Latest news with #weightgain
Vogue
3 hours ago
- Health
- Vogue
Are GLP-1s a Cure for Menopausal Weight Gain?
It was night sweats, wild mood swings, and, ironically, significant hair loss that first sent Kate, 54, a New York–based hairstylist, to her doctor in her late 40s looking for relief; she was prescribed an estrogen patch. 'It made me feel like myself again,' says Kate, whose name has been changed to protect her privacy. 'I was sleeping, I wasn't losing my temper, and my mood really evened out, but I was still overweight.' Despite a healthy diet and regular exercise, there were a dozen or so pounds that just wouldn't budge. So she started taking Wegovy. For Shelby Meade, 55, an LA-based publicist, regular doses of estrogen helped temper her sometimes 30-day periods but did nothing for her perpetually bloated state. 'I was heavier than I'd ever been and there was a constant pressure on my lower abdomen,' says Meade, who, like Kate, exercised regularly and had a healthy diet. A family doctor suggested Wegovy. 'I just wanted to feel better in my body, and that flipped a switch,' says Meade. 'It was a game changer.' While vasomotor symptoms like hot flashes and night sweats are recurring topics in conversations about menopause, weight gain is just as pervasive: Around 60 percent of women gain weight during this transition, putting on an average of 1.5 pounds per year throughout their 40s and 50s. 'I have 16 patients a day, and usually 16 out of 16 are reporting weight gain to me,' says Tara Iyer, MD, medical director of the Menopause and Midlife Clinic at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Massachusetts. 'Many had never struggled with weight but now have gained 15 or 20 pounds.' And that will happen to women without any changes in diet or exercise. 'It's a very unfair paradigm,' says Caroline Messer, MD, a New York City–based endocrinologist. Much of that midlife weight gain tends to be concentrated in the midsection, earning the unfortunate moniker 'meno belly.' This happens due to a combination of factors. Estrogen—which, much like the collagen in our faces, we lose at a rapid rate come midlife—has many important functions related to weight and body composition: It helps women maintain muscle mass, and it contributes to the regulation of appetite and metabolism. 'Essentially women are losing muscle, gaining fat tissue, and where we store our weight changes,' says Iyer. A drop in estrogen can lead to insulin resistance, meaning that it becomes more difficult for the body to regulate sugar, and for many women that glucose gets turned into fat. Addressing excess weight around the midsection isn't just about vanity, it can pose a health risk: Associated metabolic complications can include fatty liver disease and hypertension, the latter of which, says Reena Bose, MD, an internal medicine and obesity medicine specialist at Cleveland Clinic, increases almost 30 percent with even a 10-pound weight gain. The American Heart Association also highlights the menopause transition as a time of heightened risk for women's cardiovascular health. The hormonal changes of menopause can make the weight gain more resistant to traditional diet and lifestyle adjustments, says Peminda Cabandugama, MD. But studies have found that GLP-1s can be a very effective reinforcement of diet and exercise GLP-1s—that is, the class of drugs that includes semaglutide, packaged in brand-name form as Ozempic and Wegovy, and tirzepatide, like Mounjaro—'act on estrogen receptors in the body, and they improve insulin resistance,' explains Judi Chervenak, MD, a reproductive endocrinologist at Montefiore with a clinical focus on menopause. They also slow GI motility, so you feel full. That last part 'can be essential because women are often simply hungrier during the menopause transition,' says Bose, adding that estrogen is also responsible for keeping the body's hunger-balancing hormones, ghrelin and leptin (which tell us when we're full), in check. The hormonal changes of menopause can make the weight gain more resistant to traditional diet and lifestyle adjustments, says Peminda Cabandugama, MD, an endocrinologist and obesity specialist at Cleveland Clinic. But studies, like a recent one in the journal Obesity, found that GLP-1s can be a very effective reinforcement of diet and exercise. Research is also growing about the potential benefits of combining GLP-1s with the menopausal hormone treatment (MHT) that has long been recommended, and there are new companies to support the regimen. Alloy Women's Health, an expansive digital menopause platform that connects board-certified physicians to women across the country (a boon in health care deserts), launched with estrogen creams and patches, but earlier this year they started offering GLP-1s as well. 