Why does the belly grow in women after 50 years and how to remove it at home

Main causes of aging belly

Physiological hormonal changes

Menopause is a gradual decline in ovarian function, primarily in the production of estrogen. These are hormones – “fat burners”, responsible for metabolism, beauty, youth, and good libido. After menopause, women usually notice a slight weight gain. The average age at which menstruation ceases is 51 years.

Attention! Estrogens influence the distribution of body fat in women. Hips, buttocks, stomach - these are the “stubborn” areas. Adipose tissue itself produces estrogens. Therefore, during menopause, the body tries to accumulate fat to reduce hormone deficiency.

Interruptions in the functioning of the endocrine system

Not only estrogens regulate fat metabolism. Many other hormones influence the accumulation or breakdown of lipids. With age, the number of hormonal disorders does not decrease, and pre-existing diseases may progress. What endocrine reasons prevent women over 50 from reducing their belly fat:

• – Insulin resistance is a “lifeline” at the waist level, when folds of fat hang over the jeans. In this state, enough insulin is produced, but the cells become less susceptible to it. Type 2 diabetes may then develop.

• – Excess cortisol, saggy belly. It is a chronic stress hormone produced by the adrenal cortex. It distributes fat deposits in its own way, which is concentrated in the central part of the body, stomach and face. Even slender women under prolonged stress can grow a belly. There are a number of diseases for which you have to take medications - synthetic analogues of cortisol. There are diseases accompanied by increased production of this hormone. The appearance becomes typical (spider figure).

• – Hypothyroidism swollen abdomen. A decrease in the production of iodine-containing thyroid hormones causes weight gain combined with a tendency to edema. A woman can exercise endlessly and actually follow a diet, but she will not achieve any effect.

Eating habits

Lack of breakfast with overeating during the day, high-calorie foods, fast food, sweet snacks - all this provokes the deposition of belly fat in women 50+. Alimentary obesity can stretch back to childhood. But with age, metabolism slows down. After 30, every ten years lived it decreases by 5%. It’s worth thinking about - the older you are, the harder you’ll have to work.

Sedentary lifestyle

How to spend the calories from food if the work is sedentary and physical activity is minimal. All excess will be deposited in the fat depot, on the stomach. If you don't start moving, it will continue to grow. Limiting yourself to just working on the abs is not enough. Only comprehensive physical activity will help reduce your belly fat.

Food addiction

Food helps relieve anxiety, stress, or simply improve your mood. You need to “seize the problem” and calm down. And sometimes you just want to “eat up the melancholy.” This is an emotional addiction with psychological roots. Simply “pull yourself together” and stop eating will not work. There will be a breakdown. Treatment should be comprehensive with the participation of a psychologist or psychotherapist.

Chronic diseases and bad habits

Throughout life, diseases appear that significantly limit physical activity (hypertension, coronary heart disease, atherosclerosis, etc.). Alcohol in any form increases appetite. It is a high-calorie product. Smoking predisposes to cellulite and does not prevent weight gain. The myth that “if you quit smoking, you will gain weight” is very common. In fact, they gain weight by moving from one addiction to another (from smoking to food).

Genetic predisposition

The tendency to be overweight is inherited. If in your youth you can still “hold the line,” then over the years it becomes more difficult to resist the kilograms and a big belly. Look at your parents, remember your grandmothers. If everyone had excess weight, a sagging belly, then it is worth thinking through an action plan in advance so as not to “inherit.”

It is rare that the cause of a condition is single; more often it is several factors. A large belly at 60 years old in a woman can be the result of a genetic predisposition to obesity, a consequence of menopause, the habit of eating sweets at night and a sedentary lifestyle. She may also suffer from diabetes or hypothyroidism.

How is belly fat distributed in women?

Two types of fat make the belly fat: subcutaneous and visceral. The first is located just under the skin, it can be touched and folded. It is quickly deposited and driven away. The second type is located inside the abdomen, behind the muscles of the anterior abdominal wall and is called the greater omentum. The fat inside it is visceral, protecting the internal organs. By function, this adipose tissue is an endocrine gland capable of producing many biologically active substances. If the proportion of such fat does not exceed 15% of all deposits, then there is no danger. When in excess, internal fat “compresses” organs, increasing the risk of atherosclerosis, insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes and other endocrine disorders.

Attention! Excess visceral fat is dangerous. Its accumulation increases after 50 years. Even in the bellies of women with a normal body mass index there is a lot of internal fat (“skinny fat”). There is good news - the problem can be solved with proper nutrition and long-term low-intensity physical activity.

