I did a Facebook Live chat last week about the top 10 tips to lose menopausal belly fat, and as I was reading them off, I realized that five of these principles can be applied to men and women alike -at any age.
These are universal truths when it comes to burning belly fat:
1. Control your stress. Stress increases cortisol production and cortisol, in turn, will pack the pounds around the mid-section. Now, it's not doing that to be a jerk, it's actually doing that because it thinks it's protecting the internal organs from what must be a perceived threat.
However, there are no real threats, are there? We are just stressing because that's what we do.
Long-term stress will also cause our cortisol and insulin levels to remain high in the blood and when this happens the extra glucose in our body will get stored as fat - and for women, mostly in the abdomen and thighs.
So, if you really want to lose the belly fat you need to learn to control your stress, be it through meditation, yoga or any mindfulness based activity.
My favourite stressbusting app is Headspace. You can also calm yourself down with deep belly breathing. Deep breathing will stimulate the vagus nerve, which then calms down your overactive central nervous system. Try this easy breathing exercise: lie on your back with a book resting on your belly. Inhale deeply and feel the book rise under your belly and then exhale fully and feel the book lower towards the spine. Repeat for five to 10 minutes daily to improve your vagus nerve function.
2. Strength train.
Perform a properly designed strength workout at least three times a week. This will build your lean muscle tissue, which starts to decrease after the age of 30, and in turn ramp up your metabolism and your ability to burn fat 24 hours a day.
3. Eat regular meals everyday.
Nothing will damage your metabolism, and pack the weight on around the mid-section, than starving yourself and going on yo-yo diet after yo-yo diet. We need a stable level of blood sugars to prevent cortisol from being released (remembering that cortisol loves to pack the pounds on around the middle), and eating regularly does just that.
Yes, you need to eat less to lose weight, but deprivation is not the key.
4. Eat more protein. Aim for a gram of protein, per pound of body weight. This will help support the lean muscle tissue you are building in the gym, leave you feeling fuller for a longer period of time, and it will save calories because you are feeling satisfied sooner and are less likely to go back for seconds.
Most people that I coach do not get nearly enough protein. If you are not sure how many grams of protein you are eating each day, I recommend that you download one of the many free food journaling apps out there (I love loseit.com), and keep track of your diet for a few days.
Understand that ignorance is not bliss when it comes to weight loss. You need to track and monitor so you can fully understand where you need to step up your game.
5. Eat at the right time of day.
Cortisol has a natural rhythm that is highest in the morning, and then decreases gradually as the day progresses.
Eating tends to increase cortisol, so eating the largest meal earlier in the day is the best option for weight loss and maintenance.
In addition, our body's ability to process carbohydrates decreases as the day goes on. We metabolize carbohydrates more efficiently in the morning, compared to later in the evening. And, the more efficiently our body can use the food we eat, the easier it is to lose belly fat.
PJ Wren is a local writer and trainer who can be reached at www.fitnesswithpj.com. You can also catch her Live on Facebook every Friday afternoon for her #FitFriday chat (@Fitnesswithpj).
