Physical Wellbeing – How to get rid of stubborn belly fat in menopause
One of the most obvious external changes we women face as we traverse this final transition, menopause, is the development of this stubborn fat suit. This blog, aka bitch up, will explore some of the reasons why you just can’t shift it, no matter how hard you’re trying. #metoo And, I promise to give you my tips for achieving physical and mental wellbeing by getting it gone.
My Belly Fat is called Muffina by the Family!
Middle aged spread
Just to be clear, I am referring to the sudden and prolonged appearance of fat on the belly, thighs, hips and arse and less in the waist. The latter usually relates to something else entirely, also solvable but not by this particular blog.
Health warning sign
This additional layering is not a healthy sign and shouldn’t be something you just accept as another joyless step in the ageing process. You know you’re on the right side of healthy wellbeing when your waist to hip proportions are between 0.7 to 0.8 and your waist to chest ratio is the same.
How to measure your wellbeing ratios
You can measure these by waist/hips = ratio and waist/chest = ratio
Waist measuring: Place the tape measure 1/2 an inch above your belly button at the narrowest part of your waist and don’t suck anything in!
Hips measuring: Please the tape measure around the widest part of your buttocks, mine is quite low down.
Chest measuring: Wrap the tape measure all around your chest, across your nips and parallel to the floor.
Thin or underweight doesn’t = healthy
And, just because the rest of your body looks fab or if you’re even underweight, if you’re packing fat in these areas and your ratios are off, something ain’t right!
Belly fat danger zone
If you find yourself above 0.8, this is you in the change honey and time for action. Because this is the first sign that you’ve got more visceral belly fat, more inflammation and all the metabolic shite that comes with that.
How does the human body burn fat
Firstly, it’s got to be released by the fat cell, lipolysis. Then it gets transported to another cell to be burned, the latter is lipid oxidation. Should you have poor blood flow, this means slow fat loss. You can tell this by touching your fatty bits, are they cold? If so, we got poor blood flow! My belly and my butt are always cold…
And, if you’re insulin resistant, the fat doesn’t get burned just restored – nice!
Why is belly fat stubborn?
Basically, hormones and not calories are the triggers for fat release! There is 2 key enzymes in charge of this process, lipoprotein lipase (LPL) the fat storer bitch and hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) the fat releaser bitch.
*Everything’s a bitch in this
Basic body chemistry
Now HSL gets triggered by the signalling of a compound called cyclic AMP, which is controlled by hormonal receptors in the fat called adrenergic receptors (AR). There is 2 types of these adrenergic receptors, alpha (anti-burn) and beta (burn). These guys also impact blood flow, the more of the beta the greater the flow. So, we can conclude my cold fat bits clearly are low in beta and high in alpha.
2 types of belly fat
Visceral abdominal fat, higher in beta and more responsive to diet and exercise. So, if you’re getting results you know what you’ve got going on. #luckybitch
Subcutaneous belly fat, much higher in alpha, meaning more slower release and harder to get swept away so hangs around – literally!
Fat loss = hormones & calories
As I’ve already intimated, hormones are key here because they influence where fat is stored. But to lose fat over all you do need to watch calories as well, there’s no getting away from them. Consume to burn not store.
Stubborn fat burn = hormones
The hormones which influence us are:
1) Insulin, this is a fat storing bitch, who increases LPL and reduces HSL, whilst impairing the normal operation of the beta receptors. Too much of this bitch for too long means more fat all over!
2) Cortisol, this is stress bitch, every time we stress we let this one out and menopausal women are more sensitive to stress! #gous
3) Catecholamines aka adrenaline and noradrenaline, these bitches get released when we do intensive exercise and have a strong fat burning impact on visceral belly fat but a weaker one on subcutaneous belly fat because of the high number of alpha receptors hiding in that old bitch, which they bind too slowing release.
4) Estrogen, this bitch over all responsible for how our fat is distributed! She makes you more insulin sensitive, meaning any excess calories are LESS likely to be stored as belly fat. And, when she is in balance dropping those calories should lead to fat loss as oppose to muscle loss. When she’s on a downer, like menopause, you can see what happens 🙁
5) Progesterone, this is an indirect but useful bitch on belly fat, it opposes the fat storing action that cortisol has on the belly and stops you becoming a fat bastard when you’re stressed.
6) Testosterone-to-estrogen ratio is critical for us women, if you have more testosterone you’re gonna have a thicker waist, not just a beard. #PCOS
How it got there!
(Fat + Sugar/Starch) x Stress = Belly Fat
OR in fancy pants chemistry terms
(Insulin + Cortisol) x Testosterone) – Estrogen = Belly Fat
What you can do about stubborn belly fat
Reduce your stress, it’s a major influencer and arse in all of this, and not just obviously because a lot of us are stress eaters but literally with its insidious over releasing of cortisol! And prolonged exposure to stress, aka when you’ve gone chronic, leads to more testosterone and lower estrogen and progesterone. Scary fucking fairy!
Simultaneously, and logically, you do need to reduce your starch and fat intake. The latter has the biggest impact on insulin and the combo of cortisol and insulin is a marriage of disaster that births belly fat. Obvs fat itself is just a calorie powerhouse, that if you ain’t burning your storing!
Definition of stress
When people think of stress, they often imagine emotional angst, anxiety, depression. This is not to what I am simply referring, no this bitch is a hell of a lot wider than that. This bitch is everything that pushes your mental, physical and spiritual wellbeing out of kilter.
Over exercising causes stress
This could be over-exercising (yes that is a thing some mad bitches get addicted too), chronic and extreme dieting, body image issues, work stresses, relationship tensions, sleep deprivation, poor diet, food and drink intolerances, allergies, watching the news, raising kids. Basically, anything and everything that causes damage inside and out.
My top belly fat burning tips
1) Balance your nutritional intake to your exercise levels
2) Reduce all the stresses in your life but getting to understand your body better, I run a great workshop on this and this is also where my Complete Bespoke Wellness Consultations make all the difference to understanding what in particular means stress to you.
3) Eat well and find your carb tipping point, you need them to feel grounded and well. You can try cutting your daily portions in half and consuming them from 3pm onwards. If you’re already eating less than 100gs a day, just eat them at night.
4) Build up your resistance to stress by drinking my Herbal Infusions and applying my Bespoke Essential Oil Blend.
5) Or even better, change your lifestyle with my Self-Health Workshop Series and live cleaner, greener and leaner.
Next Steps
Now you know everything you need to know about getting rid of stubborn belly fat for physical and mental wellbeing. Taking that next step can be a challenge, get in touch and let me guide you through.
Source of this Inspired Blog
Metabolic Living where you can take the hormone test and understand what type of metabolism you have, well worth it. They wrote a fabulous guide, which I cribbed for some of this.
Doctor Jade Teta whose inspiring female workouts are helping me to get in shape. Even I can manage 20 minutes three times a week and a daily walk.
