Are (Peri)Menopause and Excess Belly Fat Inseparable?
These unwanted guests of middle age go hand in hand but they don’t have to be severe if you know how to handle them.
What is going on with my body?
If you've ever looked in the mirror and wondered, “Where did this belly come from?”, you're not alone—and you’re definitely not imagining it.
Just ask Susie.
When we started working together, Susie felt like her body had betrayed her. Clothes that once made her feel good were now tight around her midsection. She didn’t feel like herself—mentally, physically, or emotionally. But she also didn’t want to go to extremes. She wanted to stay natural, still enjoy her meals out with friends, and find a solution that felt good, not punishing.
In less than three months, Susie made a few powerful changes—with results that surprised her. She lost inches of belly fat, her clothes fit again, and her confidence came rushing back. Suddenly, it felt possible to enjoy her favorite sports again. Her energy improved, her mood lifted, and even her skin started to glow. Most importantly, she found a way to eat day-to-day that actually works for this season of life.
Susie didn’t find a magic fix—she found a better understanding of what her body needed now, and the tools to support it.
And that’s what this post is about.
Because if you’re feeling defeated, like you’re working harder than ever and still watching the scale creep up… If you're avoiding beach days or dress-up events because you don’t feel good in your clothes… Or maybe you're even facing new health issues revealed by recent blood tests... It’s not just you.
Here’s the good news: once you understand what’s really going on,
✅ You can feel confident in your body again.
✅ You can have more energy, better sleep, and fewer colds.
✅ And you don’t need to follow rigid rules or completely cut out everything you enjoy to get there.
In this blog post, I’ll walk you through 3 simple (but powerful) steps that I teach inside Energise, my group program for women in perimenopause. We’ll talk about why your old strategies aren’t working, how hormones come into play, and what to eat instead to feel better, naturally.
Ready? Let’s jump in.
So how can you, like Susie, solve this problem for good?
STEP 1: Work with your body not against it
Is your body the enemy?
Believe it or not, your body is not stubbornly refusing to do what you want it to. You and your body are on the same side and contrary to appearances your body is trying to help you through this massive hormonal shift. But what many of us don’t realize is that we are inadvertently working against our body by depriving it of specific nutrients.. The first step of the healing process is to give your body what it needs to make the perimenopause a smoother transition. Keep reading to find out how.
I’m guessing that strategies you’ve tried to lose weight have involved trying to eat fewer– and burn off more— calories? Since the 1900’s scientists and doctors and nutritionists have believed that body fat is governed solely by calories. If you consume fewer calories and expend more through exercise you will lose body fat. . However, research has moved on from what most health professionals have learned in the past.1, 2
Frustratingly, it can take 17-50 YEARS for new scientific discoveries and research to trickle down and become part of nutrition and health guidelines.3, 4, 5 So chances are this is the first time you’re hearing about it. But we now have strong evidence that while calories play their part, hormones arguably play a more important role.
Calorie Deficits don’t guarantee losing fat and in the long term may not be beneficial to women 6, 7
Which is why if you’ve been following ‘traditional’ advice— to eat less and move more– and it hasn’t worked, so you double down your efforts, eating EVEN less and exercising EVEN more, this can actually make things worse! Because drastic calorie deficits involve depriving your body of vital nutrients. And this puts it under stress.
Humans evolved to interpret stress to mean uncertain food supply (whether from drought, war or another life-threatening situation). So the body’s natural response to restriction is to slow down its metabolism by
lowering energy expenditure at rest (burning fewer calories to conserve energy ).
In the absence of enough protein and resistance exercise, preserving fat and breaking down muscle for fuel (in the long term reducing your metabolic rate further)
This is just your body protecting you! It never got the memo that the freezer is full and we actually have food available 24 hours a day (after all, these are relatively modern luxuries).
Of course the body can cope with going days without food. But over the LONG term you can see how chronically cutting calories-in while increasing calories-out is not working WITH your body but against it! Going without nutrient-rich food puts the body under stress and too much stress exacerbates the severity of (peri)menopause symptoms – whether it’s your boss or your kids shouting, financial worries or ….. chronically undereating.
If you think about your adult life, how long have you been trying to eat as little as possible? For many women it can be years, even decades….