How to remove age-related belly fat

It is impossible to do this “with a click”. An integrated approach targeting the main causative factors will produce results. You'll have to change your lifestyle. So where to start:

1. Check your health, especially if you haven’t seen a doctor for a long time. Visit a therapist, gynecologist, undergo a laboratory examination (general and biochemical blood tests, general urinalysis), check the function of the thyroid gland (ultrasound, hormones). This will help identify possible health problems, including the causes of a large belly. In addition, based on the results of the examination, you can competently create a weight loss program without harm to your health.

2. Exercises and physical activity

Physical activity is needed at any age. Without this, the stomach will not go away. These tips will help you get started:

• – It is unrealistic to make fat go away only in one specific area. Fat reserves will be lost entirely, in some places less, in others more.
• – Choose the type of physical activity based on your fitness level and health status. Some are former athletes with a swollen tummy, while others, by the age of 50, have a “baggage” of illnesses that will go away a little and are already suffocating. But even in the latter case, there is a whole direction in medicine - physical therapy. Exercises can be performed for any illness, the main thing is to formulate the complex correctly.
• – Any activity is preceded by a warm-up, and it’s best to end the workout with stretching. While performing the exercises, breathe correctly (while tense muscles - exhale, return to the starting position - inhale).

• – Aerobic exercise is the best option for burning fat and losing weight. These are low and moderately intense long-term loads, accompanied by increased heart rate and breathing (walking, dancing, cycling, running). They are also called cardio training, because it is the cardiovascular system that will have to provide sufficient oxygen supply to the working muscles. The body should warm up and sweat.
• – Keep your exercise intensity under control. If you decide to reduce your belly at age 60 by choosing to run, and after 500 m you begin to feel out of breath, and your heart seems to be “jumping out of your chest,” this can lead to dire consequences. There is an aerobic heart rate range. This is 60-70% of the maximum heart rate. To calculate MHR for women, you need to subtract age from 226. Let's say you are 56 years old, MHR will be 170 beats/min, and the aerobic heart rate range (fat burning) will be 110-120 beats/min. To control the frequency during training, you can use a fitness bracelet. There is a simpler method of control - a speech test (you can speak during exercise) or according to your own feelings.

• – Cardio training for beginners, people with large masses or other health problems . It is not at all necessary to run or jump to lose weight and reduce your belly:
• – Walking at home on a simulator. Wear comfortable shoes and compression stockings if you have varicose veins. Turn on a series, music or audiobook, prepare a bottle of drinking water and go! Start with 10-minute brisk workouts 2-3 times a week. Increase time to half an hour as tolerated.
• – Walking in the fresh air, Nordic walking.
• – Water aerobics (or simple swimming) is especially suitable for diseases of the musculoskeletal system.
• – Riding a bicycle (or an exercise bike).

• – Add strength exercises to strengthen the muscles of the abdomen, back, buttocks, and thighs. However, without aerobic exercise you should not expect quick results: the muscles of the anterior abdominal wall will strengthen, but under the existing fat layer.
• – A few simple exercises will help you strengthen your abdominal muscles and get rid of your belly after 50 years. There is no “lower” press from an anatomical point of view. This is one muscle, but there are accents in its work. Add the old method of lifting your torso completely off the floor to your black list, as well as lifting your legs off the floor or doing a plank. This way you will develop problems with your spine faster than a beautiful belly.
• – Start with the “vacuum” exercise

Stand up straight and take a deep breath. Then exhale and, as far as possible, pull your stomach towards your spine. Hold in this position for 10 seconds. Bring your stomach to its normal position. Do 5 reps. Perform the exercise on an empty stomach.

• – Abdominal training

Lie on the floor, bend your knees, place your hands behind your head. Raise your upper body from the floor 2-4 cm and return to the starting position. Do this 10-15 times. You can modify the exercise: while raising your upper body, touch your hand to the opposite knee.

• – Exercise “bicycle” lying on the floor

Start with 30 seconds, gradually increasing the rotation time until you can comfortably tolerate it.

• – Working out the “side” press

Starting position: lying on the floor with your knees bent. We raise our head and shoulders and, in turn, touch the heel with the hand of the same side.

• Glute bridge exercise

Starting position as in the previous version. You need to lift your lower body, buttocks and hold for a few seconds. Straight arms create additional support. Repeat the “bridge” 10-15 times.

Attention! Abdominal training should not be frequent, otherwise you can get the opposite effect (the belly will increase even more due to the trained muscle under a layer of fat). The ideal option is in 2 days. After just 2 weeks of regular exercise, you can feel the result - you can easily increase the initial load.

3. Proper nutrition

Properly establishing a diet and sticking to it is the main task. You should not force your body with express diets or other weight loss diets. At 50+, the body especially loves to be treated with care. Effective balanced nutrition includes several principles:

• – Fractional 5-course meal, which includes 3 main meals (breakfast, lunch, dinner) and 2 additional snacks. The volume of the eaten portion should fill the stomach by 2/3, without stretching it. Last meal a couple of hours before bedtime.
• – Refusal of baked goods, excess sweets, fatty foods, smoked foods, fast food and soda. This is unhealthy food that causes rapid weight gain and abdominal growth. The basis of the diet is whole grain porridge, vegetables, fruits, fish, lean meat, and dairy products.