'Women really wanted it,' says Monica Molenaar, cofounder and co-CEO of Alloy. Now 35 percent of Alloy's customers are on both a GLP-1 and hormonal treatment. Another platform, Noom, started as a digital weight-management platform and first offered semaglutide in 2023; it expanded into hormonal treatment this year. 'These drugs are addressing different problems, but they work together in the sense that they both bring down inflammation,' says Karen Mann, MD, medical director at Noom. Messer is a huge proponent of coupling the treatments (she favors low doses of tirzepatide, which often has fewer side effects than semaglutide). A recent study by the Mayo Clinic found that overweight or obese postmenopausal women using hormonal treatments and semaglutide lost about 30 percent more weight than those using semaglutide alone. Chrisandra Shufelt, MD, an internal medicine doctor specializing in women's health at the Mayo Clinic and one of the authors of the study, emphasizes that the findings don't necessarily mean that hormone therapy supercharges the effects of semaglutide, but rather that hormones help the body respond more optimally to the drugs. (A larger study is expected to be published soon.) In lay terms, it makes sense: Hot flashes, night sweats, mood shifts, joint pain, and sleep disruptions—all of that can dramatically impact your quality of life and, in turn, lead to weight gain. There are doctors, of course, who remain conservative about prescribing GLP-1s to women who don't fit a specific set of criteria. 'We have to be careful about using them willy-nilly, like with someone, for example, who has a normal BMI and may just not be happy because of a slight increase in body weight,' says Chervenak. 'These drugs are not without risk.' There are the common side effects of GLP-1s, like gastrointestinal issues, abdominal pain, and nausea, and women should assess their risk factors with their doctor before starting any treatment.
News.com.au
6 hours ago
- Entertainment
- News.com.au
Kyle Sandilands makes sad health confession live on-air
Kyle Sandilands made a sad confession about his health live on his radio show on Wednesday morning. Sandilands has struggled with maintaining a healthy lifestyle in recent years, and earlier this year, he suffered from a shock brain aneurysm diagnosis. While chatting with his co-star Jackie O' Henderson on Wednesday, Sandilands admitted that he's find physical activities harder recently after gaining weight. He revealed that he's put on 12kg since last year, now hitting 138kg on the scales. 'I'm 138, I thought I was massive. I've been a bit … I don't know whether 'depressed' is the word? Ever since this aneurysm thing came up a year ago,' said the controversial star. 'I brushed it off inside. My wife is on me about it, asking if I would like to come for a walk with her and [their son] Otto. I would like to, but just too fat and lazy to go!' Sandilands went on to confess that despite putting on weight he's not bothered to cut out junk food and change his diet. 'I also use an opportunity to eat a packet of chicken and biscuits! I know I'm doing myself in,' he said before adding that he went under a series of tests this week to gauge how good his health is. 'I did all these scans yesterday, haven't got the results yet. If I'm good, then I will put together a club, 'Kyle's Big Fatso Club', where I want others to join me in my slow march to healthiness. Who is with me?' he said. It comes after Sandilands was slammed by listeners after he stormed off his radio show during an unhinged and offensive rant. Sandilands threw a fit when his show with Jackie 'O' Henderson, which broadcasts in Sydney and Melbourne, got heavily censored discussing a while horrific murder case on-air. Sandilands was sharing his thoughts on former Beauty and the Geek star Tamika Chesser, who is alleged to have killed and decapitated her boyfriend. Returning to the show the day after they had faced heavy on-air censoring, Sandilands lashed out, claiming that rules for radio presenters reporting on crimes are too strict. 'OK, so the show got dumped in the middle of a planned discussion that I had already discussed with the legal team about things that have been happening on the show,' he said. 'Why was that dumped, when I was using all the correct lingo?' Sandilands was then told that it was The Kyle & Jackie O Show director Bruno Bouchet who had made the call to censor the show and momentarily take it off air. 'Some laws are just so dumb and stupid, and I'm not playing ball,' he said. 'Until this show runs the way I intend it to be run, I will not be back on the air at all, in any way, shape or form. 'I'm not going to waste my life here walking on eggshells around other people's ideas of what I should be doing. 'I do what I want to do and if you don't like it, tough s***. That's the way it is with me.' Sandilands then remarked that he planned to go on a hunt for the show's director with 'dogs and a baseball bat'.
