When a friend of mine (who is five years older than me) complained that she weighed the same but her waist was expanding, I was not very sympathetic. I dismissed her complaint, smugly thinking that either her bathroom scale was off, she wasn’t exercising enough or she was not correctly counting calories.
A few years later, I realized I was wrong.
When I started experiencing the same phenomenon, I asked my doctor why this was happening. Her vague answer: it happens as you age. Well, she was partially correct because muscle mass can diminish with age, while fat increases. Loss of muscle mass also decreases the rate at which your body uses calories, which can make it more challenging to maintain a desired weight.
This is true for both men and women. A burgeoning waistline for males and females is considered by many as the price we pay when we age. However, for women, menopause is definitely a contributing factor because of a decrease in estrogen (genetics may also play a role). This lack of estrogen determines where body fat is stored and, more than likely, this is in the abdomen.
But the burning question I have: why not the boobs?
The Atrophied Vagina Club 