Menopause can bring unexpected changes to your body, especially with weight management. The idea to drop 2 dress sizes by Christmas may seem out of reach right now. If you’re in your 40s, 50s, or 60s, you might have noticed that the strategies that worked in your 20s and 30s no longer seem to be effective.
This transition can feel overwhelming, but it’s not impossible to achieve a healthy, sustainable weight loss transformation in time for Christmas.
And the best part? You can do this WITHOUT having to sacrifice your work, give up time with your family, ban wine and chocolate or step foot in a gym.
In this blog post, we’ll cover the FASTEST way to drop 2 dress sizes by Christmas.
It will outline why you shouldn’t wait until the New Year to begin your weight loss journey, the effect the gut has on losing weight, stress and weight loss, exercises to avoid, and why a coach is important for weight loss.
Why September Is Make Or Break For Weight Loss
As summer ends and days grow shorter, it’s an ideal time to refocus on health and wellness goals. Instead of waiting for January, using this window between September and Christmas can give you a head start, especially if you want to drop 2 dress sizes by Christmas.
Many women adopt the mindset of waiting until the New Year to tackle a new goal, which is understandable with so many things to organise before Christmas.
But think of it this way: those extra three months could mean an extra stone or more that you’ll have to work off for the following 3-6 months only to get back into the position you’re in today.
Many of our clients at Trinity Transformation have found that the months leading up to winter provide the ideal break to shift focus inward and work toward a fresh, confident start.
By taking advantage of lighter schedules and quieter social lives that naturally happen as winter kicks in, consider joining our free training to enter 2025, 1-2 stone lighter than you are right now.
How To Drop a Dress Size in Menopause
Menopause can bring about new challenges for women as the body’s natural hormonal changes, it becomes increasingly important to adapt exercise routines to support overall health, energy, and well-being.
Tailoring fitness habits to this new stage of life can help you manage common symptoms like weight gain, fatigue, and mood fluctuations, while building strength, balance, and endurance.
In this guide, we’ll explore effective, practical fitness tips designed specifically for women over 40 during menopause.
The Link Between Stress And Weight Loss
Managing stress can feel like another job, especially when you’re balancing a career, family, and everything else life throws your way. So basically the stress hormone cortisol can get ramped up.
You could end up with an elevated level of that stress hormone all the time.
This ramped-up level of stress can then lead to what’s often called the “weight gain triangle,” where elevated cortisol (your primary stress hormone) creates a chain reaction that makes it much harder to see weight loss results.
Constant stress can cause your body to produce more cortisol, which not only makes weight loss harder but also triggers cravings for comfort foods, like wine, chocolate, or a family-sized bag of Doritos.
As great as these things can be in the moment, making this a habit can be detrimental to weight loss.
How To Manage Stress For Weight Loss
Tackling stress isn’t about eliminating it completely—that’s impossible. Instead, it’s about letting go of stress so it doesn’t hold you back. Consider delegating tasks in your life to lighten the load or speaking with your boss about making adjustments to your workload.
Prioritize things in your life that bring you peace, whether this be a relaxing bath, a long walk or just reading your favourite book.
Picture it like a bath with the taps running and the plug in place. If we don’t release some of that water, it overflows, creating more challenges.
One way to take the “plug” out is by setting aside a few minutes each day for activities that help you unwind and recharge.
Allowing yourself that daily time for stress management can empower your body to feel lighter and more balanced. Remember, this isn’t just about weight loss—it’s about helping you feel your best and ensuring that your efforts pay off.
Embrace this practice as part of your self-care, and you’ll not only see results but also feel more grounded and in control.
Reset Your Gut Microbiome
When you’re trying to eat better during menopause, it can feel like a losing battle if your brain is hooked on sugary foods and alcohol to cope with emotions and stress.
Breaking the cycle is hard and it often leads to disrupted hormones, making weight loss even harder. Instead of gradually cutting back on these cravings, our experience shows that going cold turkey is the most effective strategy.
Think of it like a computer that’s running slow and crashing often; sometimes, you just need to restart it to get everything working smoothly again.
How Eliminating Inflammatory Foods Help Weight Loss
By eliminating high-calorie foods for a short period—specifically wheat, alcohol, dairy, and sugar (we call these the WADS foods)—you can reset your cravings and establish healthier habits.
This phase typically lasts just one to two weeks, and it’s a great way to regain control over your diet.
Once you complete this reset, it becomes much easier to enjoy these foods in moderation without triggering those intense cravings.
The benefit of reducing inflammation caused by these foods extends further than just weight loss, many women report improvements with other menopause symptoms:
- Hot flushes – more stable hormone levels, potentially reducing the frequency and intensity of hot flushes.
- Low energy – reduces energy spikes and crashes, which helps to reduce chronic stress on the body, allowing for improved adrenal function and better-quality sleep.