South China Morning Post
12 hours ago
- Entertainment
- South China Morning Post
How this 52-year-old lost 30kg in a year with OMAD intermittent fasting and healthy habits
It may have looked like slapstick, but for stand-up comedian Maitreyi Karanth, it was not at all funny. While playing squash with a friend, she ran to get a shot and slammed into a wall, experiencing severe bleeding and bruising deep in her chest muscles. Advertisement That was in 2005. The injury took months to heal, affecting her mobility. A physically active person, Karanth was frustrated with her inability to exercise. She sought comfort in eating and, within a year, had put on 25kg (55lb). She was not particularly bothered by the extra weight – as an actor and former teacher, she had self-confidence. 'I still felt very pretty and continued to post pictures of myself on social media without feeling like I needed to hide any part of my body,' says Karanth, now 52, who was born in India and has lived in Hong Kong for 21 years. Karanth in 2019, just before she decided that she was done making excuses for her poor eating habits. Photo: Maitreyi Karanth She is also the founder of the Koma Karanth Foundation , a charity that builds homes for people in need in the Philippines. Advertisement It was only after her battered body healed, and she could play squash and hike again, that she really 'felt the brunt of those activities', she says.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
It took me 50 years to get the body I always wanted – it's never too late to get in shape
Businesswoman Denise, 54, is married to Glenn, 55, an engineer. They live in Los Angeles and have no children. Like many other couples in the pandemic, my husband and I found comfort in food and wine. Glenn perfected his pizza dough, while I perfected pouring us two glasses of wine most nights. The result? I gained over a stone (15lb) in a few months and hit my highest weight of 13st 7lb. At 5ft 11in, I'm tall, but this still meant that I was bursting out of my size 18 clothes – not exactly slim. It wasn't just about feeling bad about the way I looked, though that was certainly real, but by my late 40s unwelcome health issues had begun creeping in, too. I'd already been told by doctors to lose weight because I was prediabetic, and I'd newly been diagnosed with arthritis in both knees. That shocked me. I thought conversations about knee replacements were for people in their 70s, I wasn't there yet. Yet strangely, the real kicker for me wasn't even these health red flags, which felt too abstract. It was when I noticed that my wedding ring was too small for my fat fingers that it suddenly felt real. I thought: what am I doing to myself? I took a good look at my pescatarian diet and realised how many carbs I consumed (all Glenn's delicious home made pizzas!) but how little protein was in my diet. The nightly wine was full of empty calories too, of course. My 30s and 40s were spent building up my executive recruiting company, working long hours and always trying (and failing) every diet under the sun. WeightWatchers (multiple times), the Atkins diet, and the Six Week Body Makeover (several times). I tried Jane Fonda videos, and while they all worked for a bit, I'd drop 10lb, or even 20lb, but it wasn't sustainable, and I'd pile it back on. My weight yo-yoed for three decades. But in August 2020, I made a decision to do it differently. I'd been lurking on Instagram and Facebook, watching women older than me lifting weights. These women looked strong. They reminded me of Linda Hamilton in Terminator, whose arms I've long envied. I thought: if they can do it, why not me? They also seemed to be talking a lot about 'macros'. I didn't even know what a macro was at first, but I genned up and began tracking them – essentially it's focusing on the right balance of protein, fats and carbs in foods. Unlike calorie counting alone, tracking macros taught me to prioritise muscle, which was new to me. Every meal, I aimed for 25-30g of protein. So for breakfast, I'd make oats with egg whites stirred in, topped with yogurt. Lunch might be ground turkey tacos with low-fat cheese, and dinner something like spaghetti squash with a rich tomato sauce and lean meat. I actually eat more like four meals a day now, and I reintroduced meat (after being vegetarian for years), because I just really craved it, and I think during menopause my iron levels got low. While I was soon feeling better, I can't pretend my new eating habits were great for our marriage. Glenn was always supportive – he'd tell me I looked beautiful, even when I didn't believe it! – but because he liked a lot of carbs, and likes to eat more like 9pm, three hours later than I preferred in my new regime, it meant we ate separately at different times. That adjustment was tough because dinner used to be how we