In this quick blog I wanted to offer some insights on why excess fat is interfering with our hormonal balance and how investing in muscle is a good idea especially after 40!
First of all, when we carry extra weight, we want to lose fat and NOT muscle, decrease organ size or simply loose water!
And we need to be aware about two different types of fat in the body: brown and white fat.
Brown fat is fat involved in thermogenesis which means that brown fat breaks down blood sugar (glucose) and fat molecules to create heat and help maintain body temperature.
Cold temperatures activate brown fat, which leads to various metabolic changes, positive metabolic changes in the body. It improves our metabolism!
It is called brown because it’s darker in colour because it is packed with mitochondria (the energy factories of our cells)
We can say that brown fat adds to our metabolic currency!
We want to keep our brown fat; in fact, I am going to share with you later how to increase and activate this type of fat.
BUT … there is always a but …
The majority of fat in our body is white fat which in not involved in thermogenesis, but still helps us keep warm by literally providing insulation for our organs. So, we still need and want some white fat but not in excess.
We find white fat under our skin (subcutaneous fat) and deep inside our abdominal cavity, this is known as visceral fat and it is the visceral fat that we must be particularly careful with …
Too much white fat negatively affects our metabolism, slowing it down and also interferes with hormonal balance and the working of our organs. We all have heard for example of NAFLD…Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease where there is too fat accumulation on our liver which interferes with its functions.
White fat stores energy in large fat droplets that accumulate around the body and the problem with having too much white fat, is not only aesthetic, but too much white fat, especially around the midsection, creates a higher risk of heart disease, diabetes, and other chronic diseases.
And for us lady, during the perimenopausal and menopausal years, too much white fat will create even more chaos as far as our hormone balance. We already have huge shifts in hormones during these periods of our life …and if you carry too much white fat …this is going to add to that chaos because:
White fat can be considered an endocrine tissue which means that it is a tissue that releases its own chemical messengers in the body in the form of hormones and inflammatory molecules… having too much white fat contributes to systemic (all body) low grade inflammation and also disrupts of other hormones signalling in the body …so you understand why this can be adding even more of a challenge for us lovely women going through perimenopause and menopause. Also, low grade chronic inflammation interferes with our ability to lose weight and this is what I often find in my clinic …an inflamed body cannot lose fat!
Now that we know why it is particularly important for us lady to decrease excess fat especially during perimenopause and preferably before we hit the menopause, let’s have a look at what we can do about it.
1) Carbs watching
Contrary to what was told to us for many years eating fat doesn’t make us put on fat … in fact it is the carbs we need to watch out – sugar – it is sugar that when eaten in excess will be converted by our liver into fat (triglycerides) and stored into your fat cells …
Especially we need to watch out for those type of carbs rich foods where we have lots of simple sugars which are digested and transported super quickly in the blood stream…refined carbs, white flours and their products …sweets, energy bars, biscuits, anything with added sugar et
2) Start lifting, pulling and pushing
Add resistance to your exercise routine as this increases muscle mass and the more mascle you have the more metabolic currency you have. Lift those weight ladies! And don’t worry… we don’t have enough testosterone to turn us into Hulk … use weights especially during week 2 of your menstrual cycle … this is when ideally, we want to push it up!!! Ask for help, learn how to do it safely!
Having more muscle mass allows you to burn that glucose from the diet more easily because once glucose it is taken into the muscle tissue it can’t get out … also is important to have variety in our exercise routine because our body can get used to the same routine, type and amount of exercise through the principle of SAID – specific activity-imposed demand principle …your body adapts to the demands you imposed to it which means your fat loss will plateau.
3) Get the big guns to work after a meal
Another way to lose fat is to activate your large muscle after a meal …i.e. walking …you move your legs and also your arms … this allows for a quicker distribution of the glucose in circulation into your muscle mass rather than into your liver where they will be converted into fat – especially after a larger meal and especially after your evening meal because later on in the day we are less insulin sensitive …meaning that the sugar we get from an evening meal will take longer to be disposed of …so walking will help the work of insulin and to distribute the sugar into the muscle mass and not to our liver.
4) Get shivering
We can increase our brown fat by exposing ourselves to cold …for example cold showers …this will active your brown tissue to burn fats and glucose and can also help to convert white fat into brown fat … the act of shivering activates your brown fat … just add 30 seconds of cold water at the end of your shower in the morning.
5) Open your parachute
… how do you manage your stress? What do you daily to bring you back into a parasympathetic mode, the rest and digest mode (the back to calm mode of your nervous system) …to remember what parasympathetic means think about a parachute which brings you “back down” … if your nervous system is constantly in fight and flight … high chronic cortisol secretions encourage fat deposition, especially around the abdomen area … which is a challenged body part after 40!
So, remember that practising destressing, relaxing techniques during the day and each day is as important as exercising and making the right food choices when it comes to lose fat!
I hope this was helpful, I will be back you soon with more info and help on how to get a fit body and mind after 40!
Wishing you the best of health and vitality,
Thanks Monica x
Maggie ( danceSing member)