The Truth About Banishing Belly Fat After Menopause

I’m an apple shape and store most of my fat in my stomach. If you are like me you are more susceptible to heart attacks and strokes so you have to keep your belly fat in check.  It is such a common problem for older women that you can’t breeze through a checkout line without seeing a magazine headline promising to beat the battle of the tummy bulge. “Cures” for big bellies are all over the Internet, on TV, and on the radio as well.

Weight loss gurus who claim to have the answer to belly fat are often younger than 40, are guys who can lose weight in their sleep, or someone who has had plastic surgery. Sorry, Jane, we all know you had a little help. Liposuction, gastric bypass, and tummy tucks are painful and dangerous medical procedures. They should only be performed if absolutely necessary.

I made it through 2 natural childbirths and that was enough pain for me, thank you very much!

The menopause factor

It’s rare that an older woman doesn’t experience some kind of hormonal imbalance after menopause. You may not be a raging crazy person or sweat buckets from hot flashes, but subtly, your hormones are not in sync. It’s horrifying when our bodies turn from hot mamas into bulky babushkas. We feel unattractive, undesirable, and easily get depressed.

Doctors and alternative medicine practitioners are quick to hand out hormone replacement drugs or supplements to fix the problem but many of these fixes are expensive or cause side effects. 

The threat of sabotage

Most of us also have people in our lives who will sabotage our efforts even if they don’t mean to. Do you have a partner who tempts you with creamy dips, large slabs of meat, or foot-long submarine sandwiches?

Restaurants that serve oversized portions are the worst. You have to be careful. That doesn’t mean you have to give up foods or desserts that you love. Just split the portions into reasonable sizes and enjoy!

Belly fat diets put you in “Danger Will Robinson”

Cleanses, juice fasts, and stimulating supplements promising to promote weight loss are often detrimental to your health. They are not only unnecessary but are more tortuous than satisfying.

Beware of marketers who only want your money

The belly fat diets you see on the market may work temporarily, but not in the long term. Steer clear of anyone hawking miracle products. They especially prey on older people and make millions of dollars selling and up-selling snake oil that’s expensive, ineffective, and possibly unhealthy.

Too much of a good thing

Are you exercising like a fiend, eating super healthy food, and are still not getting results? Chances are you are overdoing your efforts.

Our ability to recover from strenuous exercise diminishes as we age. Too much exercise causes stress in our bodies that builds up cortisol which causes belly fat. Exercise is important for good health, balance, and flexibility, but you don’t have to kill yourself doing it. Instead, do exercises that give you joy like walking, swimming, or stretching. Put away your heavy weights and quit straining yourself by holding planks if you hate doing them.

I love the commercial where a woman is looking for the perfect exercise program. She purchases exercise equipment, tries working out to the TV, looks horrified at a green drink she just whipped up, walks out of a pole dancing class, and eventually decides to chuck it all and go for a walk. It works for her and she enjoys being out in nature.

Stomach exercises will get you nowhere

It is impossible to lose inches in specific areas of your body. You must reduce your weight overall to flatten stubborn belly fat. Tummy crunches and other abdominal exercises are a waste of time. They will tone your tummy but only AFTER you lose the weight.

Slow and steady wins the race

Extreme diets, fasts, and boot camp-style exercises don’t work because the pounds will come back fast. Taking it slow and easy is not only more effective but way less stressful especially if you are older. I know it’s frustrating when you want instant results, but that is the only way you will be successful in the long term.

The secret to losing belly fat is to eat a well-balanced diet but still practice portion control. You should also avoid processed foods and hidden sugars, drink plenty of water, and exercise moderately. 

The REAL REASON you have a pot belly

Stress is the #1 factor that builds belly fat. It causes our bodies to secrete cortisol as a survival response. This triggers other physiological mechanisms that interfere with our bodily functions limiting our ability to burn fat. This primal survival response is what protected our ancestors from wild animals, starvation, and other terrifying situations.

Elissa S. Epel, Ph.D., lead investigator on a study conducted at Yale University’s psychology department remarked:

“Women with greater abdominal fat had more negative mood swings and higher levels of life stress. “Greater exposure to life stress or psychological vulnerability to stress may explain their enhanced cortisol reactivity. In turn, their cortisol exposure may have led them to accumulate greater abdominal fat.”

Don’t feel bad because you are experiencing stress. It’s completely normal and part of being human. The suggestions below may help you reduce your anxiety so you can mellow out.

1. Walk
2. Stretch
3. Do Yoga
4. Dance
5. Meditate
6. Journal – this is particularly good to get at the root of your stress.
7. Sing
8. Try hypnotherapy
9. Get a massage
10. Pamper yourself
11. Fish
12. Hike
13. Play golf
14. Swim
15. Drink soothing tea.
16. Listen to jazz or a classical concert
17. Play an instrument
18. Cuddle with a pet
19. Work in your garden
20. Taking a bubble bath
21. Have sex … Yes … Sex.  With the right partner, it can be relaxing.  With the wrong partner, maybe not so much.

Once you understand why you have belly fat after menopause it’s much easier to do something about it. Despite massive advertising targeted toward annihilating tummy blubber, a miracle cure DOES NOT EXIST!  Save your money and target with is truly causing you to be “rotund.” 

What have you done successfully to reduce your belly fat?  Please leave a comment below.