Navigating changes to your body during menopause.
- Julie Storer
- Jun 20, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Jul 2, 2025
I don’t have to tell you that your body changes during the menopause transition. Even women who feel they are aging well, may find themselves gaining belly fat, noticing changes to their lipid panel such as increased cholesterol and LDL’s, or notice their blood pressure creeping up, for example. Some changes are visible, while others happen beneath the surface. One of the most obvious? Weight gain and fat redistribution to your abdominal area.
This belly fat is largely visceral fat — the type that lives deep in your abdominal cavity, wrapping around your liver, stomach, and intestines. Visceral fat can negatively impact how these organs function, and it’s closely linked to metabolic changes that occur during menopause.
The Invisible Changes: Muscle Loss and Bone Health
Beyond what you can see, there are changes happening within your muscles and bones. Muscle mass plays a vital role in keeping strength, supporting bone density, and enabling physical activity. As we lose oestrogen, we also begin to lose lean muscle mass, and this increases the risk of osteopenia or osteoporosis.
Fortunately, there are steps you can take to reduce the severity of these changes and age stronger.
Oestrogen, Energy, and Body Composition
Oestrogen is a key regulator of metabolism in the female body. As oestrogen (and testosterone) levels decline during the menopause transition, the body becomes less efficient at burning energy.
Why?
Because lower estrogen levels accelerate age-related muscle loss — and with less muscle, your body burns fewer calories at rest. Fat accumulation increases, and muscle mass decreases. This is known as a change in body composition.
The Alarming Rate of Muscle Loss
After the age of 50, women may lose 5 to 10% of muscle mass every 10 years. Of course, a sedentary lifestyle and less movement contributes to this. But let that sink in, up to 10% of your muscle mass can be gone — each decade.
By the age of 75 most people can expect a significant decrease in muscle mass and strength unless they have a clear strategy for preventing this. Please be alarmed because this is serious, and I think we must choose to take on this fight against muscle loss to remain independent for our later years.
This loss of muscle contributes to:
• Slower metabolism
• Weakened bones
• Increased weight gain
• Visceral fat accumulation
• Insulin resistance
• Reduced physical strength
Falls and Frailty: The Real Risks
As strength and stability decline, the risk of falls rises dramatically.
But the falls themselves aren’t the only concern. After age 60 up to 50% of women who fall may break a bone, often due to underlying osteopenia or osteoporosis. Falls can also cause head trauma, hip fractures, lacerations, dislocation and injuries that greatly impact our health and ability to train.
What Can You Do?
This may all sound confronting — but it is not inevitable. During our midlife years we can meaningfully alter the trajectory of our later years.
Two things make a huge difference in prevention:
1. Protein Consumption
Adequate protein helps maintain and rebuild muscle mass — a critical factor in supporting metabolism and strength. Protein provides amino acids for growth and repair of body tissues throughout the body including skin, hair, nails, muscles bones, organs, ligaments and tendons.
2. Resistance Training
Lifting weights or performing bodyweight resistance exercises supports bone density, increases lean muscle, and enhances stability to help prevent falls. As you exercise, muscles contract against resistance. This resistance can come from your body weight, bands, free weights or machines. And it can also be a lot of fun!
You have more control than you think…
The menopause transition is a natural phase of life, but it doesn’t have to mean weakness, weight gain, or injury. With the right tools and habits, you can stay strong, capable, and vibrant for decades to come.
Unsure of where to start? Let’s have a chat …
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