Beating Belly Fat with Diet, Exercise and Hormones

Beating Belly Fat with Diet, Exercise and Hormones

Women have a tendency to have an increase in belly fat after menopause.  In addition to causing you to buy larger paint sizes, belly fat carries serious health risks.

Here is the belly fat equation:

Increased calories consumed and/or decreased calories burned leads to an increased amount of belly fat and/or weight gain.

If you eat too much and workout too little, you are likely to gain weight and increase the amount of your belly fat.  If this equation were the only indicator of belly size, the problem would be fairly easy to solve, however aging also plays a role in belly fat.  As we age, muscle mass typically diminishes while fat increases.  In addition, the loss of muscle mass also decreases the rate at which your body burns calories.  This is just not fair!  How can we fight mother-nature and maintain a healthy weight?!

High Estrogen Levels

Even if women are not gaining weight as we age, they could be gaining belly fat.  This is due to the fact that many women actually have excess estrogen after menopause.  Just to clarify that what you just read is NOT A TYPO, many women have excess estrogen after menopause that contributes to belly fat.  Estrogen gets stored and released from body fat so even if a women is no longer ovulating, she could still be producing large amounts of estrogen.  In contrast since she is no longer ovulating, she is producing very little progesterone in relation to her estrogen, this imbalance causes many, many issues including increased belly fat.  This can be combated with natural progesterone therapy as well as certain supplements that will help reduce the estrogen.

Visceral Fat

The fat around the belly is not limited to the extra layer of padding located just beneath the skin referred to as subcutaneous fat.  The fat around the belly also includes visceral fat which is deep inside your abdomen.  Visceral fat is what surrounds your internal organs.  While subcutaneous fat poses cosmetic concerns, it is visceral fat that is linked to cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes and colorectal cancer.

I don’t think it takes a MD to realize that belly fat is associated with an increased risk of premature death, REGARDLESS OF OVERALL WEIGHT.   So that means your overall weight is not as important as your belly size.  Research shows that even women who have a normal body mass index but a large waistline have increased risk of dying of cardiovascular disease.

How do you know if you have too much belly fat?

1. Place a tape measure snugly around your bare stomach. Place the tape measure just above your hipbone. Don’t cheat! Make sure the tape measure doesn’t push into your skin.
2. Make sure the tape measure is level all the way around.
3. Exhale and measure your waist. Again, don’t cheat! Resist the urge to suck in your stomach.

For women, a waist measurement of 35 inches or more indicates an unhealthy concentration of belly fat and a greater risk of heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes.  For men, the number is 40 inches.

How do you lose that excess belly fat?

Diet

1. Eat a diet rich in plant based foods such as fruits and vegetables and choose lean sources of protein.
   1. Eat a piece of chicken, a salad and other vegetable like green beans. Do not load up the salad with fatty dressings, cheeses and croutons. The fiber content of the beans and salad will fill you up and the protein from the chicken will prevent your from having low blood sugar. Low blood sugar in and of itself causes you to gain belly fat by causes increases in cortisol levels.
2. Calories are carbs. Bread is carbs. Sugar is carbs. Therefore stay away from all 3.
3. Limit saturated fat.
4. Choose moderate amounts of monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats that are found in fish, nuts and certain vegetable oils.
   1. Fish should be consumed at least twice weekly.
5. Keep portion sizes in check. Slim down your portion sizes. When in a restaurant share meals or eat half of your meal and save the rest for later.
   1. Do not think that you have to walk around hungry all day. The fiber from fruits and vegetables will keep you feeling full.
6. Drink plenty of water. Do not put anything in the water. Water is water.

Exercise

The Department of Health and Human Services recommends moderate aerobic activity such as brisk walking for at least 150 minutes a week or vigorous aerobic activity such as jogging for at least 75 minutes a week.  In addition, strength training is recommended at least twice a week.

Exercising is often intimidating for people who are not “gym rats.”  It is understandable, you may be uncomfortable in gym clothes, you may not have experience on how to use the equipment, and you may feel like people are watching you.  If this is the case, do not let this get in your way.  Most gyms have trainers there who are happy to show you how to properly use the equipment.  If you don’t exactly know what to do to help loose that belly fat, high a personal trainer.  We work with the owner of Body Elite Personalized Training.  The owner of this company, Jeremy Smith works with clients in the comfort of their own home or even via online modules.  To learn more about this opportunity, check out his website:  http://www.bodyeliteonline.com/

Diet and Exercise are two great ways to help you lose that unwanted belly fat.  In addition to diet and exercising, balancing your hormones will also give you an edge when it comes to shedding those unwanted pounds.  Look at all the ways a small estrogen imbalance can cause you to gain more and more and more belly fat.  Increases estrogen causes:

1. Increased sex hormone binding globulin which binds your testosterone and your active thyroid hormones. The binding of these hormones leads to (can you guess) increased belly fat.
2. Increased belly fat causes more estrogen to be released.
3. Repeat cycle.

If you are interested in learning more, please contact us today at (330)-633-0714.  We will be happy to assist you.