Combatting Menopausal Belly Fat
Menopause Belly Fat Is Real
You're Not Imagining it.
There’s a scientific reason that your pants may be more difficult to button in midlife.
Not only does this impact how you feel about your body and your clothing choices…
That extra padding around the middle - aka belly fat - also has implications for your health and longevity.
While menopause itself does not substantially influence weight gain, it creates the perfect environment for this to happen.
When you combine higher stress hormones with lower estrogen production, your body is far more likely to store excess energy in the form of fat in your belly region.
And, unfortunately, all the typical ways of going about fat loss that you’ve tried in the past probably won’t work with this kind of belly fat.
While there’s not one single quick-fix solution,
There is an effective way to combat belly fat by focusing on several key areas:
Sleep, fitness, nutrition, stress relief, and if it’s right for you, Menopausal Hormone Therapy (MHT).
Why This Matters
The leading cause of death in post-menopausal women is cardiovascular disease. Increased body fat around your midsection, especially the visceral fat around your organs, is a major contributor to cardiovascular disease.
Visceral fat can increase from 5-8% of total body fat in pre-menopausal women to 15-20% of total body fat in post-menopausal women.
FITNESS SIMPLIFIED
“Spot training” your ab muscles does NOT get rid of your belly fat. 😱
Fitness tip to help Combat Midsection Fat
Build a Stronger Core with “Functional” Core Exercises
Having a stronger, more stable trunk (not just your abs) gives you a better foundation for highly effective, fat burning workouts.
Here’s the truth:
You can “spot strengthen”, but you can’t “spot reduce”.
If you have extra belly fat, doing a bunch of core exercises WILL strengthen your core muscles, making them feel firmer, stronger and more engaged…
…BUT those exercises won’t get rid of the belly fat laying on top of your core muscles.
(I hate to break it to you, your body just does not lose fat like that.😏)
I know what you’re thinking - “Are core exercises still worth doing?”
The answer is YES!!!
But instead of doing traditional crunches and sit-ups (which may place your lumbar spine at risk), choose functional core exercises that train your entire trunk!
When your core muscles are stronger and can do their job better, your ability to safely do highly effective, fat burning workouts goes way up.
What kind of workouts are those?
Full body, metabolism-boosting strength training!💪
So even if core exercises are not targeting the fat in that area, they are the catalyst for allowing you to burn more fat overall.
Here are the 3 functional exercises to try:
3 Exercises to Build Core Muscles
- Forearm bear crawls + exhale: Try the full plank if you feel ready - Do 5-10 lift & exhales.
- Modified side plank: Do a full side plank if it’s easy - Hold steady for 5-10 deep breaths
- Bridges: Press through your heels to lift hips up - Do 10-15 reps
Extra tip: Do this circuit of 3 core exercises 2-3 sets through. Keep your neck and shoulders relaxed throughout the exercises. It’s common to clench your neck muscles while you’re trying to brace somewhere else in your body, like your core.
Did You Know...
- Your core is comprised of MUCH more than just your abs. It also includes your diaphragm, pelvic floor muscles, low back & glute muscles, and deepest layers of abdominals and even hip flexors.
- Excessive flexing and twisting exercises (like sit-ups, bicycle crunches, oblique twists, etc.) can place your lumbar spine and discs under a lot of pressure. Avoid these styles of ab exercises, especially if you have low back problems or osteopenia/osteoporosis.
- Full body strength training is more effective than just cardio for overall fat loss, including decreasing visceral/abdominal fat, due to its ability to build metabolically active muscle tissue. Need a little more convincing? Check out this article referencing multiple studies that support prioritizing strength training for fat loss.
NUTRITION SIMPLIFIED
Your secret nutrition weapon for combatting belly fat and ultimately having better health?
Eat meals (and snacks) high in produce & protein.
Nutrition Tip to Combat Midsection Fat
Eat Your PROs
It isn't just a catchy phrase. It's a way to remind you to fill your plate with PROduce and PROtein at every meal.
Protein is the perfect partner for your strength training!
With belly fat to lose, your natural instinct might be to restrict all calories and eat less. This often backfires!
You might be able to restrict for a day or two.
But then you’re ravenously hungry and willing to eat anything in sight.
Instead of this damaging 'diet yo-yo', change your mindset and think MORE.
More PRO’s - PROtein and PROduce.
Meals rich in protein and produce will keep you well-nourished and satisfied, so you're less likely to raid the snack drawer later.
Say goodbye to the late-night munchies!
Next time you're tempted by that bag of chips, why not try a PRO-packed alternative first?
Grab some creamy cottage cheese and toss in a handful of juicy blueberries.
Or have a big leafy green salad with chicken.
Ideally, your meal should consist of about one palm sized portion of lean protein, or around 20g per meal, and two handfuls of a produce - fruits and/or veggies.
Here's a fall favorite recipe to help you Eat Your PROs:
Crockpot Tuscan Chicken Stew
More PRO-packed ideas:
- 2-3 egg omelet with mushrooms, red onion & zucchini
- Turkey sausage with peppers and onions over quinoa
- Mixed berry protein shake
MINDSET SIMPLIFIED
"Why don't you just 'sleep on it'?!" (likely recommended by someone not experiencing menopausal night sweats or anxiety)
In a study of more than 68,000 women, those who slept 5 hours or less gained more weight than those sleeping more than 7 hours every night.😳
Being sleep deprived reduces your insulin sensitivity and increases your cortisol production.
This is a particularly bad combination for women with already lowered estrogen/progesterone levels - which can make it harder for your body to combat cortisol effectively and regulate blood sugars.
The frustrating reality is that even if you’ve never had trouble sleeping before, the shift in hormones during perimenopause and menopause can make it difficult to get to sleep and stay asleep.
Mindset to Combat Midsection Fat
Do what you can to improve your sleep quality!
Evaluate your current sleeping routine to see if you can make even the slightest improvements.
Get rid of things that can negatively impact your sleep like…
- Alcohol in the hours leading to bed
- Taking too long of a nap earlier in the day
- Screens
- Unmanaged stress (doing a “brain dump” into a journal before bed can make a huge difference!)
Additionally, you may want to consider hormone replacement therapy.
It can significantly improve your menopausal symptoms like anxiety and racing thoughts, hot flashes and night sweats… all things that negatively impact your ability to sleep.
THE TAKEAWAY
If you’re going through peri-menopause or you are post-menopausal and combatting an expanding midsection, it can be super frustrating and discouraging.
Spot training your abs is NOT the solution.
And neither is severe calorie restriction.
To combat stubborn belly fat...
- Choose functional core exercises
- Eat your PROs
- Get quality sleep
You need to address belly fat from multiple angles- fitness, nutrition, and mindset- to see (and feel) results.
ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
Self Care Simplified podcast
Ep 254. Battle of the Belly: Build a Stronger Core and Lose the Belly Fat
Ep 280. How To Combat Menopause Weight Gain and Belly Fat
Ep 324. Menopausal Belly Fat & Why It’s Killing You
SPECIAL RESOURCE
Knowing EXACTLY which core exercises to do and how to perform them properly should not require you to have a doctorate degree! In this FREE short program, you’ll be guided through 5 progressive days of beginner-friendly core exercises that train your deepest abdominal layers, your diaphragm, pelvic floor, glutes, obliques and abs. We tackle it all! After 5 days, you WILL feel your core engaging, your back and hip pain will be disappearing, and you’ll have a great foundation to keep working on your fitness!
Until next week... Be strong