• - Avoid frying. Boil, stew and steam more.
• – Using an online calculator, calculate your daily kcal intake, taking into account your height and weight. If you are used to eating in excess, then to gently get rid of fat deposits, create a small calorie deficit (no more than 20% of your usual daily caloric intake) by reducing the proportion of carbohydrates and fats. After a couple of months, when the body adapts, you can further reduce it by the same amount. And so on until you reach your normal.
• – Maintain hydration. Drink 1.5-2 liters of clean non-carbonated water (juices and compotes do not count). Make it a rule to drink a glass of water 15 minutes before meals and during workouts.

results

• Significant improvement in the results of the “get up and go for a while” test in the main group - by 5.7% (-0.6 sec (± 2.1)) data indicate an improvement in mobility, flexibility and sense of balance in the main group Deterioration in the control group by 8.7% (+0.7 sec (±0.9))

How to remove belly fat for a woman over 50 at home

In addition to nutrition and physical activity, local exposure to the problem area will help reduce the belly. Several techniques have received good reviews:

Massage

3 simple steps will help remove the fatty apron and tone sagging skin: stroking, pinching, patting. The procedure is carried out on an empty stomach, on clean skin, clockwise. You can use an anti-cellulite product and additional devices (massager, brush, cups). Systematic procedures are necessary. It is good to have a massage before playing sports.

Wraps

They complement the effectiveness of massage and can be alternated. A drainage composition (liquid honey with essential oils, cocoa, blue clay) is applied to the problem area, then the waist is wrapped in film and a blanket on top. So you need to wait an hour and wash everything off. The effect will be noticeable within 2 weeks. The skin becomes more elastic and the stomach tightens.

Hula Hup

This is a training hoop, but not the aluminum one that everyone remembers from childhood. It is better to use a massage hoop with internal rubber “spikes”. There are also weighted, magnetic and press flexors. In order not to hurt the skin, there should be clothes around the waist. Start with 10 minutes a day, 5 times a week, gradually increasing the time to half an hour. Massage hula hoop in the photo below.

Slimming Belt

This is an additional remedy in the fight against a sagging belly. There are several types: massage, myostimulating, with a sauna effect. Whatever type you choose, you will have to work with it.

Why is my belly growing?

“I try to limit myself in food, I don’t eat enough at night, but it keeps increasing! I feel like I’m turning into an old fat woman!” many readers complain, not suspecting that the reason for the appearance of fat deposits in the abdominal area is deeper and more serious than it seems. The hips and folds that are growing by leaps and bounds can be blamed on:

1. Hormonal changes. When a woman approaches menopause, a real hormonal boom occurs in the body. The body does not have time to adapt to this, the increased concentration of estrogen causes the fat layer to grow, water accumulates in the tissues and it is not so easy to expel it.
2. Some diseases that provoke fat accumulation in the abdominal area. The layer can be located both under the skin and surround internal organs. Visceral fat is often observed with atherosclerosis, diabetes mellitus or chronic hypertension.
3. Poor nutrition. Those who like to eat sweet, fatty or fried foods often notice in their youth that their belly is getting bigger. In later life, consuming more calories than required can be fatal and lead to significant weight gain.
4. Passive lifestyle. It is quite logical that if you move little, neglect gymnastics and do not expend the calories you consume, they will instantly settle on your waist.
5. Bad habits. Smoking and alcohol put the body into a state of stress, which is characterized by increased accumulation of fat so that a person can survive in conditions of hunger and cold. But the problem is that the conditions have not changed, the woman continues to eat as usual, and the body continues to accumulate fat on the stomach.

In most cases, several factors are to blame for excess weight. By minimizing their influence, you can quickly remove belly fat from a woman even at 60 years old, although many people think that at that age this is no longer possible.

How to remove belly fat after 50 years for a woman: what salons offer

There are many effective non-surgical techniques in the arsenal of modern cosmetology. All of them are quite expensive, but give good results:

• – Hardware massage (vacuum, LPG, pressotherapy);
• – Injection lipolysis (injections of fat-burning cocktails);
• – Ultrasonic cavitation (effect after the first session);
• – Laser and radio wave lipolysis;
• – Myostimulation (for a flabby abdomen with a weak anterior abdominal wall).

In addition, the salons also provide professional manual massage, hot and cold wraps. The methods have contraindications. What to choose is decided in each case individually with the doctor.

Video instructions for exercises

The following videos present the best sports complexes for women that can be performed at home:

Additional measures

If a woman feels moral stress, doesn’t want to get up in the morning, is constantly tired and has bad thoughts, we can talk about depression. The body is also under stress, so it accumulates fat. The help of a psychologist will help improve your moral well-being and put you in a favorable mood.

