Meno-Belly: Why Menopause Changes Your Waistline

We dive into why menobelly happens, how hormones and stress drive belly fat, and what actually works to change it. We share practical steps on balancing hormones, building muscle, improving sleep, and using targeted tools like red light therapy.

• definition of menobelly and why it appears
• estrogen decline shifting fat to the abdomen
• cortisol and visceral fat risks
• metabolism slowdown and muscle loss with age
• insulin resistance and midsection storage
• sleep disruption driving cravings and weight gain
• hormone balancing with providers and nutrition
• strength training, protein, and hydration
• stress tools: breathwork, faith practices, nature
• red light therapy and body contouring as support
• mindset, patience, and ongoing adjustments

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If you're local here, come see us
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Disclaimer:
Martha Savloff is not a medical doctor. The information shared in this podcast is for educational and inspirational purposes only and should not replace professional medical advice. Always consult with your healthcare provider before making changes to your health or wellness plan.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
Hey everyone, welcome back to Midlife Madness.
Before we get started, rememberto subscribe to our channel or
our podcast.
Every single week we arethrowing out there new content
on midlife madness, wellness,faith.
Um, yeah, there's a lot to talkabout.

(00:21):
Today we are talking about afrustrating thing, and that is
mental belly.
Have you ever have you found orseen that over a sudden your
midsection is getting wider,your lower abdominal area in in

(00:43):
the little pouch area is gettingbigger.
We call that the menal belly, oralso the menal apron.
You can be super skinny yourwhole entire life, and all of a
sudden you have this littlepouch right in the lower
abdominal area.

(01:04):
That right there is the menalbelly.
So let's talk about the menalbelly.
What the heck is menobelly?
So metalbelly refers to astubborn belly fat that often
appears during perimenopause andmenopause.
It is a sign of hormonal shiftsand metabolic slowdown.

(01:28):
The fat tends to accumulatearound the abdomen, leading to
more apple-shaped vigor, even inwomen who were previously
hourglass or pear-shaped.
So it is not a respecter ofperson.
You will find that over a suddenyou have this pouch in the lower
abdominal area, and it's sostubborn and hard to get rid of.

(01:53):
So if you know what I'm talkingabout, then comment below
because this is definitely afrustrating thing.
I see it every single day in mycenter where women are like, I
need body contouring because Idon't know where the heck this
came from.
And so let's target that area.

(02:16):
So that's gonna be one of thethings that we're gonna talk
about that helps with the mentalbelly.
So let's talk about why thishappens.
It happens because your estrogendeclines.
So when your estrogen declines,um, then fat storage shifts from
the hips and the thighs and itmigrates over to the belly.

(02:37):
So it literally does that, guys.
Fat will migrate from the hips,from the thighs, and it starts
going right to the lowerabdominal area.
Um, and that's because estrogenhelps regulate your body where
your body stores fat.
So if your estrogen isdeclining, then you're gonna
have a shift of where your bodystores fat.

(03:01):
And unfortunately, its veryfavorite area is the lower
abdominal area.
Also, it's connected withcortisol levels.
So, like if you are living in ahigh stressed environment, um,
it raises cortisol, and whenyour cortisol is increased, then
it triggers the body to hold onto fat, especially visceral fat,

(03:25):
which is the dangerous fataround the organs.
If you've heard me talk aboutvisceral fat, visceral fat is
around the fat that's in andaround the organs, therefore, um
it increases the risk ofproducing chronic disease.
It also makes your midsectionwider and it can create that

(03:47):
curvature of your belly.
And so visceral fat isdefinitely a fat that you want
to keep your eye on.
We have technology in our centerthat we can check your levels of
visceral fat to make sure it'sin a healthy range.
So reach out to us if you arelocal in the Penguin Pines area,
then reach out to us because wedo have technology to check your

