Women’s Health in Fulshear, TX

🧬 Dr. Ginsberg pulls no punches: “Yes, perimenopause causes a metabolic slowdown.” Even if you’re eating the same and moving the same, your body’s internal chemistry has changed.

As estrogen begins to decline—often even before your periods become irregular—your body starts holding onto fat, especially around the belly. This is part of the “grandmother hypothesis”: historically, when fertility declined, your metabolism did too. The body tries to save energy and store fat just to survive.

Combine that with muscle loss (which happens naturally with age) and insulin resistance (when your cells don’t respond as well to glucose), and you’ve got the perfect storm for weight gain.

In this episode, Bryan White interviews Lynn Sederlöf-Airisto, a Certified Menopause Fitness Coach, about why women gain weight and lose muscle during perimenopause and menopause. Lynn explains that the real issue isn’t age or metabolism—it's the gradual loss of muscle mass, which slows the metabolism and shifts fat storage to the midsection. She emphasizes the importance of lifting progressively heavier weights to rebuild strength, prevent fat gain, and support long-term health. Lynn encourages women to start with two strength sessions per week and to skip ineffective workouts in favor of proper strength training tailored to midlife needs.