- Brain fog – reducing inflammatory food can support a clearer mind and lessen the mental sluggishness often experienced during menopause.
- Waking up in the night – enables blood sugar to stay more stable through the night, helping to reduce stress hormones that would otherwise wake you up. Improvement in gut health, which aids in serotonin production.
Our Fit Over 40 program incorporates this approach through a process we call the Diet Makeover, setting you up for long-term success both in managing cravings and helping alleviate menopause symptoms.
Exercises To Avoid During Menopause
When it comes to losing weight during menopause, finding the right balance in your exercise routine is key. Many women feel the pressure to starve themselves or engage in intense workouts, but both approaches can lead to unsustainable results.
For those with sedentary jobs, like desk work, relying solely on extreme calorie restriction doesn’t yield the desired results. Instead, it often causes more stress, leading the body to hold onto weight and lose muscle.
For women with a stressful lifestyle, going through perimenopause or menopause, avoid high-intensity workouts like HIIT, spinning or long runs as they can elevate levels of the stress hormone, cortisol.
If cortisol levels stay too high for too long, this can block you from losing weight even if you are doing loads of exercise!
While intense cardio workouts may have worked in your 20s and 30s when your oestrogen levels were higher, they can overwhelm your body with cortisol, meaning you hold onto weight rather that lose it.
This is all down to the role estrogen plays in regulating stress and the main stress hormone, cortisol.
The Best Exercise During Menopause To Lose Weight
When it comes to exercise that truly supports your body during menopause, LIST—Low Intensity Strength Training—is your best friend. This approach focuses on slow, controlled weightlifting that you can do from the comfort of your own home.
LIST has great benefits for women during menopause, such as:
- Enabling you to build muscle and tone up
- Aiding with burning body fat
- Helping to build your cardio fitness
- Keeping Cortisol levels low to prevent your body clinging to fat
At Fit Over 40 this is one of the main focuses with our clients. With just three LIST sessions a week, you’ll transform your fitness and tone up—no extreme workouts needed.
Don’t Struggle Alone
If you’re feeling stuck, remember—going it alone can be incredibly tough, especially around menopause. Too often, women assume they can handle it on their own, only to end up frustrated when results don’t come.
Hormonal changes and lifestyle demands mean your body responds differently now, so what worked before might not work anymore. Having a coach and being part of a supportive community can make all the difference in sticking with a plan, staying motivated, and truly seeing results.
You’re not alone, and the right guidance can get you further, faster.
When you work with someone who understands the specific changes menopause brings—like shifts in hormone balance and metabolism—you’re setting yourself up for sustainable progress.
Having accountability helps you stay focused and ensures you’re taking the right steps for your body now.
Think of it as having a partner who’s committed to seeing you reach your best self, with advice tailored to this unique stage of life.
Why Community Is Important For Weight Loss
At Trinity Transformation, our approach is designed specifically for women navigating menopause and looking for real, lasting health changes. Being around strong women all striving towards the same goals means you’ll never have to struggle alone.
We understand how easy it is to throw in the towel after a nightmare of a week and let’s be honest our lifestyles are busier and more stressful than ever, so these weeks may happen more frequently than we’d like.
But this is where Trinity Transformation comes in:
- Work 1-1 with an expert coach to help you with your fitness goals
- Have someone to guide you through your weight loss journey
- A supportive community to keep you accountable
- A knowledgeable coach to remove all stress and uncertainty from the process
If this sounds like something that you could benefit from, join our community and receive private coaching to help with your fitness goals: sign up here.
What Our Client Had To Say
Many women feel like they’re struggling alone, unsure of what steps to take which can make the idea of dropping 2 dress sizes by Christmas unattainable. Tracey, a TRINITY member, had been struggling with her weight and confidence, feeling uncomfortable in her clothes and disconnected from her own happiness.
Joining TRINITY gave her not just the tools but the support of a community all working toward similar goals. Surrounded by encouragement and expert guidance, Tracey completely transformed her outlook and health, gaining new confidence that radiated through her life.
The results were so inspiring her husband was astonished by her progress! Tracey’s journey with TRINITY shows the powerful impact of shared goals, genuine support, and expert coaching.
“When I started I was a very tight 12 (who am I kidding I was a size 14). It was the biggest and heaviest I’d been since having children and it was soul destroying to feel and look so uncomfortable. Mentally I feel like a different person it’s not just the weight lost or the inches that disappear that gives you that boost it’s the confidence. Trinity gives you or rather teaches you in food and life choices. My husband has said that he’s got his wife back the woman who loved life and lived life and it’s Trinity who helped me to be that person again so thank you.”
Ready To Make A Change?
- Download our free guide: Menopause Weight Loss Guide
- Sign up for free training: Free Menopause Training
- Join our Fit Over 40 Program: Learn More Here