Five Proven Ways For Women over 40 to Lose their Belly Fat

For women over 40, keeping weight off can seem harder than ever before. Like many other women, you may have already tried counting calories, eating “super foods” and a long list of exercises that promised to help you lose your belly fat. However, after age 40 our bodies’ composition changes and our metabolism decreases. For this reason, the same tricks that worked when you were in your 20s probably won’t have the same effect.  If you’re tired of carrying around extra weight in your mid-region, here are five new tricks you can use to rid yourself of belly fat.

1) Limit your Alcohol Consumption

One of the biggest contributors to belly fat in women over forty is excessive alcohol consumption. Alcoholic beverages are okay in moderation; in fact, some studies have shown that drinking one alcoholic beverage a night might actually have a health benefit.  However, having several drinks at a time – even if you’re only doing it a couple of nights a week might be contributing to your bigger belly. While you don’t have to give up alcohol entirely, cutting back to one drink a night might help you lose your tummy fat.

2) Green Tea

One drink you might want to include in your diet though is green tea. Studies have shown that a component of green tea, catechins, can actually help women over forty lose weight. On top of its inherent weight loss benefits, green tea is also no calories and can help you stay satisfied after a meal. If you find yourself stymied – a cup of green tea might be just what you need to boost your weight loss.

3) Eat Consistently

When adjusting to new food plans it can be really tempting to fit in “cheat days” where you can eat whatever you want and as much as you want. Research has shown though that this habit might be making it harder for you to lose the weight. A 2005 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that women over 40 who ate more on the weekends were less likely to lose the weight no matter what they ate on the other days of the week.

If you have trouble giving up certain guilty pleasures see if you can replace them or change the portion. For example, having a smaller piece of pie on holidays or replacing desert with a pudding cup or other low-calorie option. Long-term weight loss is dependent on consistently eating well so finding alternatives that leave you satisfied will help you lose your belly fat and keep it off.

4) Don’t Skip Breakfast

However, as important as it is to keep a low-calorie diet, research has shown that skipping breakfast can lead to more problems when trying to lose belly fat. Some experts hypothesize this might be because skipping breakfast causes some people to eat more later in the day, while others have guessed that it might cause your metabolism to be less active in the early morning. Whatever the reason, having something to eat in the morning, even a piece of fruit or a breakfast bar, will help you keep on top of your weight loss goals.

5) Stay Active

Eating healthily is by far the most important aspect of losing belly fat but studies have shown that keeping active can help you with your weight goals as well. Despite what you may have been led to believe though, exercising one part of your body doesn’t lead to weight loss specifically in that area. So if your hope is to lose belly fat, any moderate exercise that you can do consistently (three to five days a week) will help you with your weight loss goals. This can involve simply walking your dog, a hike with your partner or joining an aquafit class with a friend. Find something that you enjoy and that fits your lifestyle.

Losing belly fat might seem like an overwhelming challenge as we grow older but with these tips, you can start losing the weight and keeping it off. Let us know in the comment section below how these tips work for you and if you have any that you would like to add. Also, if you found this article helpful please like it or share it with your friends.

 

Sources:

Dallongeville, J., Marecaux, N., Ducimetiere, P., Ferrieres, J., Arveiler, D., Bingham, A., … & Amouyel, P. (1998). Influence of alcohol consumption and various beverages on waist girth and waist-to-hip ratio in a sample of French men and women. International Journal of Obesity & Related Metabolic Disorders, 22(12).

Despres, J., Pouliot, M. C., Moorjani, S. I. T. A. L., Nadeau, A., Tremblay, A., Lupien, P. J., … & Bouchard, C. (1991). Loss of abdominal fat and metabolic response to exercise training in obese women. American Journal of Physiology-Endocrinology And Metabolism, 261(2), E159-E167.

Dorn, J. M., Hovey, K., Muti, P., Freudenheim, J. L., Russell, M., Nochajski, T. H., & Trevisan, M. (2003). Alcohol drinking patterns differentially affect central adiposity as measured by abdominal height in women and men. The Journal of nutrition, 133(8), 2655-2662.

Maki, K. C., Reeves, M. S., Farmer, M., Yasunaga, K., Matsuo, N., Katsuragi, Y., … & Blumberg, J. B. (2009). Green tea catechin consumption enhances exercise-induced abdominal fat loss in overweight and obese adults. The Journal of nutrition, 139(2), 264-270.

Wing, R. R., & Phelan, S. (2005). Long-term weight loss maintenance. The American journal of clinical nutrition, 82(1), 222S-225S.