4 Different Types of Belly Fat in females plus how to lose yours
4 Different Types of Belly Fat in females plus how to lose them
Not all belly fat is the same or caused by the same thing. There are different types of belly fat. You need to identify the type of belly fat that you have if you are going to lose it.
There are 4 different types of belly fat in females. 1. The adrenal Belly, caused by stress. 2. The Thyroid Belly, caused by hormone imbalances. 3. The Liver belly, caused by an overwhelmed liver. 4. Hormone Belly, caused by Estrogen Dominance. All require different strategies to lose weight.
Each different type of belly fat is caused by a different issue. Each type requires a different approach to weight loss. If you can identify the type of belly fat that you have, you stand a much greater chance of being able to lose it. Read on to identify which type of belly fat YOU have.
Types of Belly Fat – Adrenal or Stress Belly Fat
1 – The Adrenal or Stress Belly Type
This is a sagging type of belly where the weight has slumped down into the lower belly and hips. This type of belly is caused directly by cortisol, the stress hormone.
It’s caused by stress and not diet.
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When you have a great deal of long term stress, your body increases the production of Cortisol to cope with it.
Unfortunately, high cortisol leads to the accumulation of fat around the belly and waist area.
If your stomach looks like it’s slumping down and you are under a lot of stress it’s probable that you have an adrenal based belly.
How to lose the Adrenal Stress Belly Type
The solution to dealing with this belly is NOT going on a restrictive diet. Diets will not work until you have dealt with the stress.
The answer is to lower your stress levels by being gentle on your body. Rest, good quality sleep and better stress management will all help
Other Symptoms of The Adrenal Stress Belly
- Worrying excessively
- Feeling anxious and jittery
- Brain fog and poor memory
- Craving salty foods and chocolate
- Fatigue
- Sleep problems
Lifestyle changes to reduce the Adrenal Stress belly type
- Learn Meditation. Meditation is hugely helpful in reducing stress levels
- Do a stress audit to figure out the stresses in your life and remove them, even if this means big changes like finding a new job.
- Improve your sleep. Getting consistent quality sleep is key to tackling the Adrenal Belly Type.
- Be kind to yourself
Diet changes to reduce the Adrenal stress belly type
Diet is not the major factor in reducing this belly type. However, the following guidelines will help.
- Do not go on a low protein diet. This will backfire
- Eat a little more protein at each meal to support the adrenals
- Eat lots of healthy veg to provide potassium which will help to recharge the adrenals
If you want to find out more abut how to fix your stress belly, check out this detailed post >
What is a stress Belly? 5 ways to get rid of a stress or adrenal belly
Types of Belly Fat – Thyroid Belly Fat
2 – The Thyroid Belly Type
This belly type is less of a belly and more of an overall accumulation of fat. The weight tends to be all over and not just in the belly. You may have heavy legs and thighs as well as larger arms.
It’s caused by a hormone imbalance, specifically with the thyroid hormone. Too much oestrogen can also play into this problem as hormones are all delicately interconnected.
The thyroid is a very delicate organ that can often start to play up at certain times of a woman life.
It is very common for Thyroid problems to start around Menopause. It’s also common to develop Thyroid problems around pregnancy too for many women.
In my own case, my thyroid problems started with pregnancy and then developed, worsening over the years until complete failure around menopause.
Even if you have a thyroid function test and are told all is ok, you may not be converting Thyroid hormone properly.
The body has to convert the original type of hormone [T4] into a type your body can use [T3]. If you have problems with your liver or gall bladder, you can’t convert this hormone efficiently and tiredness and fat accumulation will result.
The key to losing this belly type is to dig deep to get to the root of the problem and fix it. Once you have fixed your hormones you will be able to lose weight.
Other symptoms of the Thyroid Belly
This belly type often goes hand in hand with other autoimmune issues such as Hashimoto’s or Graves Disease
- Poor circulation
- Hair loss
- Cold hands and feet
- Fatigue
- Saggy underarms
- Depression
- Craving carbs such as bread and potatoes
How to lose the Thyroid Belly Type
The key to losing this belly is to find the root cause.
Your first step is to visit your doctor and request a Thyroid test. This should include tests for T4 and T3 as well as TSH. TSH alone [which many doctors try to do as it is cheaper] will not give you the full picture. Your doctor will be able to discuss your results and what the root cause may be.
They may prescribe Thyroid hormones if your results show that your thyroid is functioning sub-optimally
Lifestyle changes to reduce The Thyroid Belly Type
Again, reducing stress is very important to reduce pressure on the thyroid.
Meditation and getting good quality sleep are all recommended.
Diet changes to reduce The Thyroid Belly Type
There are lots of things that you can do to help you lose weight once you have fixed your hormones at the root.
- Lower your carbs. Cut out bread, potatoes and starchy vegetables.
- Cut out sugar from your diet.
- Avoid sodas, even diet versions which can disturb your metabolism
- Eat to support your liver which is an important organ in the conversion of T4 Thyroid hormone to the usable T3
- Lower your alcohol intake to optimise your liver.
- Avoid processed foods that put a heavy burden on your liver. Instead, cook your own food with healthy ingredients.
Belly Fat Facts
of Belly Fat is Subcutaneous
meaning it lies just under the skin
of Belly Fat is visceral,
meaning it lies in the abdominal cavity,
surrounding the organs
| A lot of Visceral Belly Fat is stored in the Omentum, an organ that blankets the intestines |
| Measure your waist at belly button level. In women, if your waistline is greater than 35 inches, this can indicate you are storing visceral fat |
| Abdominal Obesity and Visceral fat are linked to the following health conditions
Cardiovascular issues Dementia Asthma Breast Cancer Colorectal Cancer |
Types of Belly Fat – Liver Belly Fat
3 – The Liver Belly Type
The liver Belly Type is the typical type of potbelly you often see in middle-aged men sat outside a pub on a hot day with a t-shirt stretched taught over it. However, women can get this type of belly too.
