Waist Fat

[Sparkly]

Hi all,

I've heard you can't "spot" exercise to lose weight in one area, just to "tone." But isn't there SOMEthing that can be done to redistribute middle-age waist fat?

I am still pretty slender but as I've gotten older, my waist has gotten padded with several more inches, even as the rest has stayed about the same (just lower!). It used to be 25"... :cry:

Any advice for losing waist weight? Do those rubbery belts work? Do old-fashioned corsets or tight elastic do anything? Exercises, voodoo, incantations??

[flvegan]

1. Visceral fat v subcutaneous fat

Visceral fat is deep inside the abdomen, around the vital organs, etc. Subcutaneous fat is under the skin. Visceral fat is believed to be much worse. Some studies suggest the secretions of visceral fat go straight to the liver, which screws with your cholesterol and glucose. As women age, they actually tend to redistribute fat to the midsection (abdomen), especially post menopause.

Body shape also matters as to how fat is distributed.

There, now you know why. How to get rid of it? Diet and exercise. Doctors don't even care to try lipo on visceral fat. Belts, corsets, etc don't eliminate, just compress. You simply need to burn more calories than you take in. I'd recommend strength training and cardio a few times a week, and watch what you eat.

[mahina]

2. My nutritionist says

that without enough iron, many middleaged females can't excrete the stress hormones, and end up depositing fat around the middle. Solutions: yoga, meditation, walking, Heme iron 50 mg supplements, and interestingly, 1000 ml more water than you take in in calories, to dilute the stress hormones. So if you are taking in 1500 cal, then it's 2500 ml of water for you, baby.
She is smart :)
A nutritionist can measure your actual resting metabolism and then target just how many cal, protein, carbs etc you need. Check out dietorganizer.com, free to try. I bet there are free programs out there like it, I just haven't found them.
Keep the faith, remember, no matter how fluffy you feel, most of us would love to be in that shape. Aloha!

[NJCher]

3. my plan

I'm sort of in the same place you are and my plan has been resistance training (these ab-crunch machines are really cool!) plus an overall increase in the amount of gardening and yard work I do. I am going with a low glycemic index diet as it seems the easiest, healthiest way for me.




Cher

[Manifestor_of_Light]

4. Get your thyroid checked. It may be too low.

One out of five American women is estimated to have a slow or dead thyroid gland.

And your metabolism may be too slow because of it or some other hormonal imbalance.

Most doctors go by the lab numbers instead of how the patient feels.
Most doctors put people on Synthroid or Cytomel.
Armour Thyroid, the natural stuff, is cheap and more bioactive than the synthetic stuff.

Before you go to a doctor to get tested, please consult this website. This woman has been thru everything I went thru with obnoxious doctors, and even more:


www.stopthethyroidmadness.com

Hope this helps.

[NotGivingUp]

5. get rid of the sugar. nt

[AllieB]

6. Sugar and wheat

A person's body treats carbs-even complex ones-as sugar. The best way to get rid of belly fat is to give up both.

[emulatorloo]

7. 5 small meals a day, and more protein, and adding strength training if you aren;t already

A great book is by Dr. Berardi

"The Metabolism Advantage: An 8-Week Program to Rev Up Your Body's Fat-Burning Machine---At Any Age"

http://www.amazon.com/Metabolism-Advantage-Program-Fat-Burning-Machine-At/sim/1594863237/2

Kirkus reviews:

http://www.kirkusreviews.com/kirkusreviews/reports/health_fitness_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002915085

-----
THE METABOLISM ADVANTAGE
An 8-Week Program to Rev Up Your Body's Fat-Burning Machine¿At Any Age

Author: Berardi, John

Review Date: AUGUST 01, 2006
Publisher:Rodale Books
Price (hardback): $24.95
Publication Date: September 2006
ISBN: 1594863237
ISBN (hardback): 1594863237
Category: REPORTS
Classification: HEALTH AND FITNESS

Fitness trainer and nutritionist Berardi presents a body transformation program that cranks up your metabolism for healthier living.

In this easy-to-digest guide to boosting your metabolism, Berardi works on three aspects of healthy living: nutrition, exercise and dietary supplements. The nutrition plan covers the components of a healthy diet and provides recipes and meal plans aimed at helping to feed muscle and burn fat. The exercise element combines interval and strength training, with clear photographs depicting exercises and simple free-weight workouts. In the section on dietary supplements, Berardi emphasizes the importance of including in your diet fish oil, protein, greens, creatine and recovery drinks. Every section is valuable, but Berardi is most helpful in his discussions of the intagibles: how to ingrain the three aspects as habits, how to maintain strong will power, why setting sensible goals is critical.

A sensible, all-encompassing program to ramp up your energy and well-being.