Whats The Best Way To Lose Belly Fat
Belly fat can accumulate due to a few reasons, including menopause-related hormonal changes in women. Dr. Maria Anton, an Endocrinologist cautions, We typically see that as a part of metabolic syndrome an increase in belly girth and we understand that insulin resistance is a key part of metabolic syndrome. Patients that might be struggling with belly fat would particularly benefit from learning about lifestyle changes that would potentially reducing their risk of cardiovascular disease, just based on their risk factor of having belly fat.
How Does Intermittent Fasting Work For Women Over 50
Women over 50 can use intermittent fasting as a viable way to lose weight and achieve set weight loss goals. Its simply finding a way to alter your eating patterns to benefit your body that also aligns with your daily schedule and lifestyle. As you begin to avoid any calorie-containing foods or beverages, your body starts to enter a fasting state.
At this point, your body must seek an alternative energy source and begins to burn body fat. This becomes an essential fuel that your body can use to continue normal function. This burning of fat for energy may also help facilitate weight loss. After the fasting window passes, you can resume normal eating.
However, ensure you stick to nutrient-rich foods that add value to your body. Avoid junk foods, processed foods, and sugary treats. During the fasting period, there are some awesome drinks like water and coffee that you can consume. Just dont add sugar, milk, or substitutes.
Intermittent Fasting In Girls And Teens
During periods of intense growth, such as childhood and adolescence, fasting isnt recommended.
Most children are born with the ability to regulate their food intake pretty well, provided theyre being given a range of healthy options to choose from.
Teenagehood can be a time of intense self-scrutiny and social comparison, and is often when many young girls consider dieting. Its a sensitive time to change food habits, even when its appropriate.
Instead of restricting food, focus on increasing appetite awareness and mindful eating, and prioritizing whole, nutritious foods.
As much as possible, promote an enjoyable, stress-free relationship with eating, and a kind, caring relationship to the body.
For more on how to support kids to eat well, check out our article: Nutrition for kids: Low-stress strategies and kid-friendly recipes.
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Works Well With A Nutritious Whole Foods Diet
Because intermittent fasting is focused more on when rather than what you eat, its generally easy to implement in conjunction with your current diet.
You wont necessarily need to buy any special foods or diverge much from what you typically eat.
If youre already content with the state of your current diet but looking for other ways to continue boosting your overall health, fasting might be something you want to explore.
For example, intermittent fasting might work particularly well for someone who wants to pair it with a resistance training program and a high protein diet .
Still, this isnt meant to imply that what you eat doesnt matter. Theres no doubt that youll reap the most benefits from intermittent fasting by eating a variety of nutritious foods and limiting ultra-processed foods during your eating window.
SUMMARY
Intermittent fasting is often used to manage weight and metabolic health. The eating routine might help lower blood pressure, blood sugar, and blood fat levels. For some people, it also works as part of a healthy long-term diet pattern.
What Are The Symptoms Of Perimenopause And Menopause
During perimenopause, your body starts to produce less of the hormones estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone. It also starts producing higher levels of the reproductive hormones FSH and LH. These hormonal changes can cause:
- Hot flashes
- Mood swings
- Smaller, more tender breasts
Once you are fully in menopause, most of these symptoms have decreased, and some have disappeared completely. This is because your hormones are in steady decline, or have stabilized.
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The Side Effects And Risks Of Intermittent Fasting
It seems like a no-brainer to add fasting to your daily habits with all these potential benefits and that is in fact the allure that has so many people jumping in. But there are a few things to consider before starting, especially for women.
Like any other significant change to the way you eat, you should talk to a health care provider before starting any type of fast. Even gentle fasting can carry risks, especially for people who have:
- A history of eating disorders or disordered eating habits.
- Diabetes or hypoglycemia, especially if you take medications that lower blood sugar.
- Trouble gaining sufficient weight or people working through nutrient deficiencies.
- A history of electrolyte imbalances, especially with longer periods of fasting.
It’s not that you can’t fast if you fall into any of these categories, but it makes it extra important to ensure you have the proper guidance to see if it’s safe for you. I cant stress enough, if you have a history of disordered eating or an eating disorder, it is best to discuss it with a qualified health practitioner before beginning. The potential risk may not outweigh the benefits.
In some cases, fasting should be avoided altogether:
- Pregnancy or breastfeeding.
- History of amenorrhea or concerns with fertility or missing ovulation.
- High stress or hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation .
Additionally, there are a few reported side effects, but most of them are generally mild, including:
Optimize Your Sleep/stress/workout Schedule
If losing belly fat is your main goal, improving your sleep and cortisol balance is CRUCIAL to getting there. It turns out that higher levels of cortisol are linked to weight gain specifically around the belly. Some of the biggest offenders to excessively high cortisol are poor quality sleep, high amounts of emotional stress AND an improperly developed workout schedule. You can check out my video above for how to balance each of these factors and help your body naturally tap into fat burning mechanisms.
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Supplements For Hormonal Belly Fat
Since most hormonal belly fat issues are caused by insulin issues then taking a supplement that helps with this issue is vital.
