It can be tough knowing how to lose fat, especially if you are a woman over age 40.
Those pesky bulges can pile up in all of the wrong places, such as your belly, thighs, hips, and butt. Not only that, but the fat seems to get stuck there and will not go away!
Nothing seems to make an ounce of difference, no matter how much you try to diet and exercise. In fact, it can feel like the more you diet, the worse things get–because whatever you may lose goes right back on, and more with it.
But now, thanks to some recent discoveries, there is an answer for women who want to know to how to lose fat over 40.
First, let’s look at what’s really going on behind all that ineffective dieting.
The Number 1 Reason Why Women Gain Fat After Age 40
The biggest reason why women gain fat as they grow older–and find it harder and hard to shift off–is the changes in the female hormones that happen as we grow older.
The hormone estrogen, plus progesterone which acts as a counter-balance to estrogen, allows women to be fertile at certain times of the month.
In your earlier child-bearing years, they are regulated by the hypothalamus, the area of the brain responsible for hormone control.
But as you get a little older, the hypothalamus begins to get confused–to put it simply. Estrogen goes UP, progesterone goes DOWN, and you become what we might call “estrogen-dominant.”
Being estrogen-dominant is a bummer, because too much estrogen makes the body deposit more fat on the hips, thighs, and butt. Not only that, but it sends messages to your fat cells to grow and multiply! It makes you want to eat more of the wrong food AND it brings your metabolism down so more of those calories can be converted into butt-hugging fat.
And adding to the effect even more is the action of the thyroid. Estrogen blocks thyroid activity, while progesterone stimulates it. So having an excess of estrogen and not enough progesterone is like removing your foot from the metabolism’s gas pedal AND slamming on the brakes!
Centuries ago, there was a good reason for this. Women over 40 might have a lot of mouths to feed, while still fertile themselves. It made sense that their bodies would hold on to all the calories they could get.
But most of us are no longer at risk of starvation. So the answer to how to lose fat over 40 is that we need to correct the metabolic slowdown that estrogen causes.
How? Continue on the next page …
