A Answers (3)
To conquer your over-40 belly once and for all, follow my easy 5-step plan:
1. Eat in Reverse: How would you like to blast off belly fat by eating spaghetti for breakfast? You can! As a general rule of thumb, eat carb-heavy meals early in the day so they get burned off rather than stored as belly fat. At dinnertime, do the opposite: Focus on eating lighter, mostly protein-based meals.
2. Create a Fiber Pack: All women over 40 should consume 25 grams of fiber per day to stay healthy. As an added benefit, fiber helps you stay full. However, you don't want to consume all your fiber at once or you'll get bloated.
3. Drink One Glass of Red Wine Daily: With age comes more responsibilities and often more stress, which directly affects the belly by inflaming fat cells and causing weight gain. Studies have also shown a link between a moderate amount of alcohol consumption and less belly fat. Reduce stress where you can and also drink one glass (6 oz) of red wine a day. It'll help you relax and also provides antioxidant-rich resveratol, known to reduce inflammation.
4. Confuse Your Muscles: Here's something that may surprise you: Muscles get accustomed to doing the same exercises, and when you're not challenging them, you stop burning as much fat. To address this dilemma, change your exercise routine.
5. Make a Belly Band: A lot of women turn a blind eye to their waist size, but that's a dangerous mistake. Women with waists larger than approximately 32 inches are at risk for heart disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer. Make a belly band by placing a ribbon around the center of your waist and cutting it to size with a pair of scissors. Use this band to track your waistline daily, and make sure you're staying within the range of 32 inches or less.
This content originally appeared on doctoroz.com
Having a flat stomach is every woman's wish. Women after 40 usually have more accumulated fat in their stomach area than the rest of their bodies, which may be due to previous pregnancies. I love Dr. Oz's advice above about how to change your eating habits. But round bellies are not just because of stored fat, our intestinal track could also accumulate lots of toxins and waste products from a diet of processed and refined foods. When our diet is deficient in fiber, waste products won't be eliminated from the GI track as intended by nature.
Along with your diet and exercise plan, it's smart to cleanse your guts, by going through a fresh fruit and juice cleanse. You will be amazed how many inches you loose from your stomach and how light and energized you feel.
To learn more about a safe cleansing plan read this: “Fresh fruit cleanse” By: Leanne Hall, listed in my favorite book section.
Your body sheds body fat in the exact opposite way as it accumulated body fat. Your body puts on fat in layers so when dealing with stomach fat we are really just dealing with body fat in general. As you reduce body fat you will reduce stomach fat. After the age of 40 you deal with additional issues of hormonal changes but these can be easily overcome as it relates to body fat. To reduce stomach fat after 40 you simply must first determine your metabolic rate. This is where you might need a little help from your doctor, or fitness provider but once this is established these same people can help you determine your metabolic rate. When you have this number, start tracking what you eat every day. Cut your calories by subtracting 500 from your metabolic rate and eating at the most this amount on a daily basis and you will lose about 1 lb. a week of legitimate body fat. Add a smart exercise program to this and you will dramatically reduce your belly fat over just a few short weeks.
Important: This content reflects information from various individuals and organizations and may offer alternative or opposing points of view. It should not be used for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. As always, you should consult with your healthcare provider about your specific health needs.