Menopause weight gain

I don't think menopause weight gain is mostly real. (NB, I lost weight at age 59. I'd been in menopause since age 43, brought on by chemotherapy.)

I think menopause weight gain is a great marketing pitch for people trying to sell us their special diets, exercise programs, or supplements.

Here's research suggesting that our metabolism is quite steady from our 20s to around 60 or so:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8370708/

Even after that, the decline is fairly slow.

What does change? My thoughts:

We tend to lose muscle mass unless we consistently do something to keep (or even increase) it. We tend to eat insufficient protein, or eat it concentrated all in one meal (not a good plan as we age because we do absorb protein less efficiently); that can increase chances of muscle loss.

Muscle only burns a tiny amount more calories than fat, pound per pound, at rest. But having less muscle tends to make it harder and less fun to move in daily life (or exercise), so we do less. That reduced movement not only burns fewer calories daily, but can increase risk of even more muscle loss.

You're doing the right thing to get exercise, especially strength exercise. Be sure the strength exercise is challenging. (Not punitive, just challenging. )

If your protein intake is sub-ideal, or not spread through the day, that would be another investment to make.

Finally, for many of us, our lifestyle during menopause is very different than it was when in our 20s. The change is gradual.

When younger, we possibly had a more physical job, relied more on forms of transportation that involved at least some walking (even to a bus stop) or biking. We maybe had more active hobbies, I dunno, playing frisbee, dancing, etc. Our social lives had more of those active things in them. Maybe we were chasing toddlers all day, or doing DIY home improvement projects that were pretty physical.

When reaching menopause age, it's more common to have more sedentary jobs, maybe even be retired. Often we have our own cars (and gas money) so we mostly drive door to door. Maybe hobbies and social life involve more things like reading, theaters, dining out. We might hire out some of the home chores (repairs, remodeling, landscaping, mowing) we used to do ourselves. We have helpful devices like roombas.

Clearly, I'm generalizing and simplifying, but you see what I'm getting at. The differences in daily life can mean our daily life routine burns hundreds fewer calories daily than we once did. (Researchers found that even a fidgety person may burn low hundreds of calories daily more than an otherwise similar non-fidgety one. I'm not saying you should fidget, just that the impact of something that small can be pretty big.)

It's possible to increase daily life movement intentionally, of course. It's a thing some MFP folks do. There's a thread here where they share ideas:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss/p1

Not all of those will suit everyone, but maybe some will.

Women can lose weight in menopause. Many here have done so. The basics are still the same, burning more calories than we eat. If we need fewer calories than we used to (for whatever reason), that may be a bit more difficult.

Honestly, even if menopause were the major cause - which I think it isn't - we can't change menopause. We can only work around it, and find a way to reach our goals anyway. (Some women can use HRT. If menopause were the cause, that might be a help. For myself, I can't do HRT, because of my cancer history.)

Just my thoughts.

Best wishes for success - I think you can achieve it!