Understanding Midlife Weight Gain, Menopause, and GLP-1s with Diana Reid, MPH, RDN (Episode 264)

Hit Play Not Pause

Medicine, Health & Fitness, Fitness

4.9 • 769 Ratings

🗓️ 4 March 2026

⏱️ 74 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As women, we’re told our bodies are wrong almost from the moment we become aware of them—and that messaging hits hyperdrive when the body composition changes of menopause arrive. Those changes are often framed as urgent health risks, even when the picture is far more nuanced and the steps taken to “fix” them can carry risks of their own. This week we sit down with dietitian and public health nutrition specialist Diana Reid to dig into what actually drives midlife weight gain, what belly fat and BMI do (and don’t) mean for your health, and where GLP-1 medications fit into the picture. We talk muscle and bone loss, under-fueling, weight regain, and how to protect your health if you choose to use weight loss medications.

Diana Reid is a Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist licensed in both the United States and Luxembourg. She’s originally from Seattle, but has been living in Europe since 2016. Diana has a masters degree in Public Health & Nutrition and specializes in nutritional counseling and support for patients with eating disorders; food allergies, intolerances and gut disorders; and the unique challenges related to women’s health, especially during midlife and the menopause transition. She is a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor and follows a non-diet, weight-neutral approach to health and wellness, focusing on habit building, lifestyle behaviors and balanced nutrition. She believes in practicing with compassion, understanding, and a personalized approach to nutrition and well-being. Diana is a married midlife menopausal mom of three teens and a clingy dog, and loves cycling, weight lifting, hiking and traveling. You can find her on social media at @theglobalrd or via her website at www.theglobaldietitian.com

Resources:

Weight Cycling as a Risk Factor for Low Muscle Mass and Strength in a Population of Males and Females with Obesity, here

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Transcript

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0:00.0	You are listening to Hit Play Not Pause, a feisty menopause podcast for active performance-minded women.
0:12.2	I am your host, Celine Yeager. Each week, I bring you advice from athletes, scientists, researchers, and other experts to help you feel and perform your best no matter what
0:21.7	your hormones are doing. This show is a production of feisty media.
0:27.2	Hello, strong, feisty women. I hope you all are well. So let's have a conversation about
0:35.3	menopause, weight gain, weight loss, where GLP1
0:39.3	medications fit into all of this because that conversation is accelerating at warp speed as we speak
0:47.3	and more people are getting on in these medications or interested in them.
0:51.3	And I just wanted to sit down and have a really nuanced conversation
0:55.2	about this because as women, we are told that our bodies are wrong, almost from the moment
1:02.3	we become aware that we have bodies. And that messaging hits hyperdrive when the body
1:08.9	composition changes of menopause arrive. And those changes are often
1:13.5	framed as urgent health risks, even when the picture is far more nuanced, and even when the
1:19.8	steps that sometimes we take to fix those changes carry risks of their own. So I was really happy
1:27.0	to get dietician and public health nutrition
1:29.7	specialist Diana Reed back into the studio with me. She remains one of my favorite guests when it
1:35.6	comes to talking all things weight. So when I saw her posting on what she's learned about
1:40.9	GLP1 medications from working with her clients, I knew I had to have her back
1:45.2	on in for another round, and she did not disappoint. We dug in to what drives midlife weight gain,
1:52.9	what belly fat and BMI do and do not mean for our health, and where GLP1 medications
1:59.0	fit into this picture. We talk about muscle and bone loss and underfueling and weight regain and how to protect
2:06.0	your health if you choose to use weight loss medications in general.
2:10.2	And it's clear from this conversation, and I'm sure you hear it in my voice, that we are
	...

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