It’s a tight belly sticking out at the front. It will be hard to the touch and full of fluid. Your arms and legs may be spindly in comparison.
It is made of fat tissue that builds up due to impaired bile production and disrupted blood sugar levels due to a poorly functioning liver.
Other symptoms of the Liver Belly
- Digestive problems
- Bloating when you eat
- Burping and belching
- Dry skin
- Psoriasis
- Bruising
- Itchy bottom of feet
- Shoulder pain
- Hunger in the morning
- Morning irritability
- Fatigue
- Craving sugary foods
How to lose the Liver Belly
The key to losing the liver Belly Type is to make lifestyle changes to allow your liver to heal.
The Liver is an amazing organ that can regenerate itself back into a healthy state once you make lifestyle changes. Within a few months, your health and shape will be able to improve significantly if you start to make changes now.
Once your liver function is restored, your belly will start to shrink.
Lifestyle changes to reduce Liver Belly
The main thing that you can do for this belly fat type is to remove toxins from your life.
The main two toxins for your liver are alcohol and processed foods. The best thing you can do for your liver is cut down on alcohol and processed foods.
If you find it difficult to lower your alcohol please look at my post here which gives a lot of suggestions for cutting down alcohol.
Processed foods put a huge tax on your liver as it struggles to remove the chemicals and toxins it contains. If you eat natural foods that you cook for yourself, this will take the pressure off your liver and allow it to become more healthy
Diet changes to reduce Liver Belly
You can support your liver by making the following dietary changes.
- Cut down on alcohol.
- Don’t consume alcohol especially at night before going to bed.
- Don’t consume large amounts of protein. Eat a moderate amount of protein in your diet.
- Increase your consumption of healthy green vegetables which support the liver.
- Cruciferous vegetables {ie Broccoli} are especially good for this belly fat type
- Avoid deep-fried food.
- Avoid heavy protein such as large steaks
- Avoid sugars to allow your blood sugar to rebalance
- Reduce your consumption of carbs
- Avoid processed foods
- Cook your meals from scratch using natural ingredients.
If you want more information about how to fix your liver belly type check out this detailed post. > How can I lose my liver belly fat. 10 tips to banish it
Types of Belly Fat – Hormone Belly Fat
4 – The Hormone Belly Type
The Hormonal Belly Type is a belly fat type specifically seen in women.
It especially starts to appear around the time of perimenopause and menopause. Suddenly, apparently out of nowhere you end up with a belly that you didn’t have a year ago.
Any hormonal disruption can cause this type of Belly. You may also find yourself acquiring this type of belly after pregnancy for example.
With the hormonal Belly, you will acquire weight in the hips and thighs with a pooch that hangs under the belly button.
You will also find that you have heavy breasts and possibly even arms too.
It is very common in women who are Estrogen Dominant.
Other symptoms of the Hormonal Belly
You will probably be struggling with other symptoms of hormonal disruption. These can include
- Heavy periods.
- Cramping
- Fibroids
- Headaches and migraines
- Cravings around period time
- PMS
- Anger and rage
- Hot flashes
How to lose the Hormonal Belly
The key to losing the Hormonal Belly is to balance and normalise your hormones. Until you get your hormones under control you will find it extremely hard to lose the weight.
You may find it helpful to complete this hormonal quiz which will help you to pinpoint your hormonal issues.
There are lots of lifestyle and diet changes that you can do to get in control of your Hormonal Belly.
Lifestyle changes to reduce Hormonal Belly
- Ask your doctor about testing your hormone levels.
- Avoid stress. Stress raises the hormone Cortisol which disrupts your other hormones.
- Learn to relax. Take a long walk, meditate, paint.
- Get a good nights sleep
Diet changes to reduce Hormonal Belly
Diet changes can go a long way to improve the Hormonal Belly Type. Changes are focused on improving the balance between Estrogen and Progesterone as well as improving Insulin Resistance.
- Avoid commercial foods with hormones in. These especially include Dairy Products and meat. Eat organic and hormone-free products to avoid added hormones
- Add lots of cruciferous vegetables to your diet. These help to balance Estrogen. Kale, Broccoli and Cabbage are all good.
- Don’t overcook your veg
- Avoid Soy. Soy will unbalance your hormones.
- Avoid GMO and pre-packaged foods as they contain a lot of Soy.
For more information on getting rid of your hormonal belly check out this post > What does hormonal belly look like and how to fix it.
A solution for all types of Belly Fat
I hope that this article has made it easier for you to work out which type of belly fat you have. Once you understand the cause behind the Belly it is much easier to start to tackle it.
If you make the diet and lifestyle changes outlined you should soon be seeing a difference.
If you need a little more help I have created a diet plan that works with all belly fat types.
You can download my free guide to losing belly fat by clicking the link below
Is there a good diet or weight loss plan I could try?
Yes. I learnt a lot about how to lose Menopause Belly Fat in my research to improve my own health over the last 4 years. I have put all my information into my structured weight loss plan.
The Belly Fat Solution – 14 Day Menopause Weight Loss Plan
The Holistic Way To Balance your Hormones, Lose Weight & Feel Great – in 14 days
If you need a holistic and structured weight loss plan that walks you through losing your Menopause Belly Fat this will help you. It’s designed specifically for women struggling with their weight at midlife… and exercise is optional!
You can read more about my Belly Fat Weight Loss Plan here
and you can get a free sample guide here
Love & Light
More info on how to lose belly fat
Helen