(04:10):
visceral fat.
Um, also around the time thatyou're perimenopause, menopause,
your metabolism slows down.
So with age, naturally musclemass will decline.
And when muscle mass declines,then that means that you're not
burning as many calories.
And so when you're not burningas many calories, you can store

(04:33):
more fat.
And then also insulinresistance.
Hormonal changes can make yourbody less responsive to insulin,
leading to more fat storage,particularly in the midsection
area.
So those are four reasons why.
And the last one, super commonsleep and mood changes, hot

(04:57):
flashes, anxiety, sleep loss,um, all can affect your
metabolism and also your hungerhormones and fat storage.
So if you're not sleeping wellat night, the next day you're
fatigued, usually human nature,you want to go grab um comfort

(05:17):
food, which is usually high insugar and carbs, and then you're
not burning as much.
So now you're storing fat, andbecause um you're in this phase
of your life, you can be storingit more in your lower abdominal
area, and there is the pooch.
So, so many things that we dealwith, right?
The really great thing about itis though, we can do something

(05:41):
about it.
We can do something about it.
Obviously, number one, let'stalk about how we can we we can
get rid of it, okay?
So, number one, we talk about itall the time.
Here, you're gonna hear it dayin and day out, is balancing
your hormones.

(06:02):
So, number one, balancing yourhormones naturally.
So, you can take bioidenticalhormones.
Remember, we're not doctors hereat midlife madness, but um, we
talk about our experience, lifechanger to me.
Um, and so go to a functionalmedicine doctor and start uh

(06:25):
checking your hormone levels.
Don't take your your numbers arenormal or you're within range.
Um, you if you feel symptoms,you need to go to a provider
that's going to figure outwhat's wrong, is going to figure
out what your hormone levelsare.
You it's okay to do sec two orthree opinions to make sure.

(06:48):
Okay.
So, number one, balance yourhormones naturally.
You can also do that witheating, you know, fiber-rich
foods, cruciferous vegetables,omega-3 fats.
Okay, so go check your hormonelevels.
Eat um a good balanced diet.

(07:09):
So make sure you're looking atfiber-rich foods and cruciferous
vegetables and great sources ofomega-3 fats.
Manage your stress.
This is number two.
Manage your stress and cortisol.
It's so, it's like, I feel likewe talk about this every video
too, because it is such a lifething.
Like, I cannot explain to youhow stressed people live every

(07:34):
single day.
And so start doing things thatare gonna help you with this,
guys.
Red light therapy is incredibleto reduce cortisol levels, deep
breathing exercises, bring inyour faith, you know, do
faith-based meditations, um,worship, prayer, um, also go do

(07:57):
gentle movements like yoga andwalking, go outside, get
outside.
Nature is incredible for oursoul, it brings down our
cortisol levels.
Boost your metabolism.
This is number three.
Let's boost our metabolism.
So, how do we do that?
Start focusing on building leanmuscle.

(08:19):
If you are in perimenopause, anyof the pauses, okay, then you
should be focusing on buildinglean muscle mass.
This is number one for us, guys.
So build lean muscle, dostrength training at least two
to three times a week and startbuilding muscle.

(08:40):
Eat high protein meals andbalanced macros.
So, like again, high protein,good healthy fats, and complex
carbs.
Okay, make sure you're feedingyour body the things that it
needs to help transition throughthis period of time and stay

(09:01):
hydrated.
Um, you actually, it's somethingthat people may not know is that
if you're dehydrated, yourmetabolism actually um slows
down, so fat loss slows down andthen increases bloating in your
body.
So you want to make sure thatyou're staying hydrated.
Half your body weight per day isa great rule of thumb.

