Are you struggling to lose weight after menopause? Do you have stubborn belly fat that just won’t go away? This post is for you!
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In a recent 1:1 assessment, I spoke with Susan. Susan is 55 years old and recently lost 30 pounds following a ketosis- based diet (go Susan!!) She’s at a point now where she can’t seem to get back on the diet as she has a tendency to cheat recently, but she wants to lose a bit more weight and firm up, especially through her mid-section. She has not been working out but is very motivated to do whatever is necessary to get the fluff off. These are my suggestions to help Susan accomplish her personal fitness goals..
First, it needs to be recognized that Susan is post-menopausal, so fat loss looks completely different for her. When estrogen goes low, such as in menopause, it causes the female body to become less sensitive to insulin. This means carbohydrates become harder to tolerate. This is likely why she was able to lose weight in ketosis. More on why that may not be her best diet now, in a moment..
Estrogen is our friend because it burns fat. We don’t want it to get low. We truly want it balanced with progesterone. Estrogen dominance can cause thyroid issues too, which make fat loss even harder!
We have to do everything possible to increase our sensitivity to insulin to keep that from happening. These are my suggestions:
1. Lift weights. The more muscle you have the more HGH and testosterone, which when you put insulin with these two things, it’s good for building muscle and losing fat.
2. High Intensity Interval training cardio 2 – 3 times a week. It could be 8 all out 30 second sprints on a bike. But no extended period of cardio. This will only increase cortisol and make you even less sensitive to insulin.
3. Potentially go low carb. This is dependent on the person. Less carbs as well as intermittent fasting can increase insulin sensitivity. But it can also increase cortisol, so that’s why I won’t suggest it as a whole, but on a case by case basis.
4. Be mindful of environmental factors that can cause estrogen dominance (remember.. we want a balance, not a dominance of either lady hormones) like plastics, pesticides, too much coffee, soy, and hormone-added dairy and meat.
So losing fat on a low carb/ ketosis diet did work well for Susan at first, but now she’s struggling to get back to it. That tells me the diet no longer fits her personality, which is something you MUST consider when choosing your diet protocol. It’s now too restrictive. So I would suggest something that is still low carb, like Paleo or Primal where the fat is higher, but there’s still room for carbohydrates in her plan. Or perhaps carb cycling so there are windows where carbs are allowed, but there are also periods of very low/ low carb so Susan’s body can increase it’s sensitivity to insulin again.
But most of all, I would suggest Susan get on a regular workout plan because that is the huge piece she is missing in this, because if you want to see visible muscle tone, YOU HAVE TO HAVE MUSCLE!
Do you need help figuring out the right clean eating meal plan and workout schedule for you?
Go to Commit2FitCoaching.com/freeassessment and let me help you.
Your Coach,
Kyra
P.S. Everyone is different. Some people need more carbs, more food, different workouts from others. It’s all individualized which is why I run #Commit2Fit with personalized clean eating meal plans and workout plans. Everything should be custom and designed specifically for YOU.