BMI and menopause

[Kouklamo]

There is a lot of talk about how post menopausal women really struggle to keep BMI in “normal” I.e under 25 range and it’s almost impossible to lose weight.

Is this another example of sexist medicine not taking into account the fact that women are different to men.

If it’s so hard to maintain a certain weight and body composition in menopause in women who have otherwise not been considered overweight and have not drastically changed their habits maybe we actually need the extra fat and biology knows what it is doing.

Does anyone know if a bit of extra belly fat in a post menopausal women is bad for women’s health. Has this been studied in women specifically or are we assuming studies done in men apply to women again.

I don’t know the answer to this so just wondering if anyone knowledgeable on the subject knows this. I’m not talking about the obese category but more people considered “overweight” who are otherwise healthy.

Any fat that settles around that area is unhealthy.

One of the reasons menopausal women get fat around their stomachs is because fat cells contain oestrogen, especially in that area. The body is desperate for oestrogen so adapts itself to create more. That's why for some women losing weight becomes impossible. Also menopause can increase cortisol which is an enemy to weight loss.

For me, nothing that had worked in the past to lose weight had any impact at all.