English TV presenter, Davina McCall, 55 reveals what she did in order to prevent and shed the menopause belly. Basically, it was a combo of healthy foods and exercise that helped her in maintaining her slim figure even after menopause.
Davina McCall and her menopausal advice
Normally, during menopause, women gain a lot of weight and this excess fat is accumulated more in the abdominal region. It becomes an uphill task to shed this extra weight and fats that one gains around this period of hormonal withdrawal. But Davina McCall had successfully managed to not get a menopausal belly. She remained slim and fit during this time of the life too. Dr. Naomi Potter was on ITV show Lorraine. She said:
“During the perimenopause and menopause, where you store fat changes.”
“When we are younger, we tend to store fat peripherally, so around arms, legs, face. As you go more towards midlife and beyond, it changes.”
“You tend to store fat around your organs and around your middle and you tend to put weight on with increasing years and you also tend to lose muscle. That all contributes to that change of shape.”
Davina McCall (Source: OK magazine)Davina’s lifestyle changes for menopause
How did Davina do it? Was it some pills that helped her? Davina shared with her fans on what she did in order to keep slim and avoid the central adiposity of menopause. It was a simple combination of proper foods and exercise that did the trick.
Davina revealed that she did portion control. She explained:
“I found out that I need to eat less than I used to – portion control.”
Davina McCall (Source: Huff post UK)Lorraine Kelly, the show host agreed. Davina added that exercise too helped her to remain trim. She elaborated:
“I think keeping your muscle strength is really important so strength training, which feels really counterproductive sometimes.”
“But it’s really important for us older women to keep that muscle.”
Further Davina gave up alcohol. She said:
“I’m sober…so that’s quite helpful in a way and there’s so much sugar in booze so we forget about that.”
“Exercise is amazing for mental health, that low mood.”
Dr. Naomi’s opinion
Dr. Naomi too on the same show was also in agreement with what Davina said. The doctor said that both exercise and diet make a great difference as regards the negative menopause symptoms. She said:
“There’s lots of things you can do in terms of lifestyle to really improve quality of life and symptoms.”
“Although it sounds a little bit cliched, it actually isn’t. It really works, [things] like dropping alcohol, or dropping sugar, exercising.”
“All of those things can make a massive difference.”
Davina McCall (Source: What to watch)Read more: Dr Paula Oliveira: three steps to losing weight rapidly after menopause!
Menopausal symptoms could range from mild to severe. There are hot flushes, palpitations, migrainous headaches, irritability, insomnia, low mood, depression, body aches and pains, joint pains, weight gain, dry and itchy skin, vaginal dryness, frequent urinary tract infections etc. All these need to be tackled well with duet and exercise.