12 Ways to Beat Menopausal Belly Fat

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. “Basically that means that moderate levels of exercise are interspersed with high-intensity intervals throughout the week.

“What we did when we were 30 and what we do when we’re 60 is very different,” says Kathryn A. Boling, MD, a family medicine physician at Mercy Medical Center in Lutherville, Maryland, noting that it’s important to adjust exercise regimens with age.

If you’ve lost some gusto, create incentives for yourself to stay moving. “I have an Apple Watch, and I like to see that [completed exercise] circle closed,” Dr. Boling says. “Try activities that have you lifting, pushing, and pulling.”

Bear in mind that exercise intensity is personal. So, someone who hasn't exercised in years may require very little exercise for it to feel intense, while someone in great shape may be better suited to, say, try a HIIT class. When in doubt — and also to avoid injury — find a personal trainer or physical therapist to help guide your routines.

Staying vertical isn’t exactly the same as breaking out in a full-on sweat (although it’s great when you can do that, too). To stay upright and moving more often, stand and pace when you’re on the phone; go upstairs to chat with a family member instead of texting them; or park farther from the front door of the places you’re going to, so you’ll get in more steps.

Not all nutrients are created equal, and some experts believe that a steady diet heavy in processed or refined carbs, like pasta and bread, is a significant factor for excess belly fat. “Carbs are the enemy of the middle-aged woman,” says Dr. Boling. “If you are perimenopausal, look at how much sugar you are eating. Carbs turn into sugar in our bodies.”

The study authors wrote that “tai chi [has] health benefits similar to those of conventional exercise and thus provides an alternative and more amenable exercise modality for middle-aged and older adults to manage central obesity.”

Your metabolism has slowed down by the time you hit menopause — with some research suggesting it burns a couple hundred calories fewer a day. “Extra weight can very quickly add up if you don’t reduce the number of calories you consume,” says Christine Palumbo, RDN, a nutrition expert in Chicago.

If you find yourself eating out often, Palumbo suggests ordering appetizers as entrees; being mindful of alcohol consumption; and when you do order a larger meal, asking for a to-go container for leftovers to help you portion out what you want to consume.

Cutting back on restaurant meals and takeout is an easy way to control portions, but the timing and frequency of your meals can make a difference, too.

“There’s a lot of research about meal timing, and there is an increasing body of knowledge suggesting that we’ve had it all wrong when we talk about eating five or six small meals a day,” says Palumbo. “Research is pointing to doing better in the weight department by eating three square meals a day.”

She says to start your day with a hearty breakfast that contains lean protein, and finishing the day with a light supper. “Eating your main meal at noontime can be beneficial for your weight,” according to Palumbo.

Fat adds flavor, makes our food taste better, and is part of a healthy diet. So the good news is that it isn’t necessary or recommended to completely eliminate it from your diet. You just need to learn how to be more choosy, says Palumbo. Think: more walnuts, fewer Whoppers.

The healthiest fats are the ones derived from plant sources like olives and nuts, but keep in mind that healthy fats — like those found in avocados — have the same number of calories as the fat found in a hot fudge sundae. “An ounce of nuts has 170 calories, so you have to be very careful,” says Palumbo. “The same goes with extra-virgin olive oil.” Her advice? Measure the amounts of fats and oils that you consume.

And restaurant meals are not your friends in the fat department, either. “Restaurants are not in business to make us healthy. They add a lot of flavor carriers, which are known as fats,” Palumbo says. Salad dressings are one of the biggest sources of added fat in our diet, so order your salad with the dressing on the side.

When you are following a midlife diet, it’s not just what you eat that matters, but also when you eat. Midnight ice cream binges and potato chip raids, for example, are generally bad ideas — and would be a poor choice even in the light of day. But the general message on food timing is clear: “Don’t eat too much too late,” Peeke says. “Eating later in the evening is murder for trying to keep weight off.”

To help rein in your snacking, Peeke says to start paying attention to your circadian rhythm. “Eat during a window of 8 to 12 hours a day, and then don’t eat for the rest of the time. Experts find this imperative to take care of weight at any age, but especially during menopause,” she says. “End your eating at a reasonable time, like 7 p.m., and pick it up again 12 hours later the next morning at 7 a.m.”

