Ask the Nutritionist: Menopause, cravings, and feeling stronger

I’m Sam Jones, nutritionist. Welcome back to Ask the Nutritionist, where I answer questions submitted by the myBMI community through Instagram, Facebook and TikTok.

This month, we’re talking menopause. Several questions shared a familiar frustration: “I’m making an effort, so why does my body feel different?”

When advice keeps telling you to eat less, cut out sugar or buy another supplement, it’s understandable to feel confused. Let’s explore what might help without making food another source of stress.

Even though I work out a lot, my waistline is still growing! What can I do?

We had several questions about changes around the middle. If you’re exercising regularly and your clothes still feel tighter, I can understand the frustration.

The reduction in oestrogen around menopause can encourage more fat storage around the abdomen. Changes in sleep, appetite, and mood can also affect how you eat and move. You might experience stronger cravings, turn to food for comfort more often, or have less energy for everyday activity, without consciously deciding to eat more.

Exercise helps, but weight loss from exercise alone is often smaller than people expect. Another class isn’t always the most useful next step.

In my one-to-one coaching, I’ll often begin with an observation week. You can borrow this idea: eat normally and, if tracking feels comfortable, record your food without judgement.

This can be one of the most useful weeks of the process. Capture your usual eating rather than tidying it up because you’re recording it. Include chocolate bars, drinks, meals out, and little extras. If recording changes what you eat, note what you would normally have had. We’re gathering information, not marking homework.

Reasonably complete seven-day averages of calories, protein, and fibre give us a starting point. These are three practical priorities for fat loss and health. Other considerations matter too, including saturated fat, alcohol units, variety, and overall nourishment.

We can then compare your current pattern with suitable ranges:

• Calories: through your tracker of choice, use the calorie calculation as a starting estimate. If fat loss is appropriate, consider a deficit of around 10–30% below estimated maintenance, depending on starting weight, health and individual needs. Check whether its suggested target already includes a deficit before reducing it further. And if you’re wondering where to log your food, don’t forget that you can use the myBMI app to track your calories and macros.
• Protein: generally around 1.4–1.6g per kilogram of an appropriate goal weight daily, towards the upper end for strength training. A reference weight at the upper healthy BMI range for your height is another option, rather than automatically using current weight.
• Fibre: aim towards 30g or more daily, increasing gradually according to comfort and clinical advice.

These numbers are flags in the sand, not figures you must hit exactly. Aim for reasonable daily protein consistency, too, rather than compensating for low days with one very high day.

We gradually close those gaps through habits that fit your life. Perhaps breakfast needs more protein, lunch needs to be more satisfying, or portions need adjusting. Foods you enjoy can stay.

I describe this as a jigsaw puzzle. Instead of worrying about individual pieces, you learn to look at the full puzzle. For your weight loss goals, specifically fat loss, and your health, it’s your general eating patterns over time that count. One chocolate bar cannot tell us what that whole picture looks like.

Tracking can help you learn this temporarily, without recording every mouthful forever.

Alongside nutrition, prioritise strength training at least twice a week, gradually increasing the challenge. This supports muscle and bone health, both particularly important around menopause.

Why do I crave sugar after every meal and what can I do to stop it?

Other readers asked about cravings and feeling unable to stop eating chocolate or crisps.

First, are you eating enough during the day? A small breakfast, a restrained lunch and an evening spent negotiating with the biscuit tin may be connected.

I’d also explore food rules. If chocolate is something you’re “not allowed”, eating it can become a last-chance opportunity before tomorrow’s restrictions.

Build most meals around protein, fibre, and enough food to feel satisfied. Think chicken, tofu or beans with rice and vegetables, or Greek yoghurt with oats and fruit. Carbohydrates are welcome.

Protein and fibre can support fullness, but enjoyment and adequate portions matter too. And fullness won’t erase every desire for something sweet. Enjoying dessert doesn’t mean your meal failed.

Flexible nutrition means you can include chocolate or crisps while supporting your goals. Try allowing them without promising to ban them tomorrow, and notice whether the urgency changes.

One reader mentioned fatty liver and difficulty maintaining weight loss. That deserves support alongside clinical care, rather than another crash diet. If eating regularly feels out of control or distressing, speak with your GP or a suitably qualified professional. You don’t have to solve it through willpower.

Is it still OK to eat in a calorie deficit while in menopause?