connected. But we adapted, and instead replaced our mealtime chats with evening walks instead. The gyms were all shut during the pandemic, so I bought cheap weights online and started lifting them five days a week in my guest bedroom. I picked workouts online that were meant to be 45 minutes long, but they took two hours because I was so out of shape and out of breath. But I persevered. Within weeks, things began to shift. I got quicker at completing the workouts, and I also added in half an hour of cardio a day, five days a week. As I got stronger, I felt better and my body started to change – and my mindset. The goal I had in mind was to get to a size 12 for my 50th birthday in October 2020. And I did it! I felt incredible, and celebrated with a small party. My arthritis improved, my energy returned, and for the first time in years, I liked how I looked – and felt – in clothes. Glenn said the best thing about me changing isn't how I look, but how he could see that I had found a real new meaning in my life at a time when others were slowing down. By then, three years after I'd first re-hauled by lifestyle, Glenn decided he wanted to feel as good as me, so hired his own coach and began tracking macros, too. Now we go to the gym together, and it's a lovely thing to share. The transformation went so much deeper than just being physical. It shifted how I saw my entire life. I started an Instagram account in 2021 to connect with other women, and the response was overwhelming. Women in midlife messaged me saying they saw themselves in me – that they too felt stuck, tired, and like their best days were behind them. I knew that feeling so well: we all tend to think our midlife is a slow decline until death. I tell them all it's not. It's a new beginning. In 2023, I handed my company over to my business partner as I realised I felt so passionate about inspiring other women over 40. I launched a coaching platform, calling it Rebellion Body, because it's a rebellion against the outdated narrative that midlife means fading into the background. It's not our mothers' midlife any more. We've since helped thousands of people around the world. I want women to understand: muscle is your fountain of youth. It improves your metabolism, protects your joints, boosts your confidence, and helps you sleep. It's not about looking a certain way – it's about feeling strong and capable. At 55, I've competed in a bodybuilding competition. I lift heavy weights. And yes, even my sex life has improved, because when you feel good in your body, everything gets better. Midlife is a gift. We have experience, perspective, often more time and resources than we did in our 30s. We care less about what people think. We're more discerning about who we let into our lives. The only thing that limits us is our belief that it's too late. It's not! I want women to carry on dreaming big, however old they are. I still want to get more muscular – next up is getting bigger glutes. I'll get there one day. And I'm delighted to say that my wedding ring now fits perfectly. We really do get to choose how we age. It's all about your mindset – not your menopause. What I ate before Breakfast: Bagel and egg; veggie sausage patties; eggs and toast with jam. Lunch: Frozen burritos or enchiladas; tuna sandwiches with mayo Dinner: Homemade pizza nights; veggie burgers and sausages with buns & potato salad. Always pudding – usually chocolate. Snacks: Crisps and guacamole; microwave popcorn. Doritos were my weakness – if they were in the house, they were gone. Alcohol: Two to three glasses of wine a night at the weekend, but during the pandemic, it became nightly. What I ate after Breakfast: Coffee and collagen every morning. Then either overnight oats with low-fat yogurt, or one egg plus egg whites, sourdough, turkey bacon and berries; high-protein waffles with added egg whites & blueberries. I often have two breakfasts now, one before a morning workout, and one after. Lunch: Chicken or grass-fed beef bowls with veggies, avocado and a bit of rice; big salads with chicken, beets, chickpeas, greens and homemade vinaigrette; courgette noodles with shredded chicken, tomatoes, soft low-fat cheese. Dinner: Homemade turkey chilli over spaghetti squash with soft cheese; air-fried sockeye salmon, roasted baby potatoes and veg; turkey meatballs with flaxseed, rice and veg. Snacks: Homemade protein 'ice cream' (almond milk, cacao, cottage cheese, protein powder and frozen cherries/raspberries; yogurt bowls with protein powder, fruit, hemp hearts; protein bars or beef jerky. Alcohol: Rarely now! Maybe four glasses of wine a year for special occasions. I love the taste, but it no longer supports how I want to feel. As told to Susanna Galton Follow Denise's tips @fiftyfitnessjourney on Instagram, and on her website, Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more.