Intermittent fasting is a great method for naturally lowering your insulin. Combined with a low-carb diet itll produce the best results for resetting your hormones to drop the belly fat.
I recommend taking a C8 MCT powder while youre fasting. Itll boost your results by enhancing your bodys ability to switch over to using ketones for energy. Ketones are made when quick-burning sugars and stored carbs arent available in your body for energy. So your body has to start using your fat stores for fuel and it produces ketones as a result. I like and recommend Keto Elevate.
Support Many of the Keto Benefits Associated With Increased Ketones, & Support Them FAST, but Without the Difficulty of Doing Keto…
Benefits:
- 3X Better Than Coconut Oil, Butter or MCTs
- Heightened energy levels
If youre having trouble eating enough high protein and low carb meals then its easiest to add in a protein shake. Just make sure your protein shake is low carb and isnt filled with a bunch of additives or junk.
The Last Word
Does hormonal belly go away?
Focus on doing the things that help to reverse the damage caused by out-of-whack hormones. This includes focusing on your diet, intense workouts, optimizing sleep, and lowering high-stress levels.
Women May Be More Sensitive To Changes In Nutrient Balance Than Men
Men and women seem to respond differently when fasting or significantly restricting calories. This may be due to kisspeptin, a protein-like molecule thats essential in the reproductive process.
Kisspeptin stimulates GnRH production in both sexes, and we know its very sensitive to leptin, insulin, and ghrelinhormones that regulate and react to feelings of hunger and fullness.9 10
Interestingly, females have more kisspeptin than males. More kisspeptin may mean that womens bodies are more sensitive to changes in energy balance.11
Compared to men, fasting more readily causes womens kisspeptin production to dip. When kisspeptin drops, it tosses GnRH off kilter12, which upsets the whole monthly hormonal cycle.
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How Much Weight Can Be Lost In A Month Of Intermittent Fasting
It is possible to expect to lose 2 to 6 kilogrammes of healthy weight each month and to lose a significant amount of inches, as well as to get more energy and improve your cognitive function if you follow the fast correctly and make sure that it is in harmony with your mind, body, and soul. Even if you’re thinking about losing weight, you need also take into account things like your age, degree of physical activity, any underlying medical concerns, and even your level of stress.
Intermittent Fasting Across The Female Lifespan
Women, childbearing or not, go through several distinct phases of life, characterized by massive hormonal change.
These hormonal changes can have notable physical and psychological effects, and can influence sleep, digestion, stress reactivity, and metabolism.
Here are a few of those phases, and how intermittent fasting might affect them.
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Proposed Health Benefits Of Intermittent Fasting
When it comes to weight loss, there are two thoughts behind why IF has the potential to work. The first: Periods of fasting produce a net calorie deficit, so you lose weight, explains Rekha Kumar, MD, a specialist in endocrinology, diabetes, and metabolism at the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYorkPresbyterian in New York City.
The other concept is more complex: This approach may prevent whats called the plateau phenomenon from happening, Dr. Kumar says.
Biggest Loser
Though more research is needed on the safety and effectiveness of IF, one of the touted benefits of this approach is that it may prevent this metabolic sputtering. Most people who try diet and exercise to lose weight tend to fall off the wagon and regain weight, Kumar says. Hormones that promote weight regain, like hunger hormones, are kicked into full gear, and the thought is that IF may be a way to prevent this metabolic adaptation from happening. The idea is that the normal periods of eating in IF trick your body into losing weight before the plateau happens.
Intermittent Fasting For Women Over 50 A Complete Guide
Theres no shortage of dieting trends for weight loss, but is intermittent fasting one of them? In recent years, intermittent fasting has made headlines, with celebs like Jennifer Aniston, Molly Sims, and Kate Walsh endorsing the diet. But heres the thing, ask any of them, and theyll tell you that intermittent fasting isnt a diet but a lifestyle of time-restricted eating habits that help you lose weight, practice wellness, and feel healthier than ever.
But is intermittent fasting for women over 50 effective or just another diet, detox fad? Keep reading to find out!
Disclaimer: We recommend meeting with a certified dietitian or seeking medical advice before introducing any significant dietary changes.
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Tricks To Avoid Feeling Hungry
Surprisingly, fasting can make people feel less hungry as time passes. However, to avoid feeling hungry, the quality of your diet is critical.
For example, sugary and high-carbohydrate foods cause insulin spikes, making you hungry. On the other hand, a diet rich in lean protein, healthy fats, vegetables, fruits, and complex carbohydrates can help you feel satisfied for longer periods because it will have a beneficial impact on the hunger hormones.
Here are some specific tricks to manage hunger:
- Eat a healthy diet throughout the day
- Eat filling foods for dinner: lean protein, healthy fats, vegetables, and foods rich in fiber
- Limit added sugars and high-carbohydrate foods
- Eat plenty of non-starchy vegetables throughout the day
- Drink plenty of fluids
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Why Its Hard For Women To Get A Six
We know low-energy diets can reduce fertility in women. So can being super lean. 3 4 5
When you think about it, it makes good evolutionary sense that the body might want a little emergency padding on the abdomen.
