Is menopause weight gain caused by the stress of trying to keep on top of your career?
Work Stress & Menopause
While we’ve taken huge leaps forwards in raising awareness of menopause in the workplace and providing support, there is often very little that is done to alleviate the specific pressures midlife women experience.
Menopause coincides with a time when women are at the top of their career and naturally, with any senior role, pressure increases for all genders and ages. But menopause makes it harder for us to cope with stress. Brain fog, tiredness and low energy mean we’re not as quick and sharp as we used to be, and keeping all the plates spinning feels much harder - to the extent we can become more stressed because we feel like we’re on the edge of a career threatening disaster.
The pressure to do more to protect our career
This leaves us feeling extra vulnerable to losing our jobs, so we go the extra mile, to stay relevant and become even more indispensable to clients, employers and colleagues.
It’s a vicious cycle, making bad sleep worse, tainting weekends and making switching off virtually impossible.
Constant pressure leaves little room for pleasure and relaxation, but as humans we need it. To maintain drive and motivation, there has to be a reward for our efforts. And the easiest and most accessible way of accessing a shot of pleasure in an intensely stressful, time-poor life, is from food, and alcohol.
No one craves a healthy lunch to console us after a dreadful morning, or a couple of boiled eggs to help us face a long afternoon of meetings. Is chopping veg anyones favourite way to wind down after work?
Being trapped on the hamster wheel leaves little time for self care. Low energy and constant pressure means we increasing rely on little pick me ups. They quickly become a more than a habit, they’re an essential part of how we cope.
Using the ‘wrong’ food to help us cope
As the amount of less-healthy food we eat increases, the overall quality of our diets suffers and we get less of the nutrients we need. The combination of drip-feeding ourselves with various carbs and constant stress are a recipe for weight gain, which only adds to our woes.
You literally carry your excess weight around with you and I speak to many women who feel down every single day, unable to see how, with the pressure they are under, they can turn things around.
The power of the ‘right’ food
One of the most powerful things I’ve experienced in my life, is how the right food can change how you feel almost instantly.
Eat one breakfast with the right nutrients in, and you’ll stay full and energised until lunch. Do the same with lunch and you’ll be able to think more clearly all afternoon and won’t leave the office feeling desperate for food and having no self control the minute you walk through the front door.
Follow the same template for your evening meal and you’ll sleep better. One of the reasons we wake in the early hours is because blood sugar dips after the evening carb-fest.
Repeat this for a week and you’ll feel more in control of your day, your energy will be stable, you’ll think clearer be more productive.
Repeat for a month and you’ll notice your waistband feels looser - a lovely side benefit, but in my experience, its the other benefits that are the game-changers.
Get a free meal plan
Don’t just take my word for it - give it a try for yourself. Sign up for my newsletter and I’ll send you a free meal plan with simple, family friendly meals to stabilise your energy levels and reduce cravings.