Does this mean you should throw caution out of the window and snack on whatever you feel like all day long? Actually this could STILL result in your body lacking vital nutrients! Because western culture has so many low-nutrient foods, even if we eat too MANY calories by filling up on processed foods, we often still end up consuming too FEW nutrients. This is also working against our body, not with it.
Tracking calories to find a happy medium between these two extremes can work for some. But Calorie Counting is is very difficult to get right because
It ignores the roles hormones play in appetite, cravings, energy and fat storage.
Calorie counting ignores the importance of nutrients in foods, as long as they are equal in calories. In reality, 100 calories of a soft drink does not have the same effect on the body as 100 calories of asparagus. And ignoring this increases the risk of creating the imbalances listed in (3) below.
The following conditions cause many women to struggle to lose weight even with a calorie deficit:: high cortisol, inflammation, microbiome imbalances, and blood sugar swings. 8, 9, 10
Psychologically, food restriction fuels obsessive thoughts about food. If you’ve ever tried dieting you’ll know that this makes maintaining a calorie deficit much more difficult.
Hormones trump calories
When you read the word “hormones” – do you immediately think of the sex hormones, oestrogen and testosterone? That would be understandable as these are the ones most commonly talked about.
But did you know there are more than 9 non-sex hormones directly involved in your metabolism every day? Governing how hungry and full you feel, how energetic or stressed you feel, how many cravings you have?
We won’t worry about the nine hormones here, except that out of all these, there’s a master hormone when it comes to metabolism: Insulin. It’s the big boss. It’s the hormone in charge of storing energy as body fat. If you understand how this works, your body will thank you –in the form of fewer cravings, satisfied hunger and…. a flatter stomach. Keep reading to find out how.
STEP 2: Understand how, by spiking insulin, you are stopping yourself burning body fat
When we eat, insulin helps move glucose out of the bloodstream and into our cells. It also sends a message instructing cells all over the body to go into ‘energy storage mode’. So after we eat, the whole body is focused on taking the glucose that has just entered the blood and storing it for later use. A small amount of the glucose is stored for short term use. The rest is stored as fat for use in periods when there is no food available. This is very efficient and useful. Before refrigeration, vacuum packed and preserved food was invented – for those periods when food was not available.
If body fat is energy stored for later, why is there suddenly so much of it ?(even if i’m eating less and exercising more than ever?)
As you can imagine, storing food as fat is very important and without insulin we would not be able to use or store the energy from our food. (It is why type 1 diabetics, who can no longer produce insulin, have to inject it daily). In fact, too little – or too much – of ANY hormone can cause problems. And in many people today too MUCH insulin is at play.
DO YOU SEEM UNABLE TO BURN FAT?
You can think of insulin as the ON button for fat storage. Because regardless of how little you eat, what we now know is this: whenever this ‘on button’ is pressed by insulin, your body cannot burn fat. If insulin is high enough, the “storage mode” is turned on. And we can only burn fat when insulin stays low enough for the body to move out of energy storage mode and into fat burning mode. 11, 12
When your “Fat Storage” Mode is stuck on high (AKA Insulin Resistance)
Belly fat is closely tied to a condition called insulin resistance – when some of our cells don’t respond as well to insulin.
This means when glucose levels go high in the blood, the insulin is not able to move the glucose efficiently out the blood into the cells.
🗣️If you’re a parent, this is similar to a child not responding when you ask them to do something. Our natural instinct as a parent may be to just ask them more times/ ask them in a louder voice!
😫🗣️🗣️ Eventually, If we lecture or shout too often, then that lecturing or shouting becomes the norm, and our kids just start to tune us out, or not notice our instructions.
🍬⌬⌬ In the same way, if cells (the kids) are not responding to insulin (the instructions), the body just produces more insulin (parent saying it again, maybe louder) to try and get the job done.
🍬😫⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬ And just like that shouty parent, if these cells are exposed to high levels of insulin all the time, they ‘tune it out’ and become less responsive to it. And in response the body produces even MORE insulin.
⌬⌬⌬⌬⌬ So in insulin resistance, insulin levels become stuck on high. As long as this happens our bodies can’t burn fat.
