menotummy™ & RADICAL ACCEPTANCE

I've been speaking to a lot of women (clients and friends) who are in peri-menopause. One thing that keeps coming up is that they have gained weight around their middle and they really hate it.

I can relate. I am also sporting a jiggly menotummy™ and I also am not a fan. Despite keeping up regular exercise and eating pretty clean, I can't seem to shift it. The jello-like consistency is also different than the belly fat of of my youth or even post-pregnancy bod. What is the deal?

This article Why “Meno Belly” Is a Menopause Change We Should Embrace | Vogue shed some light in simple terms:

“Numerous studies highlight that perimenopause, independent of age, is associated with increased abdominal fat and reduced lean body mass,” adds Jennifer Garrison, PhD, co-founder of Femistry and director of the Global Consortium for Reproductive Longevity & Equality. “In younger women, estrogen promotes fat deposits around the hips, but as estrogen declines during menopause, fat redistributes to the abdomen without necessarily altering weight, and at the same time muscle mass goes down with age, often replaced with fat.”

The article recommends that women get quality sleep, eat healthy and exercise, especially resistance/strength training. And then the article says this:

Eating healthy and remaining active throughout the menopause transition are vitally important, but so too is a certain amount of radical acceptance.

What an incredible idea. Keep taking good care of our bodies AND, instead of beating ourselves up for not looking like we did 5 or 10 years ago, maybe be kinder to ourselves.

I'm in. Let's stop subscribing to the idea that if we ate less and worked out more we could be as toned as the 50-something Insta influencers and celebs.

Let's lead healthy lives and get strong, while accepting that we have a little more around the middle. Maybe the menotummy™ can become a badge of maturity, of getting over ourselves, of achieving self acceptance.

What do you think?