Why You’re Gaining Weight in Perimenopause
(and What to Do About It)
You’re a high-achieving woman in your 40s juggling a demanding career, family responsibilities, and a full calendar of commitments. Your to-do list is a mile long and your dreams of what you want to create and experience is even longer. You need to be on top of your game and you can get pretty frustrated when something - life, coworker, broken tech - gets in your way.
You’re unstoppable…except when it comes to your health lately! Because if you’re like most women in your shoes, you’ve likely noticed that your usual health and wellness strategies have suddenly stopped working.
You’re tired, your creativity and focus are waning, and your favorite black pants are feeling a bit too snug for you liking!
And, when it comes to all the health, diet and lifestyle tips out there, it can feel very overwhelming and confusing!
Before you jump into another “quick fix” weight loss and energy-boosting solution, here me out:
What you’re experiencing is something deeper than what most health, fitness and wellness coaches talk about. (And it’s definitely on a completely different track than the strangers who like to tell you which supplements to take and foods to avoid are saying!)
Because you’re a go-getter, and a woman, what YOU need to squash what others call “hormonal imbalances” is completely different from what the 20-year-old version of you followed.
Hormones DO change as women get older, but the rollercoasting symptoms from a slower metabolism, sleepless nights, waking up groggy, mood swings and brain fog are not actually caused by those hormonal shifts.
One of the most frustrating and confusing symptoms?
Perimenopause weight gain—especially when it shows up despite eating “clean,” exercising consistently, and doing everything that used to work.
Let’s unpack why this happens—and what you can do to support your body through this major transition.
Understanding Perimenopause: More Than Just Hormones
Perimenopause is the natural transition that typically begins in your mid-to-late 30s or early 40s, even though many women don’t realize it’s happening. It’s the period leading up to menopause when your hormone levels—particularly estrogen and progesterone—begin to fluctuate and gradually decline.
These hormonal shifts affect much more than your menstrual cycle. They influence how your body metabolizes food, manages stress, stores fat, and produces energy. As a result, even women who’ve been in tune with their bodies for years find themselves struggling with:
Unexplained weight gain (especially around the midsection, upper thighs, hips and arms)
Brain fog and moments of “what was I just doing?”
Chronic fatigue or “wired but tired” energy
Mood swings, anxiety, or overwhelm
Gas, bloating, constipation or diarrhea
Sleepless nights, insomnia
Hot flashes or night sweats
Little to no sex drive
And while these hormonal shifts can affect your health and explode into a whirlwind of symptoms, it’s actually the way your body metabolizes, removes and responds to these hormonal changes that cause your hormonal chaos.
So, if you’re wondering how to lose weight during perimenopause, it's not about cutting back on calories, working out harder at the gym, or popping supplements each day.
7 Common “Healthy” Tips That Backfire During Perimenopause
Mainstream health and hormone advice doesn’t account for the hormonal, mineral, and metabolic shifts that occur in this stage of life. In fact, most common weight loss strategies may be making your body store more fat.
Let’s dive into what NOT to do!
Eating Less and Exercising More
The old calorie in/calorie out model is outdated, especially in your 40s. Restricting food leads to blood sugar crashes, increased cortisol (your stress hormone), and eventually slows your metabolism further.
The better option is to focus on fueling your body with nutrients that not only balance your macros, but also fire up your metabolism. Think foods like beans, broccoli, squash, ground flaxseed, leafy greens, beets, cauliflower, whole eggs, and high quality protein.
Fearing Carbs
Carbohydrates are essential for your thyroid, metabolism, and mood regulation. And you brain runs on carbs, so cutting these focus-enhancing and sleep-inducing nutrients can really mess up your days. Eliminating them also increases stress on the body and disrupts hormone production.
I’m not saying down bread, pasta and crackers all day. Instead, choose your carbs wisely, focusing more on root vegetables, berries, apples, quinoa and legumes. These foods support energy, metabolism and focus.
Skipping Meals or “Intermittent Fasting”
Yeah, yeah, everyone talks about how amazing intermittent fasting is for health and longevity. But for women going through perimenopause - aside from pregnancy, the most energy-intensive time of your life - skipping meals or going too long without food turns up stress and fat storage hormone production.