So if you’re thinking you may be having trouble burning fat, it could be YOUR insulin levels are stuck on high as I’ve described above.
Why this happens ‘suddenly’ in perimenopause
In case you are thinking it’s just women who are prone to this problem, falling oestrogen is not the only thing that causes this insulin resistance (leading to belly fat)... However, oestrogen DOES seem to be protective against it to a certain degree, which is why men get “beer bellies” so much earlier in life.
Which is probably why as a woman in your 40’s when your hormones start to shift, you start to notice the appearance of fat on your belly, even if you never had it before. For women the appearance of a stubborn belly can feel sudden, like it happens overnight. And this is all to do with falling oestrogen13.
But you don’t have to just put up with it
Before you get completely despondent about your peri(menopausal) situation, remember that the sad fact is that many people (recently, even children), of both sexes, all over the world suffer from excess body fat and associated illnesses like diabetes. In fact today more people are insulin resistant than ever before.
It’s just that for you this is a new challenge because until now you’ve had the protection of oestrogen14. But it IS quite possible to adapt and find other strategies to regain your balance.
These strategies are based around food, stress and sleep . We address all three of these inside my group programme Energise. However, of these three, THE biggest contributor to insulin resistance is the food we eat on a daily basis. The good news is that it's also the easiest to tackle. So that’s what we’ll focus on for the rest of this blog.
Now that you understand a bit more about what’s going wrong, what can you do RIGHT NOW to start to fix it?
As we have seen, when insulin is high, the body can only STORE fat. It cannot burn fat.
So, to be able to burn fat we need relatively LOW insulin levels.
STEP 3: How to Lower your Insulin Levels (and burn fat) through the food you eat
The cells of women in (peri)menopause become less efficient at interacting with insulin. Habits that used to work fine for your body, may NOW be preventing your body from burning fat, causing that fat to accumulate. Once we think this way the solution is quite simple. To keep insulin levels low, we don’t give the body any reason to produce it in large amounts. These are the habits I work with my clients to cultivate:
Stop Grazing!
Aside from its negative effect on digestive health, grazing or snacking every hour or two can cause your insulin levels to stay high enough that you don’t burn fat. Cut it out. If you’re hungry between meals then you’re not eating enough of the right foods at mealtimes– keep reading for how to stay full between meals.
Eat foods relatively low in glucose.
The illustration below shows which foods fall into this category. Keep reading to find out whether you are unknowingly consuming foods that flood your system with glucose.
The simplest biggest reason so many people are suffering from insulin resistance is because the type foods our culture now considers normal. Below is a list of common foods that will often make blood sugar rise very fast and place a high demand for insulin:
You might be thinking…. “But…. this is basically everything I eat!”
Chances are you eat many of the above foods either on its own or as the main part of a meal, – and this is not your fault! Since we were all taught these foods are part of a normal healthy diet! . Luckily for you you found this blog, and I am happy to help you change the way you fill your shopping trolley and your plate .
At this point you may be thinking that everything is off limits and there is barely anything left you can eat! On the contrary, the key is not to leave your plate empty but to fill it wisely. (Deprivation can lead to your body sounding the hunger alarm, making it tougher to make healthy food decisions)
So part 1 in this blog was understanding how eating in a certain way can create this problem for the body, but equally important is this step: what to eat instead.
STEP 4: Eat Enough! Thrive with Five
To help Energise group members make sure they are eating enough of the right foods I ask them to think of “Thrive with Five” –five things to include each time you eat to allow your body to not just get by, but to thrive. We use it as a checklist when creating a meal or a snack, and I recommend it to everyone, especially if you have trouble coming up with alternatives to convenience foods when you are short on time. Layering these five elements will make sure you are full and satisfied.
Colour
Imagine your plate as a canvas, painting it with a variety of colourful, non-starchy vegetables. These veggies are not just visually appealing but also packed with essential nutrients and fibre. Aim for a vibrant mix that covers a spectrum of colours – the more, the better! Think
kales and creamy cauliflowers
sprouts and summer squashes
a pop of vibrant green from fresh herbs
Dark coloured salad leaves
deeply coloured peppers, tomatoes and red onions….