Human females are unique in the mammalian world. Get this: Nearly all other mammals can terminate or pause a pregnancy when conditions arent right.
If it doesnt seem like a good time to raise young, embryonic development is paused until conditions improve .6
Youve known this since middle school health class: Female humans cant pause pregnancies.
In humans, the placenta breaches the maternal blood vessels, and the fetus is in complete control.
The baby can block the action of insulin in order to hoard more glucose for itself. It can even make the mothers blood vessels dilate, adjusting blood pressure to get more nutrients.
That baby is determined to survive no matter what the cost to the mother. This phenomenon, which scientists actually compare to the host-virus relationship, is whats known as maternal-fetal conflict.7 8
Once a woman becomes pregnant, she cant sweet-talk the fetus to stop growing. The result: Fertility at the wrong timelike, during a famine could be fatal.
Hence, a little calorie-storage pooch is reproductively protective in case times get tough.
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How To Get Rid Of Hormonal Belly Fat Fast
Do you have a little extra weight around your midsection that just wont go away, no matter how hard you try? If so, you may be dealing with hormonal belly fat. This type of fat is caused by hormonal fluctuations and is especially common in women who are going through menopause.
Many times you could be doing everything seemingly right with your diet and exercise but the hormonal belly fat will refuse to go away. Its frustrating and can make you feel self-conscious about your physical appearance.
But there is a reason why hormonal belly fat is so stubborn to get rid of. You might be fighting an uphill battle against the hormonal imbalances that are causing your stomach fat in the first place.
What youre eating and the amount matter a lot but youll be fighting a losing battle if your hormones are out-of-whack. But once you fix them youll finally be able to lose hormonal belly fat.
It can be difficult to get rid of hormonal belly fat, but it is not impossible. This blog post will discuss how to lose hormonal belly fat fast using a few simple tips!
Youre Eating Clean But Your Tummys Still Expanding
More often than not, belly fat can be traced to your diet. But if your tummys popping despite a steady diet and lifestyle, your weight gain could be hormonal.
Hormone levels can change for a variety of reasons outside your control, including:
- some cancer treatments
- underlying medical probs
Belly weight gain could just mean that your estrogen or testosterone levels are fluctuating because youre getting older. But if you havent changed your lifestyle and you arent approaching middle age, chat with your doctor about checking for underlying health conditions.
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Visceral Fat Or Intra Abdominal Fat
Many sources seem to equate belly fat as visceral fat at times. However, its important to keep in mind that visceral fat, or brown fat, in itself isnt visible. That being said, a protruding belly and a large waist can be signs of visceral fat as it pushes out your subcutaneous fat. Scientific literature shows a strong correlation between visceral fat and metabolic disease but, at the same time, visceral fat offers the benefit of serving as a quick source of energy. Too much fat all over the body may be the true culprit for metabolic disease.
Will Intermittent Fasting Get Rid Of Belly Fat
As noted with the studies above, Intermittent Fasting can aid in a reduction in belly fat . But why is that?
Insulin is the storing hormone and when it’s high, the fat burning process called lipolysis is turned off. In fact, consistently high levels of insulin have been directly tied to weight gain around the belly. Intermittent Fasting has been found to decrease fasting insulin levels. While fasting, insulin levels naturally dip back down and fat burning is able to turn back on. This balance of insulin levels with fasting is likely the key component to why Intermittent Fasting is helpful with belly fat loss.
However, if you break your fast with a meal that greatly spikes insulin, then this has the potential to reverse any progress made with the fast. Foods that greatly spike insulin include those rich in starches and sugars .
In order to double down on the insulin balancing perks of Intermittent Fasting, it’s crucial to break a fast with a meal that’s rich in protein, fat and fiber while also being lower in sugar and starches.
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Menopause Belly Fat Why
Its bad enough you have symptoms of menopause but what an outrage that we women, if not careful, have to beat menopausal belly fat, flabby arms and more! In this article, Ill give you the 6 things you need to get under control to get rid of menopausal muffin tops for good.
Lets start with the pre-menopause years. First, progesterone goes down.
In fact, that can happen as early as age 25 or so. If you have PMDD , you have low progesterone for part of your cycle.
As you get older that deficiency will come full cycle. This will cause a foggy brain, anxiety, concentration issues, and sometimes worse PMDD.
It can also cause sleep disruptions. In addition, low progesterone starts the slow but steady march to menopausal belly fat.
Then, the low progesterone levels contribute to elevated cortisol levels which then speeds up the deposition of fat in the stomach or belly region. The combination of these two hormonal issues then affects your energy and sleep. Remember-you can be menopausal but still menstruating. In fact, you can have heavy periods due to endometrial thickening while you also have diminishing estradiol levels, so you start getting hot flushes too. Isnt it great to be a woman? It is, but its better after you get these symptoms under control. Speaking of which, lets touch on sleep and energy for a moment.
Energy and Sleep:
Hormones all work in harmony
First, how to lower cortisol levels?
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