Before exploring intermittent fasting as a weight loss strategy, it’s best to check in with your doctor to avoid risks from undernourishing yourself and any risks that may be specific to your health conditions.

It’s easy to get into an exercise rut, and even easier to fall out of the habit of exercising at all. But at this stage of your life, not getting your move on is not an option.

Any kind of physical activity is better than none at all, but if your body gets too accustomed to a routine, it won’t burn belly fat (or any fat) as efficiently as when you first started doing it. “If you’re doing the same workouts you’ve always done and are expecting the same results — that isn’t going to happen,” says Dr. Faubion.

Inadequate sleep also impacts our hunger hormones, ghrelin and leptin. “Ghrelin and leptin become dysfunctional when you don’t get enough sleep, so good luck trying to lose weight if you don’t fix that problem,” says Peeke.

Palumbo says that you should shut down your kitchen and brush your teeth by 7 p.m. This will keep you from eating late, which can keep you from getting restful slumber, and potentially lead to unwanted pounds. “You shouldn’t be eating before you sleep, because it will interrupt your sleep,” she says.

Aim for a minimum of seven (and ideally eight) hours of shut-eye, although this varies from person to person and over time. Keep your bedroom cool to offset hot flashes and night sweats, and turn off all glowing screens for at least an hour before you want to fall asleep. Alternatively, Peeke suggests wearing amber-lensed glasses to counteract the sleep-disrupting effects of blue light, or checking to see if your device has an amber light setting.

To attack belly fat and any other menopausal weight gain, you’ll need to burn between 400 and 500 calories most days of the week from cardiovascular exercise, such as walking briskly, jogging, bicycling, dancing, or swimming, Peeke says.

Your belly fat could be making you feel stressed — or vice versa, for that matter. “There is a stress-fat connection,” Peeke says. “If you walk around completely stressed all the time, your cortisol levels will increase, and that will make it easy for you to deposit fat deep inside the belly.”

Cortisol, known as the stress hormone, stimulates the liver to increase the production and release of blood sugar and helps the body convert fats, proteins, and carbohydrates into usable energy. As part of the body’s “fight or flight” response, your body releases cortisol during stressful times to give your body a natural energy boost. But when cortisol levels are constantly high because of chronic stress, these same effects may result in insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes.

To reduce stress and potentially belly fat, employ quick and simple techniques to help calm you down.

• Step outside and enjoy the greenery. Studies show that being in nature reduces stress. Research also supports simply looking at imagery of nature to help feel less stressed out.

  [16]

• Try an app. Meditation apps, such as Aura, Headspace, and Calm, offer five-minute and other timed meditations for beginners that can lower heart rate and short-circuit the stress response.
• Take up knitting or crochet. Needle-and-yarn hobbies can have a calming effect. Research in Perspectives in Public Health found that women ages 41 to 60 reported feeling calmer, happier, and more productive when they crochet.

  [17]

• Ease up on alcohol. Drinking is certainly not a healthy coping strategy, and the extra sugar from the booze and any cocktail mixers adds to the belly-fat situation.
• Seek help from a counselor or your primary care doctor. If you find it hard to reduce your sugar or alcohol intake, or if you're overeating, it may be a sign of some unprocessed emotional energy or mind-body imbalance like trauma, depression, or anxiety that could be driving the behavior.

It’s always a good idea to talk with your doctor about menopause symptoms that you’re experiencing. In some cases, hormone therapy (HT) or other medication may be an appropriate treatment.

HT has had a controversial history since it was first approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of menopausal hot flashes in 1942. As early as the 1950s, suspicions arose that taking hormones might harm a woman’s health, and since that time, concerns have continued.

However, the Menopause Society recommends HT as a first line of treatment for hot flashes. Whether the risks outweigh the benefits, though, is something each woman should discuss with her healthcare provider, especially as new, lower-dose formulations have become available.

Ask your ob-gyn about medication and nonprescription supplements you might take to help you control your symptoms of menopause.

Complementary therapies such as acupuncture may help, too. Your doctor will likely want to investigate whether your weight gain is indeed from menopause and not from some other health condition that needs treating as well.