Telegraph
5 days ago
- Health
- Telegraph
It took me 50 years to get the body I always wanted – it's never too late to get in shape
Businesswoman Denise, 54, is married to Glenn, 55, an engineer. They live in Los Angeles and have no children. Like many other couples in the pandemic, my husband and I found comfort in food and wine. Glenn perfected his pizza dough, while I perfected pouring us two glasses of wine most nights. The result? I gained over a stone (15lb) in a few months and hit my highest weight of 13st 7lb. At 5ft 11in, I'm tall, but this still meant that I was bursting out of my size 18 clothes – not exactly slim. It wasn't just about feeling bad about the way I looked, though that was certainly real, but by my late 40s unwelcome health issues had begun creeping in, too. I'd already been told by doctors to lose weight because I was prediabetic, and I'd newly been diagnosed with arthritis in both knees. That shocked me. I thought conversations about knee replacements were for people in their 70s, I wasn't there yet. Yet strangely, the real kicker for me wasn't even these health red flags, which felt too abstract. It was when I noticed that my wedding ring was too small for my fat fingers that it suddenly felt real. I thought: what am I doing to myself? I took a good look at my pescatarian diet and realised how many carbs I consumed (all Glenn's delicious home made pizzas!) but how little protein was in my diet. The nightly wine was full of empty calories too, of course. My 30s and 40s were spent building up my executive recruiting company, working long hours and always trying (and failing) every diet under the sun. WeightWatchers (multiple times), the Atkins diet, and the Six Week Body Makeover (several times). I tried Jane Fonda videos, and while they all worked for a bit, I'd drop 10lb, or even 20lb, but it wasn't sustainable, and I'd pile it back on. My weight yo-yoed for three decades. But in August 2020, I made a decision to do it differently. I'd been lurking on Instagram and Facebook, watching women older than me lifting weights. These women looked strong. They reminded me of Linda Hamilton in Terminator, whose arms I've long envied. I thought: if they can do it, why not me? They also seemed to be talking a lot about 'macros'. I didn't even know what a macro was at first, but I genned up and began tracking them – essentially it's focusing on the right balance of protein, fats and carbs in foods. Unlike calorie counting alone, tracking macros taught me to prioritise muscle, which was new to me. Every meal, I aimed for 25-30g of protein. So for breakfast, I'd make oats with egg whites stirred in, topped with yogurt. Lunch might be ground turkey tacos with low-fat cheese, and dinner something like spaghetti squash with a rich tomato sauce and lean meat. I actually eat more like four meals a day now, and I reintroduced meat (after being vegetarian for years), because I just really craved it, and I think during menopause my iron levels got low. While I was soon feeling better, I can't pretend my new eating habits were great for our marriage. Glenn was always supportive – he'd tell me I looked beautiful, even when I didn't believe it! – but because he liked a lot of carbs, and likes to eat more like 9pm, three hours later than I preferred in my new regime, it meant we ate separately at different times. That adjustment was tough because dinner used to be how we connected. But we adapted, and instead replaced our mealtime chats with evening walks instead. The gyms were all shut during the pandemic, so I bought cheap weights online and started lifting them five days a week in my guest bedroom. I picked workouts online that were meant to be 45 minutes long, but they took two hours because I was so out of shape and out of breath. But I persevered. Within weeks, things began to shift. I got quicker at completing the workouts, and I also added in half an hour of cardio a day, five days a week. As I got stronger, I felt better and my body started to change – and my mindset. The goal I had in mind was to get to a