Of all the body changes that come with perimenopause, I think weight gain, usually in the form of abdominal fat, is the meanest. Weight gain in the abdomen is one of the most common complaints of women whose hormones have begun to change signaling perimenopause.

There are a number of factors that contribute to this phenomenon, including hormonal imbalance, the body's inclination to hold onto estrogen-producing fat cells in midlife, high cortisol levels from ongoing stress, lack of sleep and...