The Menopause Diet 5-Day Plan To Lose Weight Helps Women Over 50 Drop Pounds Fast
There’s one special ingredient that’ll trick your metabolism into acting young again
Key Takeaways
- Inflammation from declining estrogen slows fat loss—but you can reverse it in just days.
- Anti-inflammatory foods plus collagen can help women over 50 lose weight faster.
- This 5-day plan targets inflammation to jumpstart metabolism and melt stubborn pounds.
‘Tis the season of weddings, reunions and beach vacations—the kind of events that warm our hearts… and make us wish our bodies would be just a little more cooperative with our slim-down efforts these days. The good news for women over 50: That wish is about to come true, thanks to the “Menopause Diet 5-Day Plan to Lose Weight” created by leading women’s health expert Ann Louise Gittleman, PhD, CNS.
The approach is safe, healthy and adjusts to any goal. “You can use it to drop a fast five pounds before a family photo, and it’s also an ideal way to prime your body for more significant weight loss over the long term,” says the Radical Metabolism author, 76. Keep reading to discover her #1 strategy to unlock fast fat loss as we age—plus fuss-free menus that make it easy to test this plan on your own body right away.
Why fat loss slows—and how the menopause diet speeds it up
Aches, pains and bloating are more than just a nuisance as we get older—they’re directly linked to the stubborn pounds we gain so easily and are so hard to in our menopause years. How? It’s all about Inflammation. “What many women don’t realize is that inflamed tissue releases compounds that actively inhibit fat metabolism,” says Gittleman. We’re far more prone to inflammation with each passing year, and it’s a big reason weight feels harder and harder to lose.
Woman's World Answers
Here’s what’s happening: Estrogen is naturally anti-inflammatory, so as levels decline during menopause, inflammation rises. Add in wear and tear that increases steadily over time, and many women end up with a state of chronic low-grade inflammation that quietly puts the brakes on fat burning. Knowing this is everything if you want to get lean. “You can literally bring inflammation down in a day or two and start losing weight as fast—or maybe even faster—than you did years ago,” Gittleman says.
Simple changes to what you eat can calm inflammation, rev your metabolism and deliver real results.
Idaho grandmother Teresa Pfaff, 66, says she’s living proof the approach works. She agreed to help Gittleman test anti-inflammatory meals, and “in two weeks my knees stopped hurting and my afternoon slumps were gone,” she shares. “I’m normally a slow loser, but I went down two sizes in a month!”
The secret to the Menopause Diet 5-Day Plan to Lose Weight
Gittleman’s weight management plan centers on foods proven to reduce inflammation that also appear to have the most dramatic effect on women over 50. That includes antioxidant-rich produce, fiber-rich seeds and seafood packed with omega-3 fatty acids. And then there’s her favorite secret weapon: collagen.
Most of us think of collagen as a skin-care ingredient, but it is also a powerful dietary protein—and one that postmenopausal women absorb with particular ease. Collagen is rich in the specific amino acids that help calm and repair inflamed tissue throughout the body, from the gut lining and muscles to joints, blood vessels and organs.
On top of that, Gittleman notes that collagen helps prevent and (when paired with strength training) even reverse muscle loss that makes us weaker and slows metabolism as we age. So it’s no wonder more and more clinical trials now hint that extra collagen can make weight easier to lose after age 50.
A study published in Clinical Nutrition Research on adults aged 50 to 78 found that taking daily doses of collagen nearly doubled weight loss compared to a placebo. And if you have time to pair the Menopause Diet 5-Day Plan to Lose Weight with a simple workout using weights or resistance bands, the results get even better: A study in the journal Nutrients found that women who combined collagen with muscle-boosting exercise doubled their fat loss and ended up with faster metabolisms than those given a placebo.
“Collagen is incredibly easy to use,” says Gittleman, who helped develop the Collagen 4+ supplement with co-factors for maximum absorption. “You just add it to soup or a smoothie and you’re done. You won’t taste it at all, but it’s so powerful.”
What to expect from the Menopause Diet 5-Day Plan to Lose Weight
Gittleman has you eliminate foods that are well known to trigger inflammation, including all highly processed foods. She also steers you away from some options that may secretly cause inflammation for certain people, including gluten and soy.
Instead, you’ll enjoy meals loaded with anti-inflammatory nutrients—collagen, antioxidants and omega-3s—that are also extremely filling for relatively few calories. Once you do that, “both inflammation and the number on the scale tend to come down very quickly,” she says.
Will you lose water weight? Yes—”but as long as you’re eating nutrient-dense foods and hydrating well, losing water weight is a good thing,” she says. Your body holds on to excess fluid as a way to buffer inflamed tissue, so losing a “whoosh” of water weight means you’ve very likely shed a whoosh of inflammation too. “And once the inflammation goes down, your body is going to be much better able to burn stored fat.” You can literally burn fat like a kid again!
The Menopause Diet 5-Day Plan to Lose Weight
Before you start the plan, prep a big pot of Ann Louise’s classic Fat Flush Soup or her Keto Fat Flush Soup to enjoy for lunch all week.
Coffee is anti-inflammatory, so enjoy it in the morning if you like. Sip unlimited water and herbal tea throughout the day, snack freely on veggie sticks and treat yourself to a square or two of 80 percent dark chocolate if you wish.
Day 1
- Breakfast: Berry Smoothie: Blend 1 serving collagen protein, 1 Tbs. flax or coconut oil, 1/2 cup frozen berries, 1 Tbs. chia or flax seeds, 1 tsp. unsweetened cranberry juice and 1 cup water.
- Lunch: 3 cups Fat Flush Soup with 1 serving collagen protein stirred in. Optional: 2 hard-cooked eggs, steamed asparagus with lemon.
- Dinner: Grilled chicken and veggies with olive oil; optional ½ cup white beans.
Day 2
- Breakfast: Green Smoothie: Blend 1 serving collagen protein, 1 Tbs. flax or coconut oil, 1 cup greens, 1 green apple or pear, 1 Tbs. chia or flaxseeds, 1 tsp. unsweetened cranberry juice and 1 cup water.
- Lunch: 3 cups Fat Flush Soup with collagen. Optional: Jicama and carrot sticks with lime; fruit.
- Dinner: Grilled fish and veggies with olive oil; optional ½ cup quinoa.
Day 3
- Breakfast: Berry Smoothie (see Day 1)
- Lunch: 3 cups Fat Flush Soup with collagen. Optional: Mixed green salad with olive oil vinaigrette.
- Dinner: 3-egg veggie omelet with olive oil; optional ½ baked sweet potato.
Day 4
- Breakfast: Green Smoothie (see Day 2)
- Lunch: 3 cups Fat Flush Soup with collagen. Optional: Small handful almonds or walnuts.
- Dinner: Grilled lean steak and veggies with olive oil; optional ½ baked sweet potato.
Day 5
- Breakfast: Berry Smoothie (see Day 1)
- Lunch: 3 cups Fat Flush Soup with collagen. Optional: 2 hard-cooked eggs, asparagus with lemon.
- Dinner: Bunless burger (chicken, turkey or lean beef) and veggies with olive oil; optional ½ baked sweet potato.
Bottom line on the Menopause Diet 5-Day Plan to Lose Weight
Five days. That’s all it takes to jump-start weight loss and feel more energetic and less achy. This plan works because it doesn’t fight your body—it works with it, giving your hormones and metabolism exactly what they need. Whether you’re slimming down for a special occasion or ready to feel your best, you now have everything you need to get started!
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