size 12 for my 50th birthday in October 2020. And I did it! I felt incredible, and celebrated with a small party. My arthritis improved, my energy returned, and for the first time in years, I liked how I looked – and felt – in clothes. Glenn said the best thing about me changing isn't how I look, but how he could see that I had found a real new meaning in my life at a time when others were slowing down. By then, three years after I'd first re-hauled by lifestyle, Glenn decided he wanted to feel as good as me, so hired his own coach and began tracking macros, too. Now we go to the gym together, and it's a lovely thing to share. The transformation went so much deeper than just being physical. It shifted how I saw my entire life. I started an Instagram account in 2021 to connect with other women, and the response was overwhelming. Women in midlife messaged me saying they saw themselves in me – that they too felt stuck, tired, and like their best days were behind them. I knew that feeling so well: we all tend to think our midlife is a slow decline until death. I tell them all it's not. It's a new beginning. In 2023, I handed my company over to my business partner as I realised I felt so passionate about inspiring other women over 40. I launched a coaching platform, calling it Rebellion Body, because it's a rebellion against the outdated narrative that midlife means fading into the background. It's not our mothers' midlife any more. We've since helped thousands of people around the world. I want women to understand: muscle is your fountain of youth. It improves your metabolism, protects your joints, boosts your confidence, and helps you sleep. It's not about looking a certain way – it's about feeling strong and capable. At 55, I've competed in a bodybuilding competition. I lift heavy weights. And yes, even my sex life has improved, because when you feel good in your body, everything gets better. Midlife is a gift. We have experience, perspective, often more time and resources than we did in our 30s. We care less about what people think. We're more discerning about who we let into our lives. The only thing that limits us is our belief that it's too late. It's not! I want women to carry on dreaming big, however old they are. I still want to get more muscular – next up is getting bigger glutes. I'll get there one day. And I'm delighted to say that my wedding ring now fits perfectly. We really do get to choose how we age. It's all about your mindset – not your menopause. What I ate before Breakfast: Bagel and egg; veggie sausage patties; eggs and toast with jam. Lunch: Frozen burritos or enchiladas; tuna sandwiches with mayo Dinner: Homemade pizza nights; veggie burgers and sausages with buns & potato salad. Always pudding – usually chocolate. Snacks: Crisps and guacamole; microwave popcorn. Doritos were my weakness – if they were in the house, they were gone. Alcohol: Two to three glasses of wine a night at the weekend, but during the pandemic, it became nightly. What I ate after Breakfast: Coffee and collagen every morning. Then either overnight oats with low-fat yogurt, or one egg plus egg whites, sourdough, turkey bacon and berries; high-protein waffles with added egg whites & blueberries. I often have two breakfasts now, one before a morning workout, and one after. Lunch: Chicken or grass-fed beef bowls with veggies, avocado and a bit of rice; big salads with chicken, beets, chickpeas, greens and homemade vinaigrette; courgette noodles with shredded chicken, tomatoes, soft low-fat cheese. Dinner: Homemade turkey chilli over spaghetti squash with soft cheese; air-fried sockeye salmon, roasted baby potatoes and veg; turkey meatballs with flaxseed, rice and veg. Snacks: Homemade protein 'ice cream' (almond milk, cacao, cottage cheese, protein powder and frozen cherries/raspberries; yogurt bowls with protein powder, fruit, hemp hearts; protein bars or beef jerky. Alcohol: Rarely now! Maybe four glasses of wine a year for special occasions. I love the taste, but it no longer supports how I want to feel. As told to Susanna Galton
