Each phase of our life brings new challenges. For women over the age of 50, one of the challenges can be described as stubborn fat around the abdominal area. With our metabolism naturally slowing down with age, more sedentary lifestyles, and increased hormonal changes due to menopause, we tend to store more fat around the midsection. The good news is that this fat can be reduced, but it takes a combination of lifestyle changes and dedication to prevent it from coming back.
Unfortunately, muscle mass gradually decreases with age, so fat increases as a percentage of your total body weight. With less muscle mass, the rate at which your body uses calories or your metabolism slows down. When you eat more calories than you burn, fat increases. If you consume the same number of calories as when you were younger and more active, and lead a more sedentary lifestyle, you will store fat. The factors that influence the amount of energy you burn are genetic and hormonal. Women experiencing menopause will produce more estrogen, because the cells are alerted to the fact that the ovaries are not producing enough. This results in the cells storing fat in order to produce more estrogen. When estrogen is produced, your metabolism slows down and fat cells are not converted into energy. You are left with flattened belly fat.
Abdominal fat just under the skin is subcutaneous fat. It’s a cosmetic concern, but it doesn’t necessarily pose health concerns. Visceral fat is found deep in the abdomen, surrounding the internal organs of the body. Excessive amounts of visceral fat produce hormones that can raise blood pressure, alter cholesterol levels, and possibly make the body resistant to insulin, resulting in type 2 diabetes. Excessive amounts of any type of fat will increase the estrogen levels and can cause cardiovascular disease, breast cancer, and colorectal cancer. You can’t change the aging process or genetic factors, but there are things you can do to get rid of belly fat and keep it off after age fifty.
Because your metabolism slows with age, you don’t need as many calories per day, so reduce your caloric intake. The United States Department of Agriculture specifies that people over the age of fifty only need between 1,600 and 2,000 calories a day. If you start with a good breakfast and fewer calories more often, this seems to help. When you eat more frequently, you trick your body by not giving your hormones a chance to tell your brain that you’re hungry. Also, smaller, more frequent meals keep blood sugar levels stable. You will receive the same number of calories, just at different intervals. A strict diet will cause your body to store more fat for later, because your metabolism will slow down even more, as your body signals that it needs nutrition, thus defeating the purpose. Improved diets include eating more whole grains, plant-based foods, fruits, and vegetables, and reducing foods high in cholesterol, saturated fat, and sugar. However, if you eliminate any of these foods, your body will report and store more fat, so don’t stop eating.
Physical activity is essential, if you want to get rid of abdominal fat from your body. Strength training, also called resistance training, is the best way to get rid of fat in a certain area of the body. Strength training promotes muscle building, and increased muscle mass increases your body’s metabolism, which in turn burns calories or fat. Resistance training exercises can be isotonic, where the body part moves against the force, or isometric, where the body part is stationary against the gravitational force. Isotonic exercise would be lifting a weight repeatedly, and isometric involves positioning the body in a certain way to stretch the muscles, but does not involve any movement of the body. These types of strength training exercises will tone muscles and increase bone mass. Resistance bands, exercise machines, weight machines, exercise bikes, treadmills, elliptical trainers or stair climbers, and swimming machines may be used.
Exercise that is at least moderately intense, or enough to make you sweat, and enough to raise your heart and breathing rates, is necessary to reduce those fat cells. It is suggested that you exercise for thirty minutes at least five times a week to promote an overall healthy body. To burn those fat cells, you’ll need to increase to 60 minutes a day. In addition to cutting calories, the extra exercise will increase your metabolism and burn fat by shrinking fat cells. For women, it is suggested that a waist measurement of 35 inches or more may indicate an unhealthy concentration of abdominal fat.
Stress can be another contributing factor to stubborn fat. If you’re stressed, your body produces cortisol, and excessive amounts can make your body resistant to insulin. You may want to try meditation, yoga, deep breathing, or just walking. Many of us, when we are stressed, eat. You need to have a stress outlet that doesn’t involve food. If you are not used to doing this, remember that in stressful situations you will resort to a form of exercise. Dieting can be stressful in and of itself. If you focus too much on what you can’t eat, chances are you’ll crave it more. Change your mind by exercising or doing stress management exercises.
Losing stubborn weight and belly fat will require more diligent effort and long-term lifestyle change. The most important thing to start with is a visit to your doctor. It’s important to rule out another cause of the fat, such as thyroid disease. Your doctor will be able to suggest a training regimen you can live with, making sure it is safe for you to do these exercises. Remember that you require fewer calories, due to a slower metabolism. Change your diet, but don’t exclude food groups. Avoid alcoholic beverages that are high in calories and low in nutritional value. Losing this dreaded belly fat after fifty requires dedication, lifestyle changes, education, and most of all, patience. Life after fifty is just another ride, and you can miss the bulge if you commit to the effort.