Key Takeaways
- Metabolism remains stable after 35, but muscle loss and hormonal changes make fat easier to gain — preserving muscle is key for strength, mobility, and metabolic health.
- Nutrition and exercise matter — prioritise protein and fibre, maintain a moderate calorie deficit, do strength training, and include regular cardio.
- Lifestyle factors impact results — quality sleep and stress management help regulate hormones, prevent fat storage, and support muscle retention.
- Track your progress intelligently — a body composition analysis (BIA) shows fat vs. muscle changes, helping you adjust your strategy and explore complementary treatments safely.
As we enter perimenopause and menopause, our bodies will inevitably change, an obvious one being weight that’s easier to put on and muscles that’s harder to maintain.
This is usually caused by a transformation in body composition, the ratio of fat to lean muscle mass in simple terms. In the process of losing fat, we must also prioritise preserving and even gaining muscle to keep our bodies strong, mobile and healthy in the long run.
In this article, we explore how menopause changes our body composition and various strategies to preserve muscle while losing body fat.
A Closer Look at Menopause and Body Composition
By the time you reach your 30s, your body enters sarcopenia, a process where you lose skeletal muscle mass due to ageing.
Per decade, it is reported that the average muscle mass loss in adults who do not actively engage in resistance training can be around 3% to 8%. While that is happening, your body fat percentage may increase due to reduced activities, slowed metabolism, and changes in hormones.
A good indicator of whether you have a healthy body composition is by looking at your body fat percentage – for women 40-50 years old, a healthy body fat percentage lies around 23-33%.
A body composition analysis (BIA) test can easily help you assess your body fat percentage, muscle mass, visceral fat levels, and overall metabolic health. It also provides insights into your basal metabolic rate (BMR), helping you better understand how your body uses energy at rest.
The Importance of Preserving Muscles During Menopause
Your weight loss plan should not purely focus on reducing calorie intake but also include some form of strength training to preserve muscles.
Losing muscle during menopause can:
- Affect your metabolic health – Muscle tissue actually helps the body burn more calories. This is why some individuals feel like their metabolism slows down as they age – not inherently due to age itself but the loss of muscle.
- Impinge your strength and mobility – Your muscles are crucial in supporting your daily function. Without it, doing even mundane activities such as climbing stairs, maintaining balance, and lifting groceries can be burdensome.
- Lead to diseases and influence long-term health – The risk of developing chronic diseases, like cardiovascular conditions and diabetes, increases if you have lower muscle mass.
How to Effectively Lose Fat While Preserving Your Muscles During Menopause
Step 1: Begin with Nutrition
Subjecting your body to an extreme calorie deficit diet (be it naturally or through fat burning supplements [link to other article on fat burning supplements]) can do more harm than good as it can increase the possibility of losing muscles. Instead of going on a crash diet, be mindful of what you eat and develop consistent habits by:
- Prioritising proteins: As your body ages, it is no longer able to process protein as effectively, which means that you will need to consume more of it than when you were in your 20s. As a rule of thumb, you should be getting about 1.6g to 2g of protein per kilogram of your body weight.
- Feeding on fibre: Glucose absorption can cause the insulin in your body to spike and trigger it to store fat. You can avoid this by consuming more fibre during your meals to slow down glucose absorption. Make sure you pile local greens on your plate like broccoli, choy sum, or kai lan before you chow down your carbs.
- Cutting out calories wisely: Aim for a more safe and sustainable calorie deficit of 300-500 per day for lean mass preservation.
Step 2: Do Strength Training
One of the best and most effective methods to maintain muscle mass during menopause is resistance training.
The following recommended exercises below not only prevents muscle loss related to ageing but develops bone density and improves your metabolic health:
- Deadlifts
- Dumbbell training
- Lunges
- Push-ups
- Resistance band workouts
- Squats
Step 3: Practice Regular Cardiovascular Activity
In addition to strength training, which protects your muscles, you should also engage in cardiovascular exercises regularly to support heart health and fat loss.
Here are some easily accessible cardio activities that you can do around Singapore:
- Brisk walking in parks
- Cycling
- Group fitness classes
- Jogging
- Swimming
At least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity cardio exercise each week is recommended for ageing adults.
Step 4: Get Enough Sleep
Many fat-loss strategies do not emphasise the important role sleep plays in body composition.
Without enough sleep, you may experience increased stress and hunger hormones and reduced muscle recovery.
Besides getting 7-9 hours of sleep each night, you should also aim for quality sleep. If you struggle with falling or staying asleep, it may be helpful to take a closer look at your sleep patterns and daily habits with guided support.
Step 5: Manage Your Stress Levels
Elevated cortisol levels and chronic stress can add to fat accumulation, particularly in the abdominal area and result in muscle loss over the course of time.
These activities can help lower stress and cortisol levels:
- Deep breathing techniques
- Mindfulness meditation
- Nature walks
- Spending time with loved ones
- Yoga
Step 6: Have Other Tools to Help With Progress
Don’t just track your weight – a body composition analysis helps you see whether you’re losing fat or muscle, giving you a more meaningful measure of progress.
With this information, we can better support your progress through complementary treatments, including targeted fat reduction options like Exion Body, BodySculptor, and Vanquish ME, which help address localised fat safely and effectively.
For those looking to build or maintain muscle, treatments like Pure Impact by Sofwave can support muscle toning alongside your fitness routine.
Where needed, medically supervised options such as GLP-1 weight management therapies may also be considered as part of a structured plan
Monitor Your Progress with Body Composition Analysis
Start your menopause weight loss journey by doing a body composition analysis. These assessments are valuable in measuring key indicators like:
- Body fat percentage
- Muscle mass
- Visceral fat levels
- Total body water
By understanding and monitoring these indicators, you can see whether your strategy and efforts are paying off effectively.
Curious to see where you stand? Come by Prologue Centre for Women’s Wellness and take a free BIA test – it’s a fun way to “guess your InBody score” and discover more about your body.
