I am menopausal and eat really healthily and take vitamins and minerals. I have put on a stone and cannot lose it despite exercising every day - either running or doing a fat burning DVD or body balance. I am quite stressed and am desperate to lose this weight as I don't fit into any of my clothes anymore and it is so upsetting. Please can you help?

Unfortunately, falling oestrogen can cause a problem with carbohydrate metabolism in some women making it very easy to put on weight and practically impossible to lose regardless of how little you eat or how much exercise! 

Stress, especially if it is ongoing even if it is minor in the menopause also causes weight gain so you can end up putting on weight from 2 angles!

Have a good look at your diet, even if you are eating healthily if you are eating too much carbs that can be a contributory factor. You may find cutting carbs right down and increasing protein and veg helps, have a look at the Low GL Diet - for more info on this see Amazon.

Be careful with exercise, changing hormones in the menopause put tremendous strain on the body generally and if you then do lots of exercise your body will go into a self preservation mode and reduce your metabolism further! Have a look at short, sharp, high density workouts such as P.A.C.E. not only do you spend very little time on them but they help to make you fitter without putting a lot of stress on the body.
 

Eileen Durward