The following methods will help bring consciousness into harmony:

• regular yoga classes;
• warm herbal teas;
• baths with essential oils;
• meditation;
• listening to soothing music, etc.

An equally important aspect in losing weight is the state of hormonal levels. Contact an endocrinologist who, if there are problems, will prescribe the necessary medications to reduce the imbalance. If you cannot take medications for any reason, eat foods containing natural phytoestrogens: wheat germ, raspberries, pomegranates. Some are advised to independently prepare natural medicines based on hop cones, which contain an overwhelming amount of phytoestrogens. But be careful, improper use of decoctions can lead to even greater hormonal imbalance.

Who helped what: opinions and reviews

It is not so easy for a woman of advanced age to remove a sagging belly. However, there are quite a lot of success stories. Key points that helped different women become slimmer are collected here:

• – “Nutrition is the main thing in the fight against excess weight after 50 years. Healthy eating, no experimenting with diets. The body needs vitamins, microelements, and protein more than ever. I completely eliminated flour, smoked, fried foods and limited animal fat. Porridge, vegetables, fruits, fish, lean meat, and dairy products became the basis of the diet. Do you want something sweet? Then choose healthy sweets! Dried fruits, marshmallows, honey, dark chocolate, macadamia nuts - the main thing is to use moderation. I managed to lose 17 kg in a year, adhering only to the principles of healthy eating. And my waist has also returned thanks to daily self-massage.”

• “At the age of 60, belly fat accumulated over the years is very difficult to remove on your own. I was able to achieve good results thanks to sports. Need motivation. For some, this is a new love (all ages are submissive to it), for others, active grandchildren. I have a friend who introduced me to water aerobics. Exercising in water not only helped me lose weight, but also had a beneficial effect on my joints. I became less sick and tired"

• “You can know the theory of how to lose weight, but if you are addicted to food, then everything will be in vain. For as long as I can remember, I constantly “ate” stress and loved to eat delicious food. As a result, by the age of 50 - obesity, diabetes, heart problems, arthrosis of the knee joints. It was late that I realized that the problem needed to be solved in my head, and not start struggling with its consequences. Only long work with a psychotherapist, drug therapy and correction of eating behavior bore fruit.”
• “With the onset of menopause, my weight began to increase. The climacteric syndrome was very pronounced. I contacted a gynecologist-endocrinologist. It turned out that the thyroid gland was still not in order. They prescribed hormonal therapy, which made me feel much better. But I also reconsidered my lifestyle. More movement, massage, healthy eating - I think I’m falling in love with life again!”

Despite the complexity of the problem, there is always a solution. Share your experience in the comments. Let success stories motivate you on the path to health, slimness and love for life.

Author of the article Olga Stremitelnaya, especially for the website Style40plus.ru

One comment on “Why does the belly grow in women after 50 years and how to remove it at home”

1. Lyudmila:

   02/17/2021 at 02:20

   I’m 55. A year ago, my weight increased so much that it became difficult to walk, I started eating healthy, ate small portions and did exercises for 30 minutes in the morning, as it should be, I taught myself to drink 2 glasses of water in the morning. The weight came off slowly, but in 2 months I lost 14!! kg. By spring I was in great shape. Over the summer the weight did not return, although I ate everything, but I developed a good habit, eating porridge in the morning and drinking 1.5 liters of water. 2 months ago the weight returned 3 kg. And now I’m back on the weight loss regimen, but I’ve already lost 3 kg of this weight. I’m moving on, at least 5 kg. I still want to lose it. That’s my story. Try to lose weight, my main desire!!!!!

   Answer

Materials and methods

• Non-randomized applied trial in 26 obese older women.
• The duration of the study is 12 weeks.
• The main group – 17 women, the control group – 9 women.
• Inclusion criteria: age 50-80 years;
• BMI 30-50 kg/m2;
• have not completed any exercise program in the past 6 months;
• in postmenopause.

How to hide your belly with clothes?

If you choose the right things, you can hide even the biggest belly of a woman with clothes. Choose clothing that hides imperfections according to the following principles:

• the fabric is dense, holds its shape, but does not create unwanted volume in the problem area;
• do not buy things with light-colored inserts in the belly area;
• refuse plain pink or peach clothes;
• prefer small rather than large patterns: flowers, abstractions, geometric shapes;
• choose a trapezoidal silhouette that widens downwards;
• choose high-waisted jeans;
• Do not tuck your top into your trousers so as not to draw unnecessary attention to the problem area.

It is very difficult for a woman to get rid of her stomach, since physiology implies the presence of a fatty layer there. But a proper diet, regular exercise and cosmetic procedures can work a miracle even after 60 years.