Any tips for women in menopause on burning fat?

debrawallin

Doing great with building muscle and strengthening core, but burning fat has been tough, any helpful tips?

gramacanada

Hey guess who? the only thing I've ever heard about burning fat is Aerobic (cardio) type exercises. Make your heart pump make you breathe hard. heheheh 'No not that!) Well yes that too. )

fatmom51

A good healthy walk -- getting your heart rate up -- helps burn fat, especially if you can do a little bit of intervals or add a few inclines/hills. Also drink lots of water to keep well hydrated and stave off water retention (weird, isn't it?). I'm right there with you, so I know how much harder we have to work to get the weight off and keep it off. I sent you a friend request. Good luck!

cara4fit

Although it's more challenging and can go more slowly after menopause, it's still basically the same like it is for other people - diet, cardio, and very importantly, weight-training to recompose your body in favor of muscle. The fact that you're getting stronger is a very good sign, as well as core strength. Both of these surely help with balance and being able to live independently the older one gets. Diet-wise, some women really have to buckle down about their carb intake and shift it in favor of a lot more veggies than starch, and still keep a dietary deficit going. Some women even have to GIVE UP starchy carbs altogether after menopause in order to get a handle on their weight, because in general, digestion of starchy ones changes at this time with more of them going to fat instead of being used for energy the way they would in a man, or a younger woman. But some people are carb-sensitive even when young too. It does vary for different people. What counts is what one finds works on one's body.
On the cardio end, yes, it does take some serious effort, as in 4-5 sessions a week, the longer ones being at least 45 minutes, and interval training/high-intensity interval training. However, if you are new to cardio, just focus on building up your time and stamina such that you can go at a pretty good clip, resistance and incline for the longer stretches. That will be challenging enough and burn calories to add to the dietary deficit. Either way, it's the deficit that causes fat to move along. Keep up the great work with your strengthening and core exercises - these will benefit you in more ways than you know right now.
Last but not least, just dieting alone does less for menopausal women than younger ones - over on another fitness board that I'm on that has a lot younger women on it, they are always saying "gee I lost all this weight just dieting and never exercised". Well, for menopausal women that simply doesn't work - it takes BOTH. Sadly enough, menopausal women are the least likely group to exercise, but at the same time stand to benefit greatly. Anyhow, hope this helps, and best of luck!:)

caraiselite

ketosis, or at the very least, less carbs.

debrawallin

Thanks, it seems that we do have to do more cardio! Going to do some research on this, I've started to go to the gym everyday at lunch and get in at least 30 minutes cardio, it seems to move the scale when I do that, guess that's just my new routine in life.