Do you like to wear stylish and fashionable clothes? For a woman over 40, there’s often a problem with those: They’re tight-fitting, revealing excess fat. Belly fat especially does not look good in form-fitting clothes. Recently, a woman over 40 told me: “I need to lose belly fat now! Summer is coming—I want to fit into my old clothes again!”
Of course, women over 40 want to look good in winter, too, but belly fat becomes especially unsightly when you’re at the beach, at a pool party, or just pulling the thickest winter clothes out of your closet. Losing belly fat is often difficult for women over 40—and it’s more than just a visual problem. Belly fat is a serious threat to health.
Belly fat can accumulate both above and below your abdominal muscles. And that’s the main difference between belly fat that isn’t adding to your beauty, and belly fat that’s actually dangerous.
- If the accumulation of fat is more or less directly under your skin and above your abdominal muscles, it’s not a good look but somewhat dangerous. This type of body fat mostly results from eating too many calories—even if they come from healthy foods. You can also munch on healthy foods!
- If fat gets stored inside your belly, under your abdominal muscles, you are putting your health at risk. This fat surrounds your internal organs and is highly active in your metabolism. It releases fatty acids into your blood, which causes the blood to thicken. Additionally it releases hormones that cause many dangerous processes in your body, making it difficult for a woman over 40 to lose weight permanently. This type of particularly dangerous fat often comes from too much sugar, fat and lack of exercise.
If you have an accumulation of soft fat on your belly, it is probably fat over your abdominal muscles. If you can feel your abdominal muscles, the fat is inside your belly (underneath your abdominal muscles).
You’ve probably heard of BMI (Body Mass Index). There’s another way to assess your health risk when it comes to body fat: Measure the circumference of your abdomen. Measure standing and find your largest circumference. For an initial assessment, check your health risk in the table below:
- Men: 37 inches or more: Low
- Men: 40 inches or more: Medium
- Male: 42 inches or more: High
The health risk is even greater for a woman:
- Women: 32 inches or more: Low
- Women: 35 inches or more: Medium
- Female: 37 inches or more: High
Hormone changes over the age of 40 make it harder and harder for a woman over the age of 40 to lose the ugly and dangerous belly fat. If you are a woman over 40, you have probably already tried many diets and tried unsuccessfully to reduce your belly fat for a few years. You may consider a customized program designed especially for you to reduce your belly fat permanently.
Source by Perry Permann