(09:25):
Number four, address the insulinresistance, limit your processed
carbs and added sugars.
Nothing new.
Sugars and carbs, processedfoods are disruptors for our
hormones.
And so if you eat high in thesethings, then you're you're

(09:47):
really not doing a good thingfor your body because we're
trying to move forward in thistransition in our lives, and
there's certain things that ourbody needs now.
It didn't need these things backwhen we were in stage one of our
metabolism and in in our youknow high school years.
We're not there anymore, and sowe have to shift our lifestyle

(10:09):
and shift what we do for ourbodies in order to live a life
that we are happy with, and thatrequires change.
That requires change.
I know, I know it sucks, and Iknow that once in a while we
want to have that ice cream orthis and that, and we whatever.
However, like you have to pickwhat your priority is, and if

(10:36):
you want to do something aboutthis menabelly and about just
all you know, symptoms ofmenopause in general, then it
requires change, guys.
Mindset and patience, that'snumber five.
That is very important.
Remember, you are not broken,your body's not broken, you're

(10:56):
just in transition.
We're in transition from youknow, before from our 20s and
30s and 40s into now ourmenopausal years, and out, you
know, in society, it's made itsuch an ugly thing to go through
menopause.
Actually, guys, it's not an uglything, it's a beautiful thing,

(11:18):
it's a thing that we all gothrough together, and um, we
need to embrace it because it'snot over, right?
The end is not near, it justlooks different, so it requires
different things.
Um, healing your metabolism andyour hormones takes time, but it

(11:39):
is absolutely possible.
It's absolutely possible.
So do the things that are gonnahelp you, they're gonna help you
live this life that you want tolive.
And you have to always have youryour your thumb on it, see how
you're feeling.
For example, um, I'm onbioidentical hormone replacement

(12:02):
and life changer, like I've saidbefore, feeling amazing.
I've been on it for a coupleyears now.
However, I am am noticing nowthat I may need an adjustment to
the dose.
And how do I know that?
Because I'm feeling tired, I'm alittle like brain fogging.

(12:28):
My, you know, just a couple ofdays ago, I was so excuse me,
out of whack that I'm like, uhoh.
I had some of these side effectsof perimenopause starting to
show up again, and I said I needto get back to the doctor and um

(12:48):
and check my hormone levelsagain to see if I need to adjust
the dose.
So it's a it's uh it's a ongoingmanagement thing, guys.
We manage so much, us women, wemanage so much.
Um, and we need to put ourselvesin the top of the list.
We need to put ourselves in thetop of the list, we need to

(13:12):
manage ourselves, you know,schedule those appointments, do
the things that are required foryou to live a happy and joyful
life in this midlife madness.
Madness is gonna come, andthat's okay.
We just have to do theadjustments to live in this

(13:32):
madness in a really great,awesome manner, and one that
we're happy with.
Okay, you don't have to bemiserable during your midlife.
So your body might be changing,but that doesn't mean you're
powerless.
That means that you just have todo the things that you need to

(13:53):
do to get your body alignedwhere you were where you want it
to go, okay.
So remember that it's importantfor you to work with your
hormones, not against yourhormones, and there's things
that you can do to do that.
So midlife madness is or midlifeis not the end, it is a new

(14:13):
beginning to a new era in yourlife.
So let's live it, you know, withwith joy, let's live it with um
swag, and let's go, let's do thethings that it's required, okay?
All right, if this was helpful,make sure you comment, subscribe

(14:35):
to the channel, and um, I alsowant to mention for the mental
belly, you can do red lighttherapy body contouring.
We have a ton of clients thatcome to our center to do that,
and the reason why is because wecan target specifically that
area of your body.
So we have pads that we'll putin your lower abdominal area, it

(14:57):
will open the fat cells, make itdrain.
You're gonna lose inches in thatarea, it's gonna help with so
many things, it's ananti-inflammatory, it also um
helps your body trigger theproduction of collagen and
elastin, so it's gonna tightenyour skin in that area.
There are things that you cando, so look into it.

(15:19):
If you're local here, come seeus.
Uh, the information will be uhavailable to you.
How you can contact us.
There are things that you cando, you don't have to suffer
through it.
Okay, all right.
I hope this was helpful.
I'll see you next time.