In today’s video, we’re going to tackle menopause weight gain and the exact exercise plan to lose menopause belly fat.
Hot flashes, sleepless nights, mood swings!
Going through menopause can be tough, hands down…
Then, to add insult to injury there’s the sudden and stubborn weight gain that seems to accumulate around the tummy (something you’ve never had to deal with before).
For many women, feeling sheer desperation to get their body back, they pull out all of their old weight loss tactics:
- The low calorie diets: but it does nothing, or worse yet, they gain more
- Adding hours and days to their fitness routines: yet, instead of losing weight, they feel even more fatigued, more sore and achy, while the stubborn belly fat refuses to give in.
Here’s the issue:
The generic workout strategies and low calorie diets weren’t designed to treat menopause and the hormone shifts that are causing all of your symptoms, including belly fat.
But the fix is simple…
Change your workout, and change the way you eat to meet your hormones where they’re at!
Here is the exact exercise strategy to target belly fat loss when you’re experiencing low estrogen associated with menopause:
Weight Train 2 times per week: Specifically Targets Belly Fat
Weight training specifically targets menopause belly fat by increasing lean muscle in your body.
Fun Fact: Is the scale playing with your mind? While you gain 3 pounds of helpful muscle by weight training, you lose 4 pounds of fat.
If you use the scale as a tool to gauge your weight loss, but feel disappointed that after all of your hard work you’ve only lost 1 pound, well, if you’ve been lifting weights, you’ve actually lost 4 pounds of fat! Your body composition is more toned, your jeans feel loose, you’re stronger and healthier, but the scale won’t show it!
Start with a simple full body weightlifting workout 2 times per week. That’s all you’ll need to target menopause belly fat.
Meet Your New Estrogen Levels where they’re at for belly fat loss:
“I eat the same as I used to, but instead of losing weight, I gain!” I often hear this from my clients when they first start with me.
Simply put, low estrogen increases your appetite. Which means, without even realizing it, you’re probably eating more.
This is most commonly done through portion distortion (bigger portions that to your eye look the same size).
The end result is,
You eat more
You put on more weight
And to make things worse, most of this weight gain will go right to your tummy because as estrogen levels decline, new signals take over which tell your body to place the fat on your belly.
Here’s how it works:
Estrogen sends signals to your brain to decrease hunger hormone Grhelin (the hormone that tells you it’s time to eat).
With lower estrogen levels, you no longer have a strong signal telling you to stop feeling hungry.
You eat more and you gain weight.
Solution: The way you workout can influence your hunger hormones.
Your hunger hormone Grhelin isn’t just regulated by estrogen hormones. It is also regulated by the intensity of your workout.
High intensity interval training suppresses your hunger hormone Grhelin, which means you naturally lose belly fat by regulating your hunger.
High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) consists of short bouts of vigorous exercise (85%-90% heart rate) ranging from 20 seconds to one minute, followed by a short rest.
If you’re short on time, this type of workout is a game changer.
You’ve got to decrease the amount of days and the length of time you workout, if you take on HIIT.
Due to the intensity, with HIIT you’ll do no more than 75 minutes per week.
This is all you need to not only decrease menopause weight gain, (specifically menopause belly fat), but to reduce your risk of chronic disease.
I suggest you break your HIIT workouts into a few days in order to give yourself ample time in between to recover and adapt to the workout.
CAUTION:
You need a good cardio base before you do this, otherwise you risk creating a hormone imbalance which will increase your belly fat, and puts you at risk for chronic disease, injury and overtraining.
I cannot stress this enough.
I recommend at least 1 month if not longer of consistent exercise before trying out this strategy.
So, it’s time to put these 2 strategies into action. I’ve created a FREE downloadable workout that includes a weight training workout and a simple walking high intensity workout.
If you’re just starting with fitness after a long time off, download the shrink belly fat workout and focus on weight training only for at least 4 weeks.
One more word of caution: there are certain menopause symptoms beyond menopause belly fat that may show low estrogen is not your issue. I suggest with these symptoms you avoid this type of workout:
Signs low estrogen isn’t causing your weight gain:
- If experiencing extreme exhaustion, anxiety or stress
- If you feel disappointed you can’t do the workout because you’re exhausted
- If your body aches at the thought of doing a workout
- Or if you’re just starting your fitness journey
If these signs apply to you, then hold off on High intensity interval training.
Let’s find the solution. Next video, we’ll talk about the most common hormone imbalance that often gets overlooked during menopause, and how to change the way you eat and exercise to begin to balance your body, increase your health and release stubborn belly fat.