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The most common concern I hear from women in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s is increased belly fat. It isn\u2019t weight gain that they are mostly upset about but where it\u2019s deposited\u2026right around the belly button.<\/p>\nThe most common concern I hear from women in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s is increased belly fat. It isn\u2019t weight gain that they are mostly upset about but where it\u2019s deposited\u2026right around the belly button.<\/p>\n
Even women that don\u2019t gain weight, see changes in where the fat is deposited. Is it an evil magic trick? I\u2019ve heard it being called the belly bagel, spare tire, jelly center, and my favorite the menopod. Regardless of its name, it\u2019s unwanted and you want to know how to get rid of it. Can you get rid of it or are you doomed to everlasting belly fat increases? Well, let\u2019s break down why it happens and I\u2019ll give you some ideas on what you can do.<\/p>\n
As we age, it is normal to see some weight gain. This is not something unique to women but women do see a larger increase in abdominal fat. In fact,\u00a0 the prevalence of abdominal obesity in women in 2008 was 65.5% for women aged 40-59 years. So you\u2019re not alone in this experience. Many different factors play a role in this. Changing hormone levels, loss in muscle mass, decreased activity level, and increased caloric intake, are just a few.<\/p>\n
This is the queen bee of all hormones and sadly, this is the one that you\u2019re being robbed off during menopause. Why is this such a big deal? Because she controls everything!! Estrogen plays a role in endocrine, immune, and neurologic systems. That\u2019s why when it\u2019s taken away, many women feel symptoms ranging from hot flashes to forgetfulness, depression and insomnia. One of the biggest connections of estrogen on increased belly fat is its relationship to cortisol.\u00a0Ahhh, there it is, one of the biggest baddest buzz words in the health industry right now.<\/p>\n
If you believe what you read in headlines, this is the one to blame for everything. If it\u2019s out of control, you lose, but to control it seems impossible. Is it? How is estrogen related to it and how does it play a role in belly fat?<\/p>\n
Cortisol deserves an entire article by itself (which will come soon) so here is the condensed version on why cortisol is so important to your menopod.<\/p>\n
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Cortisol is:<\/p>\n
\u201cCortisol regulates energy by selecting the right type and amount of substrate (carbohydrate, fat or protein) that is needed by the body to meet the physiological demands that is placed upon it.\u201d (5)<\/p>\n
Estrogen has anti-cortisol properties, which helps the body counteract some of the negative effects of cortisol. So as estrogen starts disappearing, so do its cortisol-fighting superpowers. This means that if your body was able to handle some of the excess day-to-day stress before, it may not be able to handle it quite as well now, which translates into excess belly fat.<\/p>\n
Chill out!!<\/b><\/p>\n Resistance training<\/strong><\/p>\n Muscle mass decreases with age for every person,<\/strong> not just women. However, this decrease is accelerated in women as they transition through menopause.<\/p>\n Eat healthy and adjust your caloric intake<\/strong> to your energy output.<\/p>\n As we age, we are faced with many physical changes that affect us not only physically but also psychologically and emotionally. As women, those changes are exacerbated during menopause. Understanding these changes is a key factor in being able to overcome these challenges and transition happily through menopause. In regards to increased belly fat, you must remember that weight gain doesn\u2019t happen overnight and it doesn\u2019t start with menopause.<\/p>\n Exercise, eat well, find a good balance between work and personal life, and enjoy the smaller things in life. Most importantly, don\u2019t let inconsiderate drivers give you a menopod!\u00a0\ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n Have a comment or question? Tweet me\u00a0@doctorluque<\/a><\/p>\n Republished with permission from\u00a0doctorluque.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n Dr. Maria Luque is a health educator and fitness expert that specializes in helping women take charge of their own wellness. A native of Germany, she pursued a career driven by a passion for health and fitness. Dr. Luque currently teaches at the College of Health Sciences at Trident University International, in addition to conducting workshops, group\/personal training, and writing. She\u2019s an IDEA Fitness Expert and has been published in the IDEA Fitness Journal as well as appeared as a guest at local news channel to talk about quality of life and menopause. Visit her website,\u00a0doctorluque.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n References<\/strong><\/p>\n The most common concern I hear from women in their 40\u2019s and 50\u2019s is increased belly fat. It isn\u2019t weight gain that they are mostly upset about but where it\u2019s deposited\u2026right around the belly button. Even women that don\u2019t gain weight, see changes in where the fat is deposited. Is it an evil magic trick? I\u2019ve heard it being called the belly bagel, spare tire, jelly center, and my favorite the menopod. Regardless of its name, it\u2019s unwanted and you want to know how to get rid of it. Can you get rid of it or are you doomed to everlasting belly fat increases? Well, let\u2019s break down why it happens and I\u2019ll give you some ideas on what you can do. Aging\u00a0 As we age, it is normal to see some weight gain. This is not something unique to women but women do see a larger increase in abdominal fat. In fact,\u00a0 the prevalence of abdominal obesity in women in 2008 was 65.5% for women aged 40-59 years. So you\u2019re not alone in this experience. Many different factors play a role in this. Changing hormone levels, loss in muscle mass, decreased activity level, and increased caloric intake, are just […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":260,"featured_media":15590,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[289,257],"class_list":["post-23240","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-mfn","tag-menopause","tag-womens-health"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23240","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/260"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23240"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23240\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/15590"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23240"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23240"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medfitnetwork.org\/public\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23240"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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Mindful exercises<\/strong> such as yoga, Tai Chi, meditation.<\/p>\n\n
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Don\u2019t wait until you\u2019re unhappy with your body\u2026 live healthy now!<\/strong><\/h4>\n
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