Hello. I have gained about 15 pounds in the past year and a 1/2 with no explanation. I am 32 year old female. I went from 135-150lbs. I work out at least 3 times a week doing cardio and strength training. I noticed every other part of my body was toning and getting thinner, and all of a sudden my flat stomach began to have 3 rolls--accounting even for side back fat. My doctor ran blood on my twice in the past year and all was normal except vitamin D defficiency--which I'm taking vitamins for. I am also awaiting results from a urine Cortisol test since I have been under tremendous stress. I've read stress could deposit excess fat in the abdomen. I'd say this is significant and scary. My doctor is not very concerned, btu as someone who considers themselves extrememly health conscious, healty and fit--I am devestated at this change in my abdomen region. I've also noticed I occassionally feel like I'm starving an hour or two after eating a meal. This had never happened to me before. There is no way I could be hungry either. It makes no sense to me, yet I get this intense hunger feeling up my throat. My belly appears fat/bloated to me all the time, although least upon waking up. I try to stick to 1200-1400 calorie diet a day. Like mentioned, I workout at least 3 times a week--often 4. I vary from kickboxing, yoga, cardio (at least 30 min) with strength training exercies. Why would my body be getting toned but my abdomen fattier?
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Hello,
are your thyroid hormones OK? Other than problems with thyroid gland, diabetes type II can also cause weight gain and specifically weight gain in the abdominal area. But it's usually followed with variety of other symproms like fatigue, increased thirst and increased hunger.
Did you have your blood sugar levels measured?
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Definitely could be stress! Stress is a HUGE roadblock to losing and maintaining weight and unfortunately, it's often the most overlooked reason. Too much stress causes all your fat to be stored in your abdomen and around your internal organs and this is the most dangerous place for fat to collect.
You've got to calm down and stop stressing so much. Also, you need 8 hours of sleep a night (no, you are not the rare kind of person who only needs 4 or 5) so you need to make sleep a priority. Not sleeping enough slows your metabolism.
Have you tried walking? Make yourself walk every day. Many people dismiss walking as a form of exercise but walking is actually great for burning fat and it forces you to take in the scenery and relax. I know you're thinking that you should be kickboxing and cycling and jumping around doing whatever instead (and of course you should add other forms of exercise) but walking LOWERS YOUR CORTISOL and RELAXES YOU.
I think there's like only one or two supplements that can help significantly with stress: magnesium and rhodiola.
Magnesium is one of the most important minerals for your body and you can't really test for it accurately through blood as only something like 11% of the magnesium in your body is stored in your blood. There is the supplement called "Natural Calm" you might want to try but really, any magnesium supplement is good. Take it before bed (you'll see what I mean cause it's AMAZING).
To be honest, I dunno much about rhodiola; I just know it's been scientifically proven to help with stress (there was some study on Pubmed about it) and tons of people in natural blogs recommend that one.
One other thing that can help you is more mindful eating. There are the obvious tips like don't eat when you watch tv or do anything else (eating time should be strictly eating time) or chew adequately etc, but there's also the don't drink while you eat rule. Try not to drink when you eat; only drink 1 hour after or 20 minutes before you eat. Allow your body to DIGEST your food before you flood it with water cause contrary to popular belief it's not good for you to down a glass of water after eating (this dilutes stomach acid and interferes with the absorption of nutrients--it also confuses your body and makes you hungry all over again).
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