5 Reasons For Your Muffin Top
Did you know it’s normal to gain weight to the tune of 1 to 2 pounds per year, according to a research done in 2013?
At the same time, its possible to maintain your weight and health with the right strategies. While I don’t talk too much about weight directly, because I don’t love to focus on this topic, everyone keeps asking me about it! As someone who grew up in a family with some ‘eating issues’, I work really hard to ensure things aren’t just about ‘weight’. We all know it’s not just about the weight. Weight is so complex and involves, emotions, habits, family history, genetics, belief systems, our environment and so much more! I rarely address weight loss from food alone. Anyway. Let’s get to the 5 reason you might be gaining weight!
1. You’re Experiencing Age-Related Muscle Loss
The amount of lean muscle we have naturally begins to decline by 3 to 8 percent per decade after age 30, which is a process called sarcopenia.
Why does that loss of muscle matter?
It matters, because lean muscle uses more calories than fat. So unless you’re regularly strength training with weights to maintain and build muscle, your body will need fewer calories each day. And most people continue eating how they always have and don’t account for this muscle loss which explains the slow weight gain (usually in their tummy because of #2) people experience each decade.
2. You’re Undergoing Normal Hormonal Changes
Both men and women undergo changes in hormone levels as part of aging process. Let’s talk about 4 hormones.
1.There is a significant drop in estrogen that encourages extra pounds to settle around the belly. This shift in fat storage may make the weight gain more noticeable while increasing the risk of high blood pressure, heart disease, high cholesterol, and type 2 diabetes.
In addition, fluctuations in estrogen levels during perimenopause, the 10 plus years leading up to menopause, may cause fluctuations in mood. We all know what happens when we get crunchy. We eat and sometimes avoid exercise or over exercise which is worse! As a result, the average weight gain during the transition to menopause is about five pounds
2.Progesterone starts to decline and this hormone is helpful in calming the body encouraging restful sleep while it couters estrogen symptoms. When you aren’t sleeping, you crave carbohydrates and quick energy foods the next day. This is a recipe for weight gain.
3.The pituitary gland’s production of growth hormone (GH) also declines from middle age onward. One of GH’s many functions is to build and maintain muscle mass. So as GH decreases, it’s harder for your body to make and maintain muscle, which, in turn, also impacts how many calories you burn.
4. After 40 we become slightly insulin resistant. Just as your vision fades, this is just a biological fact! Insulin is your fat storage hormone and over time your body will hold on to that muffin top or spare tire for dear life. High levels of insulin tell your body to gain weight around the belly, and you become more apple-shaped over time. Insulin also drives inflammation and oxidative stress, creating downstream effects. Fatigue after meals, sugar cravings, blood sugar swings or hypoglycemia, high triglycerides, low HDL, low sex drive, and problems with blood clotting are also common among people who are overweight.
Weight gain in your. middle is a classic sign of insulin imbalance!
3. Your Metabolism Is Slower Than Before
That decrease in muscle mass is likely to slow your metabolism which is a complex process that converts calories into energy. Having more fat and less muscle reduces calorie burning as mentioned above. As well, many people become less active with age, which also slows your metabolism. We also start to eat less and perhaps skimp on protein. I had a client that would add only half a scoop of protein powder worried about weight gain! This was the opposite of what your body actually needed!
4. You’re More Sedentary + More Stressed
By the time you’ve reached your forties and fifties, your career is likely in full swing which can pose a few weight loss challenges. For one, you’re likely moving less. We just aren’t getting the NEAT we need. Non-exercise activity thermogenesis is the energy expended for everything we do that is not sleeping, eating or sports-like exercise. Think…walking to the parking lot, to your workplace, up the stairs, gardening, etc.
Or, you may also find yourself too busy to break for lunch - and you eat while working (doesn’t support good digestion)
And you may experience more work-related stress, which can increase the level of the hormone ghrelin, which is our hunger hormone. And we haven’t even talked about the hormone cortisol…which can impact weight gain as well. (Leave that for another talk)
5. You’re Experiencing Major Lifestyle Changes
Some of the reasons for weight gain in middle age have nothing to do with what’s happening inside your body and everything to do with the way life changes as people enter their thirties and forties. Some women are having babies later and also dealing with aging parents, a busy family life and full on careers all at the same time! Others are finally at a place where they are content in their marriage or life but their children are leaving home and the emotions surrounding that are too much to handle.
Running from activity to activity means meal times become rushed and quick solutions like fast food become the norm. We all know that eating processed foods and fast food is a sure fire way to gain weight fast, leaving you malnourished and hungry!
All of this end up leaving your body in a state of stress…which means your muffin top is getting fuelled even further. (Cortisol dis-regulation is your life)
Add up all of these facts and you will be gaining weight around your middle without realizing that there are things you can do to stop the spread! It just takes some strategy.
Want to talk? I can help you with all of the above…see if I can help here.
Here is this blog in video format and I highly recommend you watch it at 1.25 speed…and it includes a q&a at the end that includes more answers. :)
