It's the same as any other medical condition fats use as an excuse. Female hormones being out of whack can make it easier to gain weight and a bit harder to lose it, but you still can't gain weight if you don't have excess calories floating around. Period. My mom is going through a hellstorm of menopause, but she's managed to only gain about 5 pounds, and is working to get those gone again, and all she did was change her diet a bit. Not even a lot. But nope, that's too hard for some people, they want to have their cake and eat FUCKING ALL OF IT too instead of just a tiny slice.