Many women also notice an increase in belly fat as they get older — even if they aren't gaining weight. This is likely due to a decreasing level of estrogen, which appears to influence where fat is distributed in the body.
Causes include poor diet, lack of exercise, and short or low-quality sleep. A healthy diet and active lifestyle can help people lose excess belly fat and lower the risk of problems associated with it.
There are a few reasons that someone's stomach can stick out. The first is body fat levels, and the second is if someone is developing heart disease or not, and the third is related to posture.
Start with a mix of moderate and vigorous exercise to burn off menopausal weight gain. Your routine should include aerobic exercises like swimming, walking, bicycling, and running, as well as resistance or strength training. “What you want to employ now is high-intensity interval training (HIIT),” Dr. Peeke says.
Weight or resistance training is the best way to lose belly fat after 65. As mentioned earlier, burning belly fat can be challenging in this age group due to muscle loss. By doing resistance training exercises, you develop more muscle mass that helps your body burn more calories even at rest (1).
Menopause weight gain often appears without any apparent behavior change. But it doesn't go away on its own. Instead, like any other weight loss, losing menopause weight requires you to expend more calories than you take in.
What is an apron belly? Pregnancy, weight loss, and weight gain can cause you to have an excessive amount of fat, tissue, and skin hanging down from your abdomen. Called “apron belly” because it looks like you're wearing an apron around your waist, it can also be referred to as a pannus stomach.
It might be as simple as eating too much too fast, or you could have a food intolerance or other condition that causes gas and digestive contents to build up. Your menstrual cycle is another common cause of temporary bloating. Sometimes a bloated stomach can indicate a more serious medical condition.
By age 40, most people notice that their stomach protrudes more than it used to—even if they haven't gained much weight over the years. Though this belly “pooch” is often caused by normal changes in fat distribution, stomach protrusion can indicate the presence of a more serious underlying condition: Diastasis recti.
You could have a condition called Diastasis Recti Abdominus, or DRA. DRA is caused by an increase in abdominal pressure and occurs when the rectus abdominus, the abdominal muscle that runs down the center of your stomach, separates.
Many women also notice an increase in belly fat as they get older — even if they aren't gaining weight. This is likely due to a decreasing level of estrogen, which appears to influence where fat is distributed in the body.
Gaining weight solely in your stomach may be the result of specific lifestyle choices. The two S's — stress and sugar — play a significant role in the size of your midsection. Certain medical conditions and hormonal changes can contribute to abdominal weight gain.
Menopausal bloating
Bloating is a common symptom of perimenopause and menopause. Your abdomen may shift and enlarge throughout the day, depending on what you've been eating. Water retention or gas retention can be the source of this type of bloating.
This is likely due to a decreasing level of estrogen, which appears to influence where fat is distributed in the body. The tendency to gain or carry weight around the waist — and have an "apple" rather than a "pear" shape — might have a genetic component as well.
In order to flatten your belly in your senior years, you'll need a multi-pronged health approach that includes a healthy diet, regular cardiovascular exercise to burn calories and strength training exercises to tone the underlying abdominal muscles.
Weight can be lost and abdominal muscles can be toned at any age, even after 60. Cardiovascular and strength training exercises can help you lose the flab and tighten your abdominal muscles.
However, women over 60 can still sport a flat stomach by eating right and exercising regularly. While specific ab exercises can help keep the ab muscles from going flaccid, they won't independently flatten a rounded tummy.
Simply walking more often can help you lose weight and belly fat, as well as provide other excellent health benefits, including a decreased risk of disease and improved mood. In fact, walking just one mile burns about 100 calories.
Moreover, as we age, our fat deposits are redistributed. That is, the subcutaneous fat directly under the skin decreases (one reason the skin begins to sag). And the intra-abdominal fat surrounding our intestine, colon and stomach increases. The result is the pot belly.