Menopause doesn’t just come with hot flashes, mood swings, and insomnia. One other symptom that doesn’t get much recognition is weight gain.
In fact, more than half of the women who experience menopause see a rise in body fat and weight. This doesn’t just take a toll on your self-esteem, but also on your overall health.
At Galt Dermatology & Concierge Medicine, we include hormone replacement therapy in many of our weight loss plans for women in Fort Lauderdale. To learn more about how menopause affects your weight, keep reading.
Menopause and Weight Gain: What’s the Link?
Menopause is a transitional life event that all women go through. It marks the end of their menstrual cycle and a cessation of hormone production in their ovaries.
Hormones like estrogen, testosterone, and progesterone play a much more important role in weight management than many realize. Not only do they regulate your metabolism, but they are also responsible for:
- Cholesterol levels
- Cardiovascular health
- Sleep/wake cycles
- Energy levels
- Muscle mass and bone density
With a decline in hormone production, women not only find themselves gaining fat (especially in the abdomen) but also losing muscle mass. This changes your overall body composition and can leave you feeling lost, especially when traditional weight loss methods don’t seem to work.
Hormone Replacement Therapy for Weight Loss
Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) replenishes your levels of estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone to help your body function optimally and improve your metabolic health.
At Galt, our bioidentical hormone replacement therapy (BHRT), which uses hormones derived from plant sources like wild yams and soy that have been synthesized in a lab. BHRT uses estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone that chemically match our own hormones, leading to better results and fewer side effects than with synthetic hormones.
While HRT for menopause and estrogen replacement therapy for menopause are effective treatments that we offer as part of our weight loss plans for women in Fort Lauderdale, they aren’t the only solutions.
Weight Loss Medications
Weight loss injections help regulate your appetite so that you’re satisfied with smaller meal portions. In addition to helping you maintain a calorie deficit, they also regulate your blood sugar levels and quiet food noise (constant and intrusive thoughts about food that make you feel hungry).
These weekly shots work in tandem with BHRT, because both therapies address different causes of weight gain. With improved metabolic function and reduced appetite, losing weight and improving your overall health becomes easier to attain.
Lifestyle Guidance
While BHRT and weight loss injections help with weight loss, they aren’t permanent solutions; they are tools. What you eat and how often you exercise matter. But meal prepping and choosing the right foods can feel difficult. That’s why Dr. Stella Villacorta, your weight loss doctor, gives you lifestyle guidance and recommendations to help you slim down and optimize your health.
Find Your Path to Successful Weight Loss
Our weight loss plans for women in Fort Lauderdale are tailored to each patient. To learn about how we can help you lose weight and improve your overall health, you can schedule a discovery call or try our treatment planning tool.
