Menopause belly

I told you I was not done with this yet. Besides watching your diet and a succulent it obviously boils back down to exercising too. You knew it was coming right? But wait there’s more!

Stress raises that hormone Cortisol. The one that breaks down muscle and stores fat. Meditation may help to relax or dancing naked in your living room. Whatever floats your boat. Yoga does wonders for me, and the beach or dancing…depends on my mood. Your mindset is key here too. I try to change my own narrative to; whatever is in my control I try not to get stressed out about.

The next method to burn visceral fat is right up my alley; sleep. You need 7 to 8,5 hours of uninterrupted sleep to burn belly fat. On many nights; I do just that. Sleep keeps your cortisol and your insulin in check.

Another is your Adiponectin level. This one is new to me too. When your Adiponectin levels are low, it can make you store fat. The more of this hormone you have in your blood, the more flab you burn. Pistachios and pumpkin seeds will aid in increasing this level as well as getting enough of your daily fiber. Daily intake of fish or omega-3 will increase Adiponectin levels, hence the Purslane. WTH is purslane? Other foods like avocado, nuts and olives will help too. If this hormone is called the fat burning hormone, how come I have never heard of it?

The trickiest part to this belly thing is exercising. Doing a lot of cardio will only increase cortisol levels which will add to the belly fat. Right up my alley, once again. I walk fast but I don’t run. Walking, swimming, biking and dancing are all great belly fat reducers. Although some experts swear by HIIT as well; high-intensity interval training. This I can keep up with, on a beginner level.

I blame my little pouch on estrogen but in fact I have always had a soft belly. It may have gotten worse from my new job where I tend to sit 8 hours straight to get it done. Or the fact that I dance less frequently than a few years ago when this was an every weekend thing. Either way, as we get older our body “shifts” Body shifting I will have to dance a little harder and watch my sugar intake to ensure the belly stays where it is.

I have succumbed to the many menopause supplements that were offered due to that darn algorithm on my social media as well as purslane supplements. I will keep you posted as to how that works out.