Lose Menopause Stomach Fat - 6 Best Tips

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One of the negative symptoms of aging and going through menopause is the thickening waistline and expanding stomach. Even those women who have never had a weight problem and continue to eat well and exercise, begin struggling to keep the weight at bay.

Fat begins accumulating in the abdominal area after 50 and this visceral fat is more dangerous and unhealthy than subcutaneous fat found in other areas of the body. Visceral fat surrounds the organs, so it is important to employ strategies to help keep it off.

Despite it being more difficult to keep the pounds off than it was for younger you, it is still possible to keep trim well into old age. There are everyday lifestyle changes one can take to stop the weight gain and steps to prevent the accumulation of body fat in the stomach region.

Implement these 6 best tips to help lose menopause stomach fat fast and keep trim and healthy in the menopausal years and beyond.

1. Prioritize Sleep

During menopause our sleep quality can be reduced due to a variety of reasons. It may be due to the increased stress in a woman’s life, stemming from teen children, relationship issues, aging parents, or career demands.

Sleep can be disrupted due to increasing hot flashes or even a snoring and restless partner.

But when we don’t sleep well, our hormones are disrupted, specifically hormones that can cause weight gain. The hormone ghrelin is our hunger hormone and it tells the brain to increase food intake when we are hungry.

Ghrelin becomes out of sync when we don’t get enough sleep, so we often eat more the next day. Ever notice that you overeat when you are tired, especially grabbing carbohydrate rich foods?

Another hormone that is impacted with poor quality sleep is leptin. Leptin is our satiation hormone and it helps regulate energy balance by signalling to the brain to reduce appetite and increase energy expenditure.

When these hormones aren’t operating efficiently due to lack of sleep, we may be hungrier and not have the mechanisms to be satiated.

Lack of sleep also disrupts our fat burning ability. We burn the most fat between 2:00 to 4:00 am (refer to graphic on Circadian Rhythms in Humans) and if we aren’t sleeping during this time frame, our fat loss is impacted significantly.

Unfortunately, peri and menopausal woman are often awake during this time due to hot flashes and other reasons mentioned above.

Implement these sleeping strategies to improve sleep quality and keep hormones happy and fat burning optimal.

Purchase cooling sheets to allow air flow through the fabric and wick moisture away from the body.
Make sure your room is cool. Open a window, get a fan, or both.
Take Magnesium Glycinate supplements at night.
Homeopathy supplements like Coffea Cruda can quiet the mind and help bring on sleep.
Take a warm bath before bed.
Shut off electronics a couple hours before sleep or use blue ray glasses to avoid the harmful light and UVA/UVB rays that can disrupt sleep.
Do not eat for a few hours before bed, so that your stomach is not digesting at night.
Try to decrease the external noise. Or you can use a white noise machine for soothing sounds and for quietening the mind.
Make sure your room is dark. We get more sensitive to light when we sleep with age. Get blinds or black out curtains.

2. Eat a Complete in 3 Meal

A Complete in 3 Meal consists of protein, fibre, and fat. When you eat a Complete in 3 Meal, you will feel satiated, your blood sugar levels will be balanced, and you will get all the nourishment your body requires. If your blood sugar is balanced, you will experience less cravings and will consume less calories.

The first component of a Complete in 3 meal is the macronutrient protein. Protein is essential for almost every function in the body – muscle repair and growth, hormone regulation, immune function, cell structure, and so much more.

Protein also helps with satiety and weight management. Protein can help you feel fuller for longer, aiding in weight control. If we get enough protein in our meals, we are less likely to over eat later in the day.

Fibre is the next component of the Complete in 3 meal method. Dietary fibre plays a pivotal role in blood sugar control by slowing down the process of digestion and reducing the rate at which sugars are absorbed into the bloodstream.

This can help prevent the rapid spikes in blood sugar that are common after eating high-glycemic foods. You can read more about fibre in this post.

The third component of the Complete in 3 meal method is adding a portion of good quality fat to your meal. Again, fat is satiating, so you will have less cravings later. But fat is caloric at 9 calories a gram, so be mindful not to consume too much fat.

Grab this cheat sheet to help build Complete in 3 Meals.

