Eating well and exercising, but still struggling with stubborn belly fat in midlife? Menopause fitness coach Cara Metz explains how stress, hormonal changes and everyday pressures can affect your waistline – and shares simple ways to support your wellbeing.
Pics: Getty Images
You’re working out, cutting back on processed foods, eating more whole foods and limiting sugar. You’ve eased off the wine and feel you’re making all the right choices. Yet your waistline hasn’t changed – and if anything, the bloating feels worse than ever.
It’s frustrating, particularly when you’re putting in the effort but aren’t seeing the results you hoped for. I hear this every week from women in my community. I recognise the feeling straight away because I’ve experienced it myself.
Why ‘eat less, move more’ doesn’t always tell the whole story
When my own waistline started expanding, I did what many women do. I decided I needed to be stricter with my food and work harder during my workouts.
In my younger years, that approach would have done the trick. This time, nothing changed. In fact, things seemed to get worse.
What I didn’t understand then, and what I now explain to the women I work with, is that midlife weight changes can have several contributing factors. Hormonal changes, sleep disruption, stress, activity levels and changes in body composition can all play a part.
Simply cutting calories and moving more doesn’t always address the whole picture.
So, when a woman tells me she’s doing everything right but nothing seems to be shifting, I ask her one question: what is your stress like?
The answer is often a long list. Children, grandchildren, bills, work, partners, running a home and caring for ageing parents. We’re the sandwich generation, looking after the people above us and below us at the same time.
Add the changes associated with perimenopause and menopause, and it’s easy to see how stretched many women feel.
Stress isn’t the only possible explanation for changes around your middle, but it’s an important part of the conversation.
How stress and menopause can affect your waistline
During perimenopause and menopause, oestrogen levels fluctuate and eventually decline. These hormonal changes can influence where your body stores fat, with many women noticing an increase in abdominal fat during midlife.
At the same time, the pressures of everyday life can leave you feeling as though you’re constantly running on empty.
Your adrenal glands produce hormones including cortisol and adrenaline, which help your body respond to stress. Cortisol is essential for normal bodily functions, but prolonged stress can affect sleep, appetite, food choices and your motivation to exercise.
These factors can make managing your weight more challenging.
It’s also worth understanding that your body doesn’t simply start prioritising stress hormones at the expense of oestrogen. Although the adrenal glands contribute to hormone production, the relationship between stress, oestrogen and body fat is more complex than that.
Fat tissue can produce small amounts of oestrogen, too. However, this doesn’t mean your body deliberately stores belly fat as a way of correcting declining hormone levels.
The result can still feel frustrating. You’re trying to look after yourself, but your body seems to be changing in ways you don’t recognise. That frustration can add to an already stressful period of life.
The gut-brain connection: could stress be making you feel bloated?
Remember that knot in your stomach before a big exam or an important interview? That sensation is a reminder of the two-way communication between your brain and your gut, often referred to as the gut-brain connection.
Stress can influence digestion and may worsen symptoms such as abdominal discomfort and bloating, particularly in people who are prone to digestive problems.
When you’re already feeling anxious, overwhelmed or exhausted, those symptoms can become another source of frustration.
The relationship works both ways, too. Your gut and brain communicate through several pathways, including nerves, hormones and chemical messengers. Most of the body’s serotonin is produced in the gut, although serotonin made there doesn’t simply travel to the brain to improve your mood.
Looking after your gut through a varied, balanced diet and paying attention to foods that trigger your symptoms may help support digestive health. Persistent or worsening bloating, however, shouldn’t automatically be attributed to stress or menopause.
What can you do to manage stress in midlife?
I’m never going to tell you to eliminate all the stress in your life. You can’t, and if I suggested it, you’d probably feel even more stressed.
What we can do is establish healthier boundaries, something many women find difficult, and learn ways to manage the pressures we can’t remove.
If you’d told me five years ago that I’d be meditating, I would never have believed you. Now, I start every morning with a 10-minute guided meditation. Learning a simple breathing technique to use when you feel your blood start to boil has been invaluable.
There isn’t one magic solution, but small changes can help you make more space for yourself.
Here are a few places to start:
- Switch off unnecessary notifications. Constant alerts can make it harder to switch off mentally. Give yourself regular breaks from your phone and emails.
- Get outside for a walk. Even a short walk can provide a welcome break, help you clear your head and contribute to your daily physical activity.
- Take regular breaks from your desk. Stand up, move around and give yourself a few moments to breathe rather than powering through the day.
- Make time to eat properly. Sit down for meals where possible, away from your desk or the television, and give yourself time to enjoy your food.
- Reconnect with friends. Arrange a date with your girlfriends or make that call to the old friend you’ve been meaning to catch up with.
- Do something just for yourself. Whether it’s a massage, a fitness class or an hour with a book, make room for something you enjoy.
Community and friendship are among the most underestimated ways of supporting our wellbeing. We tend to treat them as luxuries, when making time for meaningful connections can be an important part of looking after ourselves.
You don’t need to change everything overnight. Choose one or two things that fit your life right now and build from there.
Put yourself at the top of your priority list
Nutrition and exercise still matter, and they always will. Strength training, regular movement, a balanced diet and sufficient sleep can all support your health through midlife and beyond.
But if you’re already making positive changes and your waistline is still upsetting you, it may be worth looking at the bigger picture.
Are you getting enough sleep? Are you constantly rushing from one responsibility to another? Are you giving yourself any time to recover, relax and enjoy life?
Stress is only one piece of the puzzle, and persistent changes in weight or bloating may have other causes worth discussing with a healthcare professional.
The women in my community who take steps to look after themselves often tell me how valuable it feels to make their own wellbeing a priority.
My message is simple: you need to be at the top of your list, not the bottom. Looking after yourself isn’t selfish. It’s an important part of being able to look after everyone else, too.
Cara Metz is the founder of Midlife Mayhem. For more information, visit Midlife Mayhem or follow @carametz_ on Instagram.
