How to Lose Weight After Surgical Menopause

A woman's metabolism naturally slows down after menopause but it is still possible to lose weight. If your menopause is surgically induced, either through a hysterectomy (removal of the uterus) or oophorectomy (removal of the ovaries), you'll need to take some special precautions as your body heals.

Things You'll Need

• diet plan
• good walking shoes

Show More

Instructions

• 1

  Don't worry about weight gain for the first few weeks after surgery. Be sure to drink plenty of water to help flush the fluid caused by post-surgery swelling out of your system.

• 2

  Four to six weeks after surgery, create a food journal and record your food intake for seven days. You can find calorie counts and even record your intake using tools on websites like eDiets and SparkPeople.

• 3

  Add up the calories in your journal at the end of seven days and divide by seven to get your average daily intake of calories.

• 4

  Subtract 500 calories from that number. If your average daily intake is 2000, your new number will be 1500. This is the number of calories to consume daily. Do not go below 1200 calories.

• 5

  Include two glasses of lowfat milk in your daily food intake, as calcium is an important nutrient in post menopausal women since a decrease in estrogen has been linked to an increase in osteoporosis.

• 6

  Include two servings of lean protein to help preserve muscle mass.

• 7

  Round out your diet with fresh fruits and vegetables, at least six cups of liquid per day (water is best, but caffeine-free beverages are also acceptable), and a multi-vitamin.

• 8

  Try to walk slowly for 15 minutes twice a day. Walking helps the healing as well as weight loss. Remember to walk slowly until you are feeling better, and stop if you get winded or are in pain.

• 9

  Weigh yourself in one week. Following this plan, you should lose about one pound per week.