Many women wonder how to lose weight during menopause which is no surprise given that about 90% of women gain weight during menopause. Most women gain between 10 to 15 pounds during the menopausal years with most of it being gradually added on at about a pound per year.

Research has verified that weight gain in menopausal women is due to shifts in hormones. When women enter their menopausal years, weight gets more and more difficult to keep off due to fluctuations in hormones, which affect appetite, metabolism, and the storage of fat.

If you really want to know how to lose weight during menopause, the first thing you need to understand is how hormones play a role in it:

Estrogen: when estrogen levels decrease during menopause, your body works harder to convert calories into fat because its looking for more estrogen, and fat cells produce it.

Androgen: Androgen sends your newly acquired weight straight to your mid section.  Menopausal weight is often called the "middle age spread" because of the rapid expanding of the mid-section.

Testosterone: when testosterone drops during menopause the result is a loss of muscle. And this means a lower metabolism because muscle burns more calories than fat. And the lower your metabolism, the slower you burn calories.

Other Factors: Other factors at work in menopausal weight gain include: women in this stage of life tend to be less active; and older women need less calories then when they were young.

How to Loose Weight During Menopause
So how to lose weight during menopause when the hormones are stacked against us? There are lots of ways and different systems that can help us fight that middle age spread. You may not want to hear the answers because you probably already know them and maybe they haven't worked for you. Or you're just not that disciplined. But here they are anyway, the best ways to take and keep off menopausal weight gain.

1. Reduce your calorie intake: Menopausal women need fewer calories. It is suggested that menopausal women should cut calories by 10 to 15 percent.

2. Eat a balanced diet: Eat fresh fruits and vegetables and whole grains.  Avoid refined sugars and foods high in fat. Keep your fat intake to less then 30 percent of your daily calorie intake.

3. Increase physical activity: As we age exercise becomes even more important because it helps keep bones strong and protects them against osteoporosis. Exercises also fights off coronary heart disease, obesity, high blood pressure, and type 2 diabetes.

That above advice is the best way that women with menopause weight gain should lose weight. But we all know that doesn't always work. For those of you looking for something to help you in losing some of that menopausal fat, I highly recommended getting (and sticking with) some type of weight lose plan. Some people are great at doing things on their own and being successful at it. Others need help and support.

If you are looking for a great way to lose menopausal weight, I highly recommend Strip That Fat. Its a diet system and eating program that will help you lose weight WITHOUT restricting your diet to low fat or low carb foods. Strip That Fat also teaches you how to exercise to increase your metabolism and burn calories while you rest..

You can create your very own diets using the STF Diet Creation tool. And there are over 40,000 different two week diet combinations that you can create. With this diet system it is possible to lose up to 10 lbs in two weeks.

It includes easy-to-implement weight loss techniques that will have you losing weight in the short term. And your weight loss will be sustainable for long term. It's the best selling weight loss system out there and if you really want to lose weight, I highly recommend you go to the Strip That Fat website now.

We all know the basics of how to lose weight during menopause but its just not that easy to do, and we could all use a bit of help and encouragement. Don't take it lightly, your health depends on it.