A gentle 12-14 hour fast overnight is perfect for your body - this gives your digestive system a break while allowing enough time for internal waste removal and detox systems to do their thing. Throughout the day, eat enough at each of your 3 main meals so that you have no desire to snack. Ideally you go 4-5 hours between meals.
Random “Hormone-Balancing” Supplements
Supplements can support your journey, but only if they’re used strategically. Grabbing whatever’s trending on social media or recommended by a friend rarely produces lasting results.
Even hormone-balancing supplements based on a doctor’s lab test results can backfire, so be cautious with these. One time my DUTCH test results said my estrogen was too low; I started taking estrogen-boosting supplements and ended up gained about 6 inches in 3 weeks that was hell to get rid of. Turns out that the 3 months between taking the test and starting the supplements allowed for my estrogen levels to balance themselves.
So that’s my big word of caution when it comes to relying on lab results to diagnose your hormone health!
Supplements should only be taken as a late-stage solution to your overall hormone regulation and weight loss plan. They’re not “quick fix” treatments and they don’t work alone.
Tracking, Counting, Calculating Food
Your body fluctuates in so many ways through the day, the week and the month. So what it needs today is going to be different from what it needs next week. Relying on macro calculators or calorie counting apps to tell you how much food to eat is like trying to feed a caterpillar a butterfly’s diet.
Don’t get sucked into this very dated (and highly ineffective) way of sustainable fat loss, especially in perimenopause.
My clients drop weight fastest - and keep it off - when they stop worrying about macros or calories and simply switch our low-cal or low-carb processed foods with high quality whole foods.
AND they get to eat more food overall!
Believing it’s “just what it is”
There are so many women in their 50s or 60s who have learned how to eat (following all these tips!) in order to burn fat. Weight gain is a sign of a deep imbalance, usually related to sluggish total body detoxification, poor digestion, nutrient gaps and systemic inflammation.
The solution to combat that is to find out what your personal weight gain trigger is and then craft a nutrition plan that’s design to reverse it.
Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free and/or High-Protein Diets
Yes, this is the perfect first step in your hormonal weight loss journey.
But it’s not the ONLY step! And this where so many women get stuck.
Without gut healing, detox improvements. mineral replenishment, and blood sugar support, even the cleanest diet won’t shift the needle.
True transformation comes from supporting all systems—not just what’s on your plate.
How to Lose Weight During Perimenopause (the Right Way)
Losing weight in perimenopause isn’t about working harder. It’s about working smarter—with your body instead of against it.
Here’s what that looks like:
Balancing blood sugar to stabilize energy, mood, and cravings
Reducing inflammation through mineral-rich whole foods and strategic rest to boost energy and mental focus
Healing your gut and supporting detox pathways, which helps your body process and eliminate excess estrogen to drop inches and avoid hot flashes
Prioritizing sleep and stress reduction to lower cortisol and improve metabolic function so you can be more creative each day
Using natural remedies for perimenopause like magnesium, B-complex vitamins, and adaptogenic herbs—but only if they’re right for you
You’ve Been Following the Wrong Map
If you’ve been spinning your wheels, wondering why the usual methods don’t work anymore, it’s time to focus on what weight loss in perimenopause actually needs.
Most women over 40 are handed outdated advice that doesn’t consider what’s actually happening in their bodies. And most damages the very hormones needed for healthy metabolism and fat burning processes.
You deserve a new strategy—one that’s rooted in functional nutrition, real science, and designed for the ambitious woman you are.
Your Step-by-Step Blueprint
If you're ready to finally understand how to lose weight during perimenopause, reclaim your energy, and feel like yourself again (without obsessing over food or wasting money on supplements that don't work)...
Download my free guide: The Root Cause Hormone & Energy Reboot Blueprint.
Inside, you’ll get:
✅ A clear explanation of the metabolic and hormonal shifts happening in your 40s
✅ Natural remedies for perimenopause that actually work
✅ Step-by-step tools to reduce perimenopause weight gain, brain fog, and burnout—starting today
✅ Guidance that respects your ambition, your time, and your life
Click here to download your free blueprint now
This isn’t about giving up control—it’s about getting it back.
