of body weight a day.
Strategy 2: Eat Plenty of Vegetables and Fruits
Eating lots of vegetables and fruits—especially colourful ones—is great for our health at any age.
Veggies and fruits have important nutrients like vitamins and minerals, along with water and fiber, and they support our health, especially during perimenopause.
They have fiber and water, which help with digestion, having good poops, and feeling full between meals.
If you’re not used to eating many veggies or fruits, start by adding them to at least two meals a day.
Use your hand as a guide: Aim for a half-fist to a full fist-sized portion at each meal, and gradually increase to one or two fist-sized portions.
Look for veggies and fruits you enjoy. Try different kinds until you find your favourites.
If you’re not a big fan of veggies, aim for small additions where you can. In time, you’ll naturally get more comfortable and expand your repertoire.
Strategy 3: Eat Slowly
If you’re in your 40s or 50s, you’re probably busy. You may have a demanding job, a family, aging parents, volunteer work, and other commitments.
So you might be used to fitting in meals whenever you can. Maybe you eat lunch at your desk and hit the drive-through for dinner.
One of the best things you can do for your health and well-being is to slow down. I know, it sounds ridiculously simple. But very few people actually do it consistently and it can have a cascade of positive effects.
And personally, this has been a game-changer for me. As someone with a big appetite and a love for food, I used to inhale my meals, and I’d often eat way past fullness. And I mean way past.
If you relate, please know that slowing down can be a huge help. Eating slowly can help you:
Enjoy every bite, which can lead to a more satisfying meal.
Stay present and notice when you’ve had enough to eat, so you stop.
when you’re satisfied and not stuffed.
Chew your food more thoroughly and give your digestive system
time to ramp up and do its thing, which can improve your digestion
and reduce bloating.
Keep in mind that eating slower in a calm environment can be a big adjustment. Many women are used to taking care of everyone else’s food needs at meals.
As you shift your focus to thriving during menopause, now is an awesome time to think about your own needs.
If you feel like you’re not sure where to start, try one or both of these two game-changing strategies:
Put your utensils down between bites. And take a nice, relaxing deep breath before picking them up again.
Take a two-minute half-time eating intermission, during which you stop eating for two minutes halfway through your meal. Then resume.
That’s it! Eating slowly takes practice, so try both and see what works for you.
But all that said, if attempting to eat slowly is causing you more stress, or it’s simply not doable for you right now given your other obligations, don’t force it.
Maybe you only practice it at one meal or snack per day... or maybe you
don’t make this a priority right now. It’s just one technique—you can try
the other three we’ve covered here instead if they work better for you!
Bonus Strategy: Assess Your Beverage Intake
If you want to level-up even further beyond these three strategies, here’s another one to try: Assess your beverage intake.
What you drink can play a role in menopause symptoms, ranging from bloating to constipation to sleep to body composition.
While many of us are aware of what we eat, we often pay less attention to what we drink.
Becoming more aware of what you drink can ensure you stay hydrated, and help you be mindful of ingredients like caffeine, alcohol, and sugar that can worsen menopause symptoms.
So be sure to drink plenty of water. It's important for mitigating (or improving) certain menopause symptoms, and which beverages can make symptoms worse.
Why Water?
Staying hydrated has lots of benefits for managing menopause symptoms:
Water helps hydrate tissues and lubricate joints, both of which might lose water as estrogen levels go down.
Water moistens food moving through the digestive tract, reducing constipation and helping ensure smooth bowel movements. Plus, drinking enough water supports oral health, an often-overlooked challenge of aging.
Water helps plump up the skin. This helps decrease the appearance of wrinkles and maintains the skin’s barrier defences against damage.
Water can help manage appetite and decrease cravings. This can help you maintain a healthy bodyweight and eat the right amount of food for your body’s needs.
Water can replace other drinks, such as sugar-sweetened beverages or alcohol that may worsen menopause symptoms.
Plus, dehydration can exacerbate many of the symptoms of menopause, such as:
Digestive issues
Poor body temperature regulation
Headaches
Tiredness
Difficulty concentrating
Dry eyes
How Much Is Enough?
As we age, we become less sensitive to thirst cues, so drinking only when thirsty may not give us enough.
Start with a foundation of daily water intake based on bodyweight.
In pounds: Drink about half your bodyweight in ounces of water every day.
In kilograms: Drink about 30 millilitres of water per kilogram of bodyweight every day.
Then, adjust based on activity and thirst. An additional 8–16 ounces (250–500 millilitres) for every 30 minutes of exercise or activity is a good start.
While coffee, tea, and sports beverages technically count toward fluid intake, we recommend the majority of your intake come from plain water.
How to Drink Enough
To drink more water:
Set a phone reminder to take a few big gulps every hour.
Keep an empty glass by the kitchen and bathroom sinks; fill it up and drink when passing by.
Drink a glass of water when waking up and before bed.
Drink a glass of water with each meal or snack.
Fill a water bottle and keep it handy.
Drink Less: 3 Drinks to Consider Reducing
There are three types of drinks that may worsen menopause symptoms, so you might want to consider consuming less of them (or suggest this to your client). You don’t have to cut them out completely; small adjustments are often useful.
Always listen to your body and consider how these drinks fit with your health goals.
Alcohol
Alcohol can make menopause symptoms like hot flushes worse and disrupt
sleep. (If you have a wearable sleep tracker, try assessing your sleep quality:
Compare sleep after an alcohol-free day with sleep after a couple of evening
drinks.)
Alcohol slows recovery from exercise as we age. And, it contains calories, which can add up. If midlife weight gain is a concern for you dialling down alcohol can be an easy place to trim extra calories.
Caffeine
Caffeine can increase symptoms like breast tenderness, anxiety, and insomnia. Up to 400 milligrams of caffeine per day is generally safe. (For reference, a tall Starbucks coffee is 12 ounces or 350 mL and has about 235 milligrams.)
Notice how you feel after caffeine. If it affects your sleep, stop drinking it at least 6–8 hours before bedtime. If you feel jittery or have stomach issues, try reducing your intake.
High-Calorie Beverages
Calorie-rich beverages like flavored coffees, soda, and juices are tasty but typically high in added sugar and empty calories. They can cause blood sugar spikes and crashes, impacting energy, sleep, and cravings.
It’s best to have these drinks only occasionally or find lower-sugar alternatives.
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