I am going through the menopause and I was given HRT. I reacted very badly to HRT after 4 days of treatment. I now wear a magnet which has stopped my hot flushes, but I still can't accept the weight gain around my middle area. I also had a hysterectomy when I was 40 years old due to unusual, heavy bleeding fibroids. I am now 47 years old.

Do you have a lot of stress in your life? Or a very busy, pressurised schedule?

Stress is a factor with weight gain around the middle. The body thinks there’s danger threatening when adrenalin is being produced regularly, so it stores plenty of spare ‘energy’ on the abdomen as a kind of larder for potential famine ahead.

It’s doing its best to save your life, which is lovely, but obviously the types of stress we face nowadays rarely involve famine!

So calming your nervous system and reducing stress triggers can be very helpful. Check out Stress Relief Daytime, which you may find helpful.

Falling oestrogen levels can cause a problem with carbohydrate metabolism in some women, making it very easy to put on weight regardless of how little you eat or how much you exercise.

You may find cutting carbs right down and increasing protein and vegtable intake helps.

Have a look at the 'Low GL' Diet – there are books on this available on Amazon.

You may also find that a course of Molkosan Vitality helps, as it reduces bloating and improves carb metabolism.

Eileen Durward