Menopause Belly:
Veggies like spinach, turnips and collard greens are great sources of calcium. Moving onto your veggie drawer, you’re not going to want to skimp out on those healthy greens either. Kristin Kirkpatrick, MS, RDN, former lead dietitian at Cleveland Clinic and founder and president of KAK Consulting, LLC., is an award-winning dietitian, best-selling author and nationally recognized speaker and writer.
And that lies deep inside the abdomen and surrounds the internal organs. An expanding waistline is sometimes considered a price of getting older. For women, this can be especially true as body fat tends visit the website to shift to the abdomen after menopause. Reducing stress and anxiety can curb some unhealthy eating habits. What’s more, stress can actually be part of the reason why you’re experiencing belly bloat.
Catherine Hansen, MD, MPH, FACOG, FRCSC, NCMP, is a board-certified ob-gyn, certified menopause practitioner, and head of menopause at Pandia Health, a women-led control delivery service. She completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology followed by a fellowship in sexual health, a certification in menopause, and a strong alignment with an integrative approach to care. A good general recommendation is to aim for 1.2 to 1.5 grams of protein per kilogram of bodyweight per day. ‘The earlier you intervene, the easier and faster it will be to get back on track to feeling great and doing what you can to prevent future health problems so you can live the life you want, freely,’ notes Dr. Parrella.
Even if you’re dieting you still won’t be able to fully get rid of your belly as long as your muscle mass keeps declining. Aerobic exercise is also important lifting weights with major muscle groups is what you’ll need for muscle gains and fat loss. Studies show that managing stress, improving sleep quality, and increasing aerobic activity and resistance training may also help. Discussing hormone replacement therapy with your physician is another option.
While menopause is a process that’s different for each person, the one constant is that these bodily changes, from gut health to sleep patterns, are natural and normal. Keeping tabs on how your body systems are responding to all of these changes and reporting them to your health care providers is a healthy approach you can take to menopause. Because weight fluctuations can be caused by a variety of factors, it’s a good idea to address any noticeable changes with your doctor, regardless of the life stage you’re currently in. To combat this, work in resistance training and high-impact exercise (with your doc’s approval!). ‘It is the stress that is placed on the bones and muscles that leads to the development of increased bone mass and improved muscle strength,’ says Dr. Hansen. You may feel like you just have lousy self-discipline when in fact it’s your body chemistry that’s making it more difficult to eat healthy and to know when to stop.
If you feel lost, if you experience discomfort, or if the instructor isn’t helping you, it may be best to get more formal guidance from a trainer as you start an exercise routine. She lost weight see post with fad diet plans and meal replacement shakes, but the weight always came back. Niebergall thought that to lose weight, she had to drastically restrict her diet, which wasn’t sustainable.
Menopause belly fat is a common concern among women going through menopause. This type of fat tends to accumulate around the waistline and is often difficult to get rid of. Even if your diet includes plenty of calcium, don’t skip that daily vitamin D pill. ‘Vitamin D is absolutely necessary to help absorb the calcium intake,’ says Dr. Pattimakiel. ‘They’re both needed to help improve the structure of the bone.’Especially as a lot of us don’t get enough of this essential vitamin from sun exposure, you may need a boost anyway. This can range from person to person though, so be sure to ask your healthcare provider whether or not you should get your levels checked.
Educational materials can offer you insights into understanding the hormonal changes affecting your body. Outreach programs, often run by health organizations, provide up-to-date information and can connect you to experts in menopause management. Joining support groups can provide you with emotional comfort and practical tips from others who are going through similar experiences.
Your abdomen may shift and enlarge throughout the day, depending on what you’ve been eating. Water retention or gas retention can be the source of this type of bloating. Stress is linked to weight gain, especially weight in the belly. Research has shown that cortisol, a hormone released with stress, leads to the accumulation of fat in the abdomen.
Whether you’re nearing menopause or long ago bid adieu to your menstrual cycle, you can blame hormones for a lot of changes ‘ including those that lead to weight gain. Easier said than done, but cortisol, the stress hormone, sustains hormonally active fat accumulation, per Dr. Hansen, so reducing it is key. To do just that, get restorative sleep for seven to eight hours a night and create intentional stress management practices. ‘While protein requirements do not necessarily increase, it is important for busy midlife women to pay attention to their diet and ensure adequate intake of healthy, lean proteins,’ shares Dr. Hansen.
Women’s health specialist Lynn Pattimakiel, MD, explains what foods to try (or avoid) to help alleviate symptoms and changes from menopause. If you’re sedentary, starting an exercise program will help you shed pounds as well as relieve menopausal symptoms such as hot flashes, according to a study published last year in the medical journal Menopause. But if you’re already active, you’ll need to crank things up a notch. The best way to do this is through a short duration of high-intensity interval training (HIIT), where you alternate brief periods of intense physical activity with more relaxed recovery periods. “This doesn’t have to be a lot ‘ it can just be tweaking your morning walk to throw in some hills,” says Peeke.
The only way to increase your muscle mass is to work out with weights or bodyweight resistance training (26). As you strength train you’ll build more lean muscle mass that will lower your body fat and then reduce your belly fat. Cortisol is known as the stress hormone and its level rises in menopausal women (19).
As your hormones become more unstable and erratic your body is going to promote the storage of water weight and gas. If you’re using HRT then you’re also more likely to have water retention (23). Belly fat is made up of both subcutaneous fat (just below the skin) and visceral fat (deep belly fat around your major organs).
Add a splash of milk to brewed coffee instead of ordering a latte. Use of this website and any information contained herein is governed by the Healthgrades User Agreement. Monica Christmas, MD, offers comprehensive navigate to these guys obstetric and gynecologic care from a patient’s initial exam through her childbearing years and menopause. You’ll soon start receiving the latest Mayo Clinic health information you requested in your inbox.
Your body in menopause isn’t as efficient with blood sugar and insulin (34). You’ll be much more likely to become insulin resistant during the menopause process. So if your body isn’t able to process carbs and sugars then it makes sense to lower your carb and sugar intake. One study found postmenopausal women on a low carb diet lost 21 pounds and inches off their belly (35).