Yes, where fat loss is appropriate and wanted. Menopause doesn’t prevent fat loss, but protecting strength and nourishment matters alongside weight.

A moderate deficit leaves room for adequate food, recovery, and ordinary life. The 10–30% range mentioned earlier needs to suit your starting weight, health, activity, and overall intake. The upper end isn’t everyone’s target.

If you’re exhausted, constantly hungry or preoccupied with food, making the plan stricter is unlikely to help. You might manage briefly, then overeat and feel you must start again. That tells us something about the approach, not your character.

Weight loss can include muscle as well as fat. Strength training and adequate protein help protect muscle, while overly aggressive restriction can make that harder.

Muscle supports movement and blood glucose management. Strong muscles, balance, and healthy bones matter for independence. Hip fractures later in life can have serious, sometimes life-threatening consequences, making investment in strength worthwhile.

Include calcium-rich foods such as yoghurt, milk or calcium-fortified alternatives. UK advice is to consider 10 micrograms of vitamin D daily during autumn and winter, year-round for some groups.

If GLP-1 treatment makes eating difficult, improving nourishment may take priority over cutting further. Persistent difficulty eating or drinking needs your prescriber’s advice.

I used to eat 1,200 calories a day. Google suggests increasing to 1,700 before cutting in the New Year. Does this sound right?

I wouldn’t endorse either number without knowing more. Google hasn’t met you, and it hasn’t seen your lunch.

Your needs depend on body size, activity, and health. A previous calorie intake for weight loss isn’t automatically what’s right for you now.

Eating more than you did on a diet doesn’t necessarily mean eating above maintenance. You could increase intake and still be below maintenance.

A period around maintenance can help when dieting feels tiring or restrictive. It provides space to practise satisfying meals, train and establish lasting routines. It isn’t a compulsory “metabolism reset”, and 1,700 calories won’t guarantee a later diet works better.

Increasing carbohydrates or food intake may initially raise scale weight through water, stored carbohydrates, and digestive contents. That isn’t automatically fat gain.

Return to observation: understand your intake, estimate your needs, and consider your strength, energy, and relationship with food. If fat loss remains appropriate, make a manageable adjustment. You don’t need to book another restrictive diet for January.

Do you recommend creatine supplements? If so, which one is best?

We also had questions about brain fog and anxiety, so let’s separate the claims.

Creatine helps supply energy during demanding efforts such as lifting weights. Research in postmenopausal women suggests modest additional improvements in strength and lean mass alongside resistance training. Benefits vary, and it doesn’t replace training.

Choose plain creatine monohydrate, typically 3–5g daily, including on rest days. An expensive menopause-labelled blend or loading phase isn’t necessary. Choose a reputable, independently tested product.

Note that creatine can increase scale weight without increasing body fat due to water stored in muscles. Check suitability with your clinician if you have kidney disease or other relevant medical conditions.

Some research suggests memory benefits, but findings are mixed. Menopause-specific studies remain small, and results with other creatine forms don’t automatically apply to monohydrate. Strong evidence that it reliably treats menopause brain fog or anxiety is still lacking.

If symptoms affect daily life, speak with your GP. Creatine can be a training extra, but it cannot replace menopause care.

My final thought

Understanding your eating gives you more options than judging it. You might need a satisfying lunch, protein at breakfast or a modest portion adjustment, while keeping foods you enjoy.

Start where you are, choose something manageable, and build from there.

Watch myBMI’s Instagram, Facebook group or TikTok to submit your questions for next month’s Ask the Nutritionist, and join our upcoming TikTok Live on Monday 23rd of November at 6:30pm.

About Sam Jones

Sam Jones is a nutritionist who understands first-hand how challenging your relationship with food can become. Having overcome his own cycle of restriction, cravings, and bingeing, he now focuses on helping people move away from rigid food rules and towards a balanced, sustainable approach to nutrition. He's a frequent contributor on myBMI and you can also find him on Instagram, Facebook, and TikTok,

Sources

• Vitamin D. (2023) NHS. [Accessed 28 October 2026]
• Effects of creatine supplementation on memory in healthy individuals: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. (2023) PubMed. [Accessed 28 October 2026]
• Creatine monohydrate for lean mass, strength, and bone density in postmenopausal women: a systematic review and meta-analysis. (2026) PubMed. [Accessed 28 October 2026]