Is your muffin top growing?
For the women out there who don’t know yet what a muffin top is. It is what used to be your waist, now turned into a thick tire that’s bulking over your pants… LOL
At some stage our waist might go away….¿WHY?
A lot of it has to do with menopause, if you’re taking care of yourself otherwise. You eat clean, you work out, you haven’t changed your meals or anything else but your waist is getting bigger and your pants tighter.
So then you start to eat less, work out more and still no effect…
How awful is this??!!
You start to feel unhappy and stressed and this also adds up to your muffin top.
You’re getting into this vicious circle and there seems no way out.
When you get into menopause your hormones change. Estrogen en progesteron decline and the levels become unstable. This might cause the build up.
Where before estrogen deposited the fat in your body around hips, quads, bum and boobs, also known as our female curves, with the decline of estrogen all goes to your belly and waist. Goodbye curves….! 🙁
Less estrogen also means less serotonin, the feel good chemical. Therefore you might be easier attracted to the wrong foods because you don’t feel that great and you want a fast snack. Or that big glass of wine seems very attractive to get rid of your stress or the gloomy feelings you have lately.
Also the thyroid starts to work less efficient and that could be a problem too.
So is it inevitable then to build up weight? Absolutely not!
But you have to put some work into it (as with all good things)
If you’re already working out, great! If not, you will have to start doing this. And please don’t kill yourself with cardio. Cardio for over more than 45 minutes will give you low grade inflammation and that will hold on to your fat.
It’s better to switch to weight training or body weight training. HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) is a very good option too. Short bursts of intensive training with your body weight. An advantage of this is that it will cost you less time and you can even do this at home, so win-win situation in our very busy schedule.
Another obvious one to look at, is what you put into your mouth. And no, we’re not going to count calories but we’re going to focus on eating natural and healthy foods.
As close as possible to nature because we want nutrient dense food. So no processed food, no sugary things, no inflammatory stuff.
Real products, no frankenstein food but real food.
Then, unstress!!!
I can’t emphasize this enough. Stress elevates cortisol, the stress hormone which makes your waist grow too.
You have a busy schedule, a lot of things to take care of, you’re already stressed out because of your nasty menopause symptoms so it’s time to bring in some relaxation practice.
Meditate, do yoga or tai chi. Be mindful.Or just do nothing and give yourself time to be with yourself.
This is so often forgotten but is a big thing to look into on your journey to weight loss, or muffin top loss, LOL.
If you see yourself reflected in the image above described, know that you can do something about it.
Feel overwhelmed with all the information out there but still willing to take action?
Download my menopause symptoms-and-solutions checklist, as a first step on your journey to a new you!
With love and health,
Monique