Go for variety over the familiar, and your skin, eyes and immune system will thank you for it. The plant pigments in these foods have properties ranging from anti-cancer to heart-protective, and will do more for a healthy glowing skin than any cream.
Finally, By including the colours of the rainbow you are making the meal visually appealing, and stimulating the secretion of digestive enzymes before you have taken your first bite. Which brings me to…
Calm
Before diving into your meal, take a moment to achieve a state of calm. Whether through deep breaths, a transition activity that you enjoy like 5 minutes of garden dead-heading or some yoga stretches – or just listening to some relaxing music. The aim is to switch your brain out of “planning mode”.
This is really important not just for digestion, but also for tackling insulin resistance and optimising your chances of fat burning.
😠Because stress activates the "fight or flight" response, releasing the stress hormone, cortisol. The role of cortisol is actually to raise the levels of glucose in the blood (so you have energy to fight or run away). However, in the absence of actual physical activity, that glucose stays in the blood rather than getting used up by the muscles when you run for your life or fight off a foe. Higher blood glucose means…. More insulin. So to burn belly fat, start to experiment with different ways to flip into a more relaxed state whenever possible.
Protein
Following the principles of Colour and Calm, the third element to add to your plate is protein. Aim for around 30 grams per meal, roughly the size of your palm or fist. This could include options like chicken, fish, beef, lamb, tofu, tempeh, cottage cheese, or Greek yogurt. This is vital to build glucose-removing muscle AND keep hunger and cravings at bay. Keep reading for more…
Fibre
Weave in fibre into every meal to slow down the release of glucose. Fibre, a type of carbohydrate that can't be broken down by human digestive enzymes, doesn't lead to higher insulin levels. It also contributes to feelings of fullness, working alongside protein and fat to create bulk that presses against the walls of the stomach.
Healthy Fat
To slow down the release of glucose further, include some healthy fat in your meal. Whether it's a drizzle of olive oil, sliced avocado, nuts, olives, or anchovies, healthy fats not only satisfy your hunger but are also essential for the absorption of certain vitamins and the health of every cell in your body.
🍓🍢Don’t Forget Flavour and Fun: Crafting a Pleasurable Meal 🍅🌶🥟🎂🧋
Once you've incorporated the "Thrive with Five" elements into your plate, you have the freedom to add an optional higher-glucose food, whether it's a grain, bread, starchy vegetable, or fruit. In Energise we discuss different ways to keep the portion sizes of these foods in proportion to avoid causing a significant insulin surge. As a group we exchange ideas on how to tweak the contents and proportions of your meals, preserving enjoyment while supporting your health and weight loss goals.
The key to making this a lasting change rather than a short term or fad ‘diet’ is to stay away from thinking “I can’t eat….” and instead focus on what foods you WANT to eat and how to make those as nourishing a meal as possible, to make your cells and your hormones happy. You always want to make the meal a pleasurable experience, allowing you to experiment with flavours and textures while maintaining awareness of how different foods affect your body.
To Sum it all up
We’ve covered a lot of information in this blog, and if this is new to you, it can seem totally overwhelming, I know! Don’t worry, that’s totally normal. The main points you learned in this blog are:
you and your body are on the same side!
your body stores fat to give you more energy in the long run, it’s a survival mechanism.
To access that fat and burn it for energy between meals: –avoid snacking and choose smaller amounts of the high-glucose foods (see diagram).
Use Thrive with Five to focus on filling more of your plate with the most nourishing foods that don’t spike insulin levels but keep you full.
Give yourself time to absorb the information. Come back to it and dip into it as you need. Start to experiment with using the steps here and see how it makes you feel to eat in this way. Remember that feeling better is possible every time you have a meal! Using “Thrive with Five” you can make sure you’re working with your body, giving it the nutrients it needs to stay healthy, strong, and burn fat –without losing muscle or going hungry.
If you want step by step guidance to this process plus access to all the tools I mention here and more, you can enroll in my Energise group nutrition and health coaching programme. In Energise I provide a live walk through of this whole process, the chance to have your questions answered and any confusion cleared. Group support and accountability improve success of members who feedback that they love meeting regularly with a small group of women on a similar journey.
Join the waitlist here to get first access to the next round of Energise!
References:
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