A short Living Proof Institute YouTube discussion (hosts Deepa and Alice) about causes and practical strategies to reduce abdominal/belly fat commonly experienced by women in their 40s. Deepa explains a primary cause: declining estradiol (a form of estrogen) that reduces metabolic rate and insulin sensitivity. Alice outlines lifestyle and dietary strategies — joyful/regular movement to preserve muscle and increase glucose uptake; aiming for ~20–30 grams of protein per meal to support muscle (leucine); eating order: fiber first, then protein+fat, then carbs; and using intermittent fasting to improve insulin balance and encourage fat burning.
Questions this video answers
Deepa — pharmacist and functional medicine provider; Alice — health coach (both at the Living Proof Institute).
December 15, 2023.
Approximately 20–30 grams of protein per meal.
Eat fiber first (leafy salad/vegetables), then protein with fat, and consume carbs or fruit last.
Chapters
Foreign. Hi, everyone, my name is Deepa from the Living Proof Institute, pharmacist and functional medicine provider.
And hi, everyone, my name is Alice, and I am the health coach at the Living Proof Institute.
And today we wanted to jump on here and talk about a very common problem that we see with many of our clients, and that is belly weight around the abdomen, also known as the menno belly or muffin top.
Yes, I fear a lot, the spare tire, whatever you want to call it, it's something that a lot of our clients struggle with, that they don't want to struggle with anymore.
Yeah. And this is, you know, very commonly heard in women over their 40s. So today we really wanted to touch on why that happens and give you a few simple tips and strategies that you can start to implement to perhaps minimize or get rid of that belly fat that, you know, you probably despise. So the main reasons why that belly fat starts to happen, especially as we get into our 40s, is because one. One of the hormones that starts to decline as we get into our 40s is a hormone called estrogen.
And.
And there's various different types of estrogen, and one of the most common ones that are involved with the belly fat is estradiol specifically. So as we get into our 40s, estradiol starts to decline. And the reason why we get that belly fat is because one of the key, or some of the key functions of estradiol is to really help you maintain a healthy metabolic rate. It also helps to keep fat off the abdomen. And estradiol is also plays a very important role when it comes to improving insulin sensitivity. So as you can see, when we move into our 40s and that hormone starts to decline, then we start to lose a lot of those benefits and that role that estradiol plays in our metabolism and our overall body composition. So, you know, there are a variety of different things that you can do to help with kind of offsetting, you know, the natural decline of estradiol from a lifestyle and nutrition perspective. So Alice is going to share a few of those tips with you today.
Yeah. Thanks, Deepa. And something I see all the time with clients, especially women in their 40s, sometimes a little bit above as they come in, you know, they have that spare tire, muffin, whatever it is that you want to call it, call it lovingly, because it's there for a reason. But it's okay to say goodbye to it in time, too. But what I see is, is a lot of women coming in saying, you know, I'm eating correctly. I only have, you know, treats every so often. Treats, quote, unquote, on the weekends, you know, I am moving my body, I'm going to the gym all the time. I'm exercising ridiculously, and I'm not seeing any results. I'm not seeing that midsection move whatsoever. And so while movement is super important, we don't want to overemphasize the movement and further stress our bodies. So oftentimes it's a lot of stress that the women are under that come in and work with us through our metabolic Reset program. And so we start to dial back that stress. But another lifestyle tip that is super important when it comes to balancing that insulin is getting joyful movement. So it's not doing your HIIT workouts or your intensive cardio workouts or your resistant workouts. It's really incorporating a practice that is joyful and that you enjoy doing and keeping up with every single day. And why movement is so important is because it helps to increase the uptake of glucose. And so especially during an exercise. And movement is also going to help build muscle mass. And that's super important because in, in and around your 40s and above, as your estrogen levels, like Deepa said, tend to taper off or tend to start declining, so does our muscle mass. So making sure to keep up with joyful movement is going to be really important to help maintain that muscle mass that your body is, is producing, but then also that metabolic flexibility as well, to be able to intake, you know, the extra carbs, let's say, and be able to use them, because muscle is actually a sponge for glucose. So it helps to metabolize that glucose much faster. So super important for two different tips there. So the second thing we love to advise and recommend our clients to do is make sure you're getting an adequate amount of protein. Protein in every single day. So protein, of course, is going to be super important because they are the building blocks that build your muscles. So specifically, the amino acid leucine is what tends to taper off when we are in that 40s and above range. So making sure you're getting an adequate amount of protein to start building up some of that healthy muscle mass in your body. And so what you want to aim for is somewhere around 20 to 30 grams roughly of protein with every single meal. Now, of course, that could be dependent on your specific weight release goals, on your specific body goals. You know, how much activity you're doing every single day. But the typical sedentary person is going to require somewhere between 20 to 30 grams per meal, making sure that it's as clean as possible. You can get as high quality of protein source as you possibly can. And there is actually a really efficient order in terms of eating your meals that's going to give you the biggest bang for your buck, let's say insulin wise. So it's going to allow your body to improve that insulin resistance. So kind of the proper order or the more the most optimal order we find to recommend for our clients when they're consuming their meal is starting with fiber first. So fiber is going to look like leafy salad. It can look like some side vegetables. Anything that is a whole food that is as much as you can, keeping it to low glycemic index, whole foods, vegetables. So including those first, those are what's going to give you, your body, lots of fiber. And it's going to create this beautiful mesh in your stomach that's going to help kind of taper off that glucose that you're, you're taking in from the rest of your meal. So sticking with fiber first, then going to protein, making sure you get a good quality amount of protein in like we talked about with a fat source, and then at the final end of your meal, that's when you want to introduce the carbs and the fruit, fruit or any sort of starches. So that's the typical way we like to recommend so that again, you start improving that insulin resistance. The last point that we love to include for our clients is intermittent fasting. And this is actually something that many of them, if not all of them, love to keep up with, even after the program or their experience on the reset. And the reason being is because their energy goes through the roof. So intermittent fasting gives your body a break from constantly digesting. And not only that, it switches from using sugar as its primary source to actually burning fat. So it's really important to take some time away from constant digestion so that our body is able to allot resources into actually healing our body or busting through inflammation rather than constantly working on that digestion portion. So intermittent fasting is going to be amazing at balancing out those insulin levels. It's going to allow your body to be more resourceful when it comes to its stock of already of glucose that it already has in your body and your body fat to be burned first rather than constantly focusing on the sugars.
Yes, great tips. And you know, another thing with intermittent fasting is it really helps to target that belly fat because you know, your body is able to tap into those specific fat stores as an energy source. So I hope you found that information helpful. Let us know in the comments below and please make sure that you like and subscribe for more tips. Thanks so much everyone. Bye for now.
