MAKE A FRESH START IN 2026

​

Hi Reader - Happy 2026! If you’re just starting or re-starting your weight loss journey, or you need help maintaining your weight, this newsletter will help you begin the new year with a running start.​
​

Yes, it is harder to lose and maintain your weight after menopause.

​

When our hormones change, especially when estrogen levels decrease, our bodies experience changes.

1. Our metabolism seems to slow down.
2. It’s easier to lose muscle and harder to build muscle. Muscle helps burn calories and protects our bones.
3. Fat stores tend to accumulate in the abdomen (visceral fat), which worsens health risks.​
   ​

We’ve developed habits and patterns over the years that, combined with this slower metabolism and less hormonal "leeway," mean that eating a little extra every day can lead to easier weight gain and slower and more difficult weight loss. But it is possible to permanently reach an optimal weight!

​

Choose one thing to start with:

I recommend you concentrate on either:

1. Eating when hungry - while not eating out of habit or for emotional reasons. Concentrate on eating only when you are physically hungry. This means recognizing your body’s hunger signals. It also means realizing when you’re eating for emotional reasons, such as from boredom, stress, anxiety, or anger, or eating from habit, such as when you have a 3 PM slump, cleaning your plate automatically, eating while watching Netflix, etc.
2. Focus on stopping eating when you’re satisfied - without being stuffed. Practice leaving food on your plate and not continuing to eat just because all those around you are eating.

​

For many women, doing either of these suggestions, most of the time, is enough to start losing or maintaining weight as we decrease the unconscious or automatic extra food consumption to which we have become accustomed.​
​

Other things to concentrate on:

When we clean up our habits, we eat the foods our bodies need and limit the extra food. Then weight loss or maintenance becomes easier. After menopause, there are two other important changes many of us need to make:

​

1. We need to prioritize protein. Muscle mass declines with age (sarcopenia) and hormonal changes. We need protein to help build and maintain muscle. Aim for eating about 30 grams of protein (or more) with each meal.
2. We also must strength train. Strength training helps to build and preserve muscle, which is essential if we want to delay becoming frail. Strong muscles also help protect our bones. I recommend strength training at least 2 or 3 times a week.

​
​

When we pay attention to our hunger and “enough” signals and eat foods that help us feel good and energetic, when we build and protect our muscle mass, and when we learn to deal with our emotions without needing food, we make better choices, and our journeys to a healthy weight become easier and more sustainable.

​

Commit to doing one of these suggestions today. With consistency, that one thing will lead you closer to your goal!

​

Happy New Year! I wish you success, one single step at a time. Share this newsletter with a friend. They can subscribe at: https://drbarbaralkatzcoaching.net

​
​