Why is my belly changing when I'm already eating pretty well?

You’re eating more protein. You exercise. You pay attention to what you eat most of the time.  You may actually be eating better now than you did ten years ago.  It can be really frustrating when your waist starts changing anyway.

Your jeans feel tighter through the middle. Your stomach looks a little softer. Maybe your weight hasn’t even changed that much, but your body definitely has. 

Your conclusion is that something about the way you’re eating needs to change.  Maybe you need fewer carbs. More protein. Smaller portions. Less snacking.

That makes sense. You noticed a change in your body, so you start looking for something in your diet that could explain it.  The problem is that belly fat doesn’t have one explanation.

What’s Behind It

There are some very real changes happening in our bodies in our 40s and 50s.  As estrogen declines through menopause, where we store fat tends to change. More of it can begin accumulating around the abdomen.

We’re also more likely to lose muscle as we get older, particularly if we aren’t doing enough to maintain it. That changes our body composition too.  Those aren’t the only things going on.  Think about how different life can look at this age.

You may not be sleeping as well. Stress can be higher. You can exercise several days a week and still spend more of the rest of the day sitting than you used to. Portions can slowly get bigger. Alcohol can become more frequent. Meals can become less predictable.

Any one of those things can matter and several of them can be happening at once.  That’s why two women can both notice more fat around their middle and need very different next steps.

One woman may need to focus on strength training.  Another is already strength training but barely sleeping.  Someone else may realize that her portions have gradually gotten larger or that she's drinking more often than she used to.  Menopause-related changes may be part of the picture for all three.

None of this means nutrition advice like eating more protein or watching portions is bad advice.  It means good advice is only useful when it matches what actually deserves your attention.

That's the part we tend to skip.  We notice something we don't like and immediately jump to what we're going to do about it.  Eat less.  Cut something out.  Exercise more.  If that doesn't work, we assume we need to try harder.  There’s another place to start.

One Useful Rhythm

When you notice something has changed, give yourself a minute before deciding what you're going to do about it.

Ask yourself:

• What am I feeling?
• What happened before this?
• What deserves my attention?

So if your clothes are getting tighter around your middle, you don't need to immediately decide that you're cutting carbs tomorrow.  Look back.

Has your sleep changed? Your stress? How much you're moving? Your strength training? Your meals? Your portions? Alcohol? Your schedule?

You aren't trying to diagnose yourself or find the perfect explanation.  You're looking for the place that makes the most sense to start.  Sometimes that will be food.  Sometimes it won't.  That's why the same nutrition advice can work beautifully in one situation and do very little in another.

This is also what we'll start talking about when Fuel Queen Live! begins in September: how to look at what you're experiencing and get clearer about what actually deserves your attention.  I hope you'll join us.

Warmly,

Kim Stitzel, MS, RD
Founder, The Fuel Queen
Registered Dietitian Nutritionist

Helping women discover what deserves their attention and build rhythms that fit real life.

P.S. Fuel Queen Live! starts September 2 at 5 PM CT. We'll get together every Wednesday and make one midlife nutrition challenge a little easier to understand. It's free, and you only need to register once. Join us here.