As you age, your muscle mass decreases and your fat mass increases. Fat is less metabolically active than muscle—you don't need as many calories to maintain fat as you do to maintain muscle