Meno-Pooch

September 26, 2008

Can any woman at, say 46 years old, put her hand on that space below her ribs and above her hips and experience spontaneous, genuine thoughts of self-satisfaction and appreciation? If so, I’d like to meet her, take her out for lunch. Then I also want to put my hand on her tummy and feel what she’s feeling.
The desire to have a flat tummy, which-I regret to say, I believe is hard-wired into every woman-is followed almost immediately by an equally hard-wired urge-which is to go see if there are anymore Oreos in the cupboard.
As women get into their forties and fifties, even women I call “flat bellies” tend to develop a pooch. Our metabolism naturally slows down,
so our weight goes up if we don’t reduce our food intake.
I talk to many women who complain that pounds are harder to lose, even with restrictive diets. And often the pounds settle around the midsection. Much of this is due to hormonal flucuations, but can also be  attributed lifestyle issues.
Here’s what you can do to flatten that pooch.
EXERCISE  THE INNER CORE MUSCLES
When we think of CORE we think of crunches, which are fine for strengthening the external abdominals, but doing too many crunches can sometimes make the abs look even bulkier. If your pooch is below your belly button, you need to work the deep muscles of the abs,
Specifically ,the transverse abdominus (TA) muscles. Pregnancy and childbirth can weaken these deep muscles and often the weakness doesn’t surface until after a decade or so. I like to say that these muscles become sleepy and are often associated with stress incontinence (mini pee when you sneeze) and back problems.
Here’s what to do to isolate these muscles. Put a belt around your waistline just below the navel (a little lower than you might wear a belt.) As you fasten it ,
relax your belly and fasten it so that it is not snug at all but not loose either.
Then draw your belly waaay in, as far in as you possibly can (if you are doing this right it’ll be hard to breathe-the TA muscles are attached to your diaphragm, which is your breathing muscle!)
Now stand and do some side twists and some side bends, all the while sucking your belly way in. Aim for a minute of continuously drawing in while you do side bends and twists.
It will feel weird but hard in a deep yet subtle way.
You can also do this without a belt after you master the drawing-in feeling, but the belt helps to give you feedback on how deeply you are engaging your TA muscles.
Then, start to do it at red lights, in the grocery store line and especially when you see a cute guy! Next,  work your TA’s while biking or walking (it’s hard to do running but go for it.)
The more you wake up these deep muscles, the more chance you have of flattening your pooch.
A sign that you are progressing is if you can draw the belly in, maintain it and resume regular breathing. This indicates that you’ve been able to differenciate between your diaphragm muscles and your TA’s.
It’s call muscle specificity.
There are also some lifestyle things you can try to de-pooch yourself.
GIVE UP THE CAFFIENE
This grieves me to badmouth coffee. Recent research has proven that caffeine boosts your workout (on average, 2 cups of coffee can give you ten more minutes of the treadmill- an appreciable endurance boost I love that.)So it is excellent for enhancing your workout.
BUT.
Many women have said that giving up coffee has positively changed their experience of menopause, which is accompanied by lots of ,what I call, “heat” in the form of hot flashes, night sweats or dryness in the vajayjay (Oprah coined it). Among other symptoms.
Caffeine has an immediate effect on our adrenal glands, triggering an adrenaline rush, which signals the release of cortisol (the fight or fight hormone) which sends a signal to our central nervous system to get the hell outta  here-even if there’s nowhere to go.
Insulin is racing through your blood stream by now, which leads to a sugar crash, which makes you crave starchy carbohydrates,(the fastest form of energy) which, if consumed, is quickly stored in your abdominal area. Your visceral (belly) fat cells are pretty much screaming, “Give me that! I can squeeze that in here! Quick! Hide it in here in case we don’t survive!-We can stretch!” The pooch is the most  available (and lethal) fat storage area in your body.
Which can often lead to jeans not fitting, triggering a vile, nasty mood. So you bitch at your kids and bite your husband’s head off, eventually leading to divorce and ruining your whole life.
Just consider it.
Only if you have a meno-pooch.
When menopausal changes start to happen, caffeine can make all your symptoms worse. And in the trickle down theory, caffeine can give you a meno-pooch.
But I know you like that cup of coffee.
Finally, there are some nutritional changes you can make to reduce your pooch.
TRY A 7 DAY GEORGE WASHINGTON DIET
All this means is eating clean. Don’t eat (or drink)anything that wasn’t available  a couple hundred years ago. Can you be open-minded  and disciplined enough to try it for one week? Maybe you are competitive. Get some of your girlfriends to take the challenge.
You don’t need to limit your intake, just stick with fresh fuits and veggies, lean protein etc. Just nothing processed.
When you eliminate additives, your liver doesn’t have to clean all the crap out of every bite you eat, so you will have more energy (on the other hand, if your liver is overworked you will be tired.)
Plus you will feel less bloated. This clean diet will help clear out all the digestive sludge that may have accumulated in your belly.
None of these ideas are torturous. You don’t have to try all three of these techniques at once, but if you do, you will have better odds of flatter abs.

Posted by Penny | Filed Under Blog | 1 Comment