Most women begin to go through menopause in either their 40’s or 50’s. Menopause is the last phase in a woman’s cycle. It marks a time when her body is no longer able to menstruate or produce eggs that would normally be fertilized for pregnancy.

It is also a time of great discomfort for a woman. Because of the hormonal changes that her body is going through, it can cause a great shock to her entire system.

She may begin to experience certain symptoms such as hot flashes. Many menopausal women also experience an increase in weight. This is because their metabolic indicators become lower.

The metabolic indicators tell a woman’s body when to retain water and when to burn fat. As a result, most women going through menopause gain excess water weight and fat.

But there is a way for menopausal women to maintain their weight and even lose some of the excess pounds. And it is really not that difficult, although it does take a lot of persistence and regimentation of lifestyle.

In order for a menopausal woman to lose weight, she should basically follow the rules that any other woman would follow to lose weight. She should exercise regularly, stay determined and make healthy food choices.

Here are some easy exercises that can be done and some healthy food suggestions.

If a woman has exercised in the past, she may notice that these exercises do not affect her body the same way now that she is going through menopause. She will need to make some changes to the way she exercises.

Some easy suggestions are walking briskly, swimming or going for a run. She should take about 30 minutes out of her day to do these exercises. Two additional great exercise programs to follow are Pilates and yoga.

She can also make small changes to make herself more active such as physically changing the television channel or opting to walk up the stairs instead of waiting for an elevator.

Women who experience weight gain during menopause also need to make changes to their diet. During this stage in their lives, women’s bodies need certain vitamins and minerals.

Menopausal women should increase the amount of zinc that they get by eating certain vegetables. Replace sweets with fruit. They will also need to get more omega-3’s. Adding green tea and water to the diet is also advised.

Most women go through menopause anywhere from 2-10 years. It is important to get a jump start on weight loss so that at the end of the ten years, they are not sitting around with excess weight.