Mindset For Menopause Weight Loss

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Weight loss during and after menopause is difficult. It is easy to get discouraged when the things that worked before don’t seem to work anymore. And your body is changing in other ways that make the added weight even harder to deal with.

There is a growing shift away from traditional diets to a more holistic approach that focuses on overall health and well being. By changing your mindset about weight loss you may find that you end up with a body you are happy with without focusing on just weight loss.

Set goals that are not focused on the number on the scale

Rather than make your goals based on how many pounds you want to lose, make them based on something you do like strength training 3 times per week. With the changes that occur during menopause it is difficult to control the number on the scale, but easy to control something you do.

Focus on sustainability for the long term

Diets are a short term fix. Instead focus on long term strategies like making small changes to your diet every week or so that will make you healthier and probably lighter in the long term. Make small changes so you eventually have made yourself a better lifestyle that does promote a healthy weight.

You don’t want to focus on goals that are only short term because it likely means that in the long term, the weight will come back on. You end up losing muscle which many women are already lacking once they hit menopause. This causes a slow down of your metabolism that makes it harder to lose weight.

Focus on the positives

Diets are usually very negative. They tell you to eliminate carbs or stop eating fat. Instead focus on having a positive mindset about weight loss. Try to eat more vegetables or get more exercise. Focus on what you can do not on what you can’t.

Keep a positive attitude. Tell yourself that you can do this. Even if you haven’t been successful before, it doesn’t mean you will never be successful. The only people who are successful are the ones who keep trying!

Health is more important than weight loss

This may sound cliche but your health is more important than your weight and it is easier to do things that improve your health when you are not worrying about your weight. Try to get more activity. Try to add a stress reduction technique like mindfulness meditation or yoga.

Don’t expect quick results

One mindset shift that needs to go is the focus on quick results. When I hear things like I’ve been dieting for 2 weeks and I’ve only lost 5 pounds I worry. The mindset of expecting instant gratification doesn’t work with weight loss. And even this modest weight loss of 2-3 pounds per week is probably not sustainable and will likely slow or reverse itself.

Don’t focus on absolutes

This goes along with the negative mindset I talked about earlier. If you focus on good foods and bad food then you set yourself up for failure when you eat what has been called a bad food. Focus on making better choices when you can. And think about why you made a choice that wasn’t so good.

Rather than focus on the one thing that went wrong, change your focus to the many positives that outweigh the few negatives.

Conclusion

Changing your mindset about weight loss is an important step to losing weight, especially during menopause. The Healthy Changes Ebook helps you with mindset, fitness and nutrition during menopause.