AS women go through their middle years, their proportion of belly fat to body weight tends to increase more than it does in men —- and fat storage begins favoring the belly over the rest of their body. Here is how we take it off…
As we age, without vigorous exercise and a near perfect diet, belly fat increases and the lean muscle will decrease leading to an unhealthy BMI or body mass index even if someone’s weight has not increased.
This phenomenon is called “skinny fat”
Due to the changes associated with normal aging, in the absence of diet and exercise, muscle is slowly replaced by fat and you will not even know this is happening since your overall weight (the bathroom scale) does not change very much.
Normal body fat percentages
Your ratio of body fat to lean muscle should be 20%-25% fat to 75%-80% lean muscle. AS fat increases to higher amounts over 25% to even 30% (obesity) your percentile of lean muscle goes down to as low as 60% in some individuals.
This increase in body fat and declining muscle tone leads to serious metabolic issues.
Since High body fat is considered inflammatory, especially around the belly it is associated with dozens of conditions some of which are type II diabetes, heart disease, cardio-vascular disease, stroke, auto immune conditions, low energy, joint damage and chronic inflammation just to name a few.
Good muscle tone — is critically important since muscles are where we store energy, where we absorb toxins, are used as energy if we were to become sick, moves all the fluids in the body, is responsible for digestion, absorption and elimination and yes it makes you look good also.
When muscle tone is low or does not respond to exercise it could mean possible malabsorption disease, chronic inflammatory bowel disease or just an overall feeling of weakness and low energy.
The Hormonal connection —- why I cannot lose my BELLY FAT
It is more common for women than men to suffer from “skinny fat” because of the changes associated with menopause.
Normal hormonal patterns before 50 years old in women are balanced as estrogen, progesterone and some testosterone. This ratio of endocrine hormones allows women to maintain an extremely healthy muscle to fat ratio as they prepare for having children.
Once conception occurs the ratio of estrogen to progesterone is drastically changed to encourage fat storage to be shifted from the visceral fat to the subcutaneous fatty compartment in preparation for the child.
Once the child is born, certain hormones are released “oxytocin”, and this encourages the release of the stored fat (subcutaneous belly fat) to benefit the child and the mother.
Most women will not return to their normal menstrual cycle until 2 months to 2 years following childbirth. Once the normal cycle returns and estrogen, progesterone and testosterone are back in normal balance she becomes a lean mean mommy protecting machine able to maintain healthy body fat and lean muscle ratios very easily.
Menopause and increased belly fat is associated with some of the same hormonal changes.
In menopause, as progesterone decreases so does the estrogen levels and these can be associated with the typical symptoms associate with menopause…hot flashes, low libido, vaginal dryness, thin skin, thinning hair and weight gain.
This is one reason why women in their middle lives struggle to lose the belly fat.
Mid-life begins and your hormones have changed, your body’s ability to maintain muscle tone has been severely reduced. Your body will loose 1% of muscle tone each year after 50 if you are not exercising regularly. Your overall metabolism can be slow due to stress, years of accumulated toxins, artificial sweeteners, sugary products, the taking of birth control, antibiotics, anti-depressants and overall weight gain and loss over the years. Not to mention toxic mold exposure, poly cystic ovarian disorder and just general malaise.
If the only tool you have is diet and exercise and you are in your mid-life and suffer with stubborn belly fat then you will need something else, something from the outside to help you.
In the past the only choice when diet and exercise failed was lipo-suction or wearing tight belts and garments.
Lipo-suction has lots of problems that we are all aware of. Infections, downtime, risks and sometimes even death. So, let’s not choose this one unless you are completely out of options.
What about these supposed non-invasive procedures where fat is frozen or melted, shocked or destroyed?
Too many to list however they all have one very nasty problem… they use energy, supposedly carefully to destroy subcutaneous fat in small specific spots. They are not appropriate for someone who is over 25% BMI and needs weight loss.
They ALL need at least 12 weeks of healing to see any result. They all must rely on the bodies ability to heal and remove dead, burned or frozen fatty tissue internally via the lymphatic system.
They all could lead to fat relocation and fat migration because of the body’s natural inclination to replace the damaged fatty cells. Sometimes this can be quite dramatic causing fatty ankles, fatty accumulation around the back upper chest and arms.
Being and feeling and looking fit should not require such effort.
The world is full of pills, potions, books, diets, hard exercise, no exercise, injections, surgery tummy tucks, freezing fat, burning fat, tight fitting garments (shape wear) and just overall acceptance that I am ok and do need to lose the fat.
I struggled myself with weight and belly fat into my fifty’s until I discovered the LIPO LASER.
In only 9 30-minute sessions 3 times per week for 3 weeks I lost 10 inches of stubborn belly fat and 6 pounds while lying on my back listening to music! I really mean that. No diet was necessary. No strenuous exercise was needed. I had to eat a little less on the days that I used the LIPO LASER since I found out that the calories released by the machine were actually calories made available to me and I needed to burn them right away to get the inch loss without any weight gain.
After 3 weeks my measured waist size which was 40-inches was reduced to a 36-inch waist! I had not seen a 36-inch waist since I was in my 20s!
AS a result of my quick inch loss I was motivated to continue my health journey and I cleaned up my diet, exercised a little more by walking a bit and I lost 30 pounds in 3 months.
That was 7 years ago, and I am still enjoying and maintaining my weight and waist size using my laser when needed.
If you are interested in learning more or even possibly coming in for treatment, I can be contacted at my Slim Body Laser Spa of Stuart
Do it for yourself, do it for your family, do it because it works, and you will not be disappointed
I guarantee it Dr Tred Rissacher.
