Having a big belly conflicts with our fitness for life goals or is it so hard to get rid of belly fat because our body is programmed to collect fat in specific areas?
Belly fat can be a very frustrating problem! We think we’re doing the right things like counting calories, walking and exercising and still no success in reducing that bulge! Well, I found out a long time ago that it was not possible to reduce fat in one specific body area because whatever I did such as dieting and exercising didn’t remove it in those areas.
I was told that generally speaking, middle-aged men are programmed to gain abdomen fat while women usually put on thigh and hip area weight. I had read that this is determined by testosterone,typically more abundant in men or estrogen normally more abundant in women.
Recently I found this research result by Dr.Elizabeth Cashdan, a cultural anthropologist at the University of Utah as one opinion on why that happens:
Hour-Glass or Belly Fat: Body Shape as Destiny
December 21, 2008
According to Dr. Elizabeth Cashdan, a cultural anthropologist at the University of Utah, women who have hour- glass figures (storing fat primarily in their hips) are more sexual and less athletic than those who are shaped like men and store fat primarily in their bellies (Cultural Anthropology, December 2008).
Women who are shaped like hour-glasses have wider hips and narrower bellies because they have more of the female hormone, estrogen; and less of the stress hormone cortisol and the male hormone testosterone. Dr. Cashdan proposes that women who are protected by men may not be as stressed as those who have to provide for themselves and their children, and therefore have lower levels of cortisol.
Testosterone and cortisol cause fat to be deposited in the belly, while estrogen causes it to be deposited in the hips.
Women who are stronger and more competitive have bigger bellies because they have more masculinizing hormones that make them aggressive. Women who are more fertile, have more babies, and are more sexual tend to have more estrogen and therefore bigger hips and smaller bellies.
In societies that stress fertility and having lots of children, men seem to prefer women who have hour glass-like figures. In societies where women are more independent and have to get their own food and depend on themselves to survive, they are more likely to be shaped like men with a higher waist to hip ratio.
She says: “In Japan, Greece and Portugal, where women tend to be less economically independent, men place a higher value on a thin waist than men in [countries such as] Britain or Denmark, where there tends to be more sexual equality.”
Would it be Helpful to Know This Before Middle Age When the Body Changes Start Happening
So there you have it! It’s true that there generally are two types of young women, some with the hourglass figure and some who are not so shapely but I suppose that being aware of this before middle age when the body changes tend to happen and the different ways of putting on weight start to show up would minimize the damage.
I know I started experiencing the body changes during the menopause years and I didn’t do enough about it because I was busy living my life!
Loosing the belly fat is the difficult problem and being involved in fitness and healthy eating before middle age and the weight gain would probably avoid the problem.
Let me know what you think in a comment …
Fran
