As women age, they lose bone density and lean muscle mass. They gain fat, particularly around their abdominal areas. This change in body composition slows down basal metabolism, which means they burn fewer calories while at rest. Reverse this process by changing your eating habits and increasing your activity level. You cannot target belly fat with abdominal exercises, but you can reduce your level of body fat overall.
Build Muscle
Stretch vigorously every morning. Do a series of yoga sun salutations while breathing deeply. You build muscle tissue, burn calories and strengthen your core muscles. As you get more fit, add more intense forms of resistance training, such as jumping jacks, burpees, pushups, lunges, deep squats, abdominal crunches, triceps dips and windmills. The denser your muscle tissue, the higher your basal metabolic rate, counteracting the effects of aging.
Healthy Diet
Eating several small, healthy meals throughout the day keeps your blood sugar levels even and helps you maintain your focus. Consume mostly plant-based foods such as kale, spinach and other vegetables, fresh fruit, dried fruit, beans, peas, lentils, nuts, seeds, avocados, whole grains and olive oil. Avoid packaged, processed, junk and snack foods, which contain high amounts of refined sugar and unhealthy fats.
Calorie Control
Even low-calorie foods can make you gain weight if you eat them in high quantities. Limit your portion sizes to reduce your caloric intake. Eat a single serving of food during meals and snacks. Use salad plates instead of dinner plates to control how much you eat. Chew your food slowly to give your body time to signal your brain that you are full. A 40-year-old woman who cuts her consumption by 500 calories per day loses 1 lb. of body fat per week.
Cardiovascular Exercise
Elevating your heart rate for a minimum of one hour per day burns excess body fat. Work in your garden, clean the house, carry loads up and down the stairs, dance to fast music, play in the park with your children and walk the dog. The faster you move, the higher you raise your heart rate and the more belly fat you burn. As you lose weight, add new challenges to your aerobic routine to keep burning fat quickly. Try climbing, running, boot camp, power yoga or interval training to spike your heart rate and lose belly flab.
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