Weight gain after menopause is something most women do not want to hear about until its to late

Want to lose weight after 40? If you feel as if you're getting fatter with each year that passes, relax. You can regain your slim figure (and feel much better) with these five tips to losing weight during menopause.

5 rules to post menopause weight loss

1. Focus on Protein to Kick Start Weight Loss

Protein in the form of meat, eggs, poultry and beans, makes you feel full and gives you energy. In the first few weeks of your post menopause weight loss program, focus on protein rather than carbohydrates. Try to eat protein at every meal.

2. Build up Your Muscles

The more muscles you have, the more you can eat without weight gain in menopause. Therefore look on your exercise program as a way of building muscle. If you go to the gym, ask your trainer to create a weightlifting program for you.

Another benefit of building muscle is that if you're starting to get problems like arthritis, building your muscle mass will help, because the muscles take the strain off your joints.

3. Bend and Twist: Get Flexible

As we get weight gain in menopause, we lose the flexibility that we had were younger. So in addition to building up your muscles, create a stretching program. You can take yoga and Pilates classes, or can just develop your own stretching program.

When you're stretching, hold the stretch for at least a minute, and then repeat. Remember that you're stretching tendons as well as muscles, and don't overdo it.

If you've never had any instruction on stretching safely, make sure that you take a class. It's easy to pull a muscle or stretch and injure tendons. Make sure you know what you're doing when you're stretching.

4. Fiber Makes You Feel Better

If you're often constipated, eat fiber in the form of fruit and vegetables every day. You should also drink more water. The fiber in the fruit and vegetables and the water should get things moving for you, and your exercise program will help too.

5. Sleep Your Way to Weight Loss

If you don't get enough sleep you'll put on weight. This is because your body doesn't have time to repair itself each night.

Ensure that you get at least seven hours of sleep every night. It's silly to go on a post menopause weight loss program if the only thing wrong with you is that you're not getting enough sleep.

Can't sleep? See your doctor. You may be going through perimenopause. When you start going through the menopause process one of the earliest indicators is insomnia.

Have your doctor check your hormone levels, and take hormone replacement therapy if you need it. It will make all the difference in how you look and feel.

Final words, learning how to lose weight after menopause is a long slow process, but it can be done if you just go through the tip above... good luck