How should menopausal women lose belly fat? Five mindful routines are all you need to keep diabetes and heart disease away

TRIGGERS FOR WEIGHT GAIN

With menopause, the estrogen (female hormone) levels decrease and metabolism slows down. So even if your dietary pattern remains the same, women tend to gain weight as they cannot burn all calories as they used to.

Poor sleep contributes to weight gain just as much as ageing, which reduces muscle mass, muscle tone and slows down metabolism. Many women suffer from menopausal symptoms such as hot flushes, mood swings, depression, because of which they feel irritable and on edge and may indulge in stress-eating. Around the time of menopause, different life pressures, like work life, growing children or elderly parents can add to already existing hormonal changes inside a woman’s body and mind.

WAYS TO LOSE UNWANTED FAT

1) Eat a healthy/balanced diet. Take the help of a nutritionist because no matter how well you have known your body, you will need a guided approach now. Avoid junk, processed food and cut down on restaurant food. Have a protein-rich/low-carbohydrate/low-fat diet. Use skimmed milk. Your total dietary fibre intake should be 25-30 gm/day. Limit salt intake and your portions. Choose good fats but be mindful about how much you use them because excess amounts of extra virgin olive oil will not do you good even if it is healthy by itself. Don’t eat too much too late and do the heavy lifting in the earlier part of the day. Denial of hunger leads to the worst binges. Avoid mindless snacking after 4 pm. Practise time and calorie-restricted eating for weight management during menopause. Finish your meals by 7 pm, allow the body to rest and process food and resume feeding it after 12 hours at 7 am. Of course, check in with your health practitioner if this spacing works for you or needs to be adapted if you have specific health conditions. Limit alcohol.

2) Take up moderate intensity exercise. Any form of aerobic exercise is beneficial, be it brisk walking, jogging, running, swimming and cycling. Build resistance and strength training into your routine. In fact, most guidelines and research now recommend at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity every week and two or more days a week of muscle-strengthening activities that work major muscle groups, like the legs, hips, back, abdomen, chest, shoulders and arms. They should be tailored to your preference, age and medical condition. Also grade your intensity, priming your body slowly. Keep personal achievement trackers. This will help you remain goal-oriented. It’s important to vary routines as your body gets easily adjusted to sameness, making it difficult for you to burn fat.

3) They say sitting is the new smoking, speeding up accumulation of abdominal fat that increases the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes and heart disease. So, try to move about while going about your daily activities, like talking on the phone, and see if you can do them standing. This way you can slow-burn some calories and perk your body up.

4) Keep stress at bay: Stress stimulates cortisol, consistent high levels of which can lead to insulin resistance.

5) Make lifestyle changes: Take up meditation to calm the anxieties arising out of your changed body condition, socialise with friends, take up a new hobby and try to keep to the same sleep pattern. Inadequate sleep activates our hunger hormones, ghrelin and leptin, and it would be a good idea to tuck in early to get the body used to the idea of sleeping at a certain time. An earlier time window will let you have quality and longer sleep. Set aside eight hours, you will need them. Keep your ambient temperature comfortable. Try wearing eye masks for a blackout effect.

You need to restructure the tiniest detail in your life and build a system of checks and balances if you want to transition into menopause smoothly. Do not invite any health risks.