3 Balance Blood Sugar Levels

Blood glucose is the main sugar found in your blood. It comes from the food you eat and is your body’s primary source of energy. When you eat, your body breaks down the food (mainly carbohydrates) into glucose, which enters your bloodstream. The hormone insulin is then secreted by the pancreas to store the glucose you don’t use for energy into your cells as fat.

One powerful tool for managing blood sugar and choosing low glycemic foods is the glycemic index (GI). The GI is used to measure how much specific foods increase blood sugar levels.

Low glycemic foods are those that have a GI of 55 or less. These foods are digested and absorbed more slowly, causing a gradual rise in blood sugar levels. This slower, steadier rise in blood sugar helps maintain more stable energy levels and can contribute to better overall health.

Low GI foods often keep you feeling full for longer, which can aid in weight management.

Examples of low glycemic foods include

Non-starchy vegetables (e.g., broccoli, spinach, bell peppers)
Most fruits (e.g., apples, berries, citrus fruits)
Legumes (e.g., lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans)
Whole grains (e.g., quinoa, oats, barley)
Nuts and seeds

4. Water

You’ve heard it before, get in your water. Water performs so many functions in the body, including the raising of metabolism and the burning of fat.

Without water, the body cannot properly metabolize stored fat or carbohydrates through lipolysis. The first step of lipolysis occurs when water molecules interact with triglycerides to create glycerol and fatty acids.

Water helps with elimination. If you don’t drink enough water, you will most likely have constipation and that does not help move the scales.

Proper elimination helps flush out the toxins in your body, which are often stored in fat cells. The pathway of toxic elimination is through urine.

Water also helps suppress your appetite. Drinking just one glass can turn off the hunger hormone grehlin for at least 30 minutes.

Water can also help with fat loss, because it helps the lungs, heart, and other organs to work effectively while exercising.

When you fill your stomach, the stretching of the stomach muscles stimulates the production of leptin, the satiation hormone, sending a signal to your brain that you are full. You can trick your brain into thinking it is full by drinking a lot of water.

5. Weight Training and Daily Walk

Weight training is particularly important during menopause, because when estrogen levels decrease, muscle mass and bone density also decrease. Weight training helps to improve body composition by building muscle and reducing fat.

Muscle burns more calories at rest; therefore, it is the key to increasing your resting metabolism. Weight Training will also help maintain the muscle when you are losing weight, so that you are losing fat and not muscle mass. No one wants to be skinny and untoned.

Resistance training can enhance insulin sensitivity, which helps your body use glucose more efficiently and reduces fat storage and promotes hormonal balance.

On top of weight training, implementing a daily walk cannot be underestimated for losing menopausal stomach fat. Walking can help lower stress levels, which prevents stress-related eating and weight gain caused by stress (read next tip). Walking helps maintain muscle tone and strength, which can improve overall body composition, and walking burns calories contributing to calorie deficit.

6. Reduce Stress

Stress raises the hormones adrenaline and cortisol, which in turn, raises blood sugar so we have energy to address the stressors. At one time, the stress may have meant running from danger. Today, stressful situations don’t always require physical action, so our blood sugar is elevated without being used for energy.

Insulin, the storage hormone, reduces the blood sugar by putting it into fat cells for later use. When the stress continues, insulin levels stay elevated and continually put sugar into cells as fat for storage.

Chronic stress and irregular sleep patterns can disrupt cortisol’s natural rhythm. Elevated cortisol levels at night due to stress or shift work can make it challenging to fall asleep or maintain restful sleep.

There are extra insulin receptors brought on by stress in the abdominal area; therefore, stress can contribute to increased belly fat.

Implement these strategies to reduce stress, which will help lower your stress hormones, and help consequently lose menopause stomach fat.

Exercise
Walk in nature
Meditation
Yoga
Journal
Speak to councellor
Sleep well

Conclusion

While it can be frustrating and disheartening to gain weight and belly fat when doing all the things you used to do. There are still strategies and lifestyle changes one can implement to lose the menopause stomach fat and keep it off for life.

Pin these 6 Best Tips to Lose Menopause Stomach Fat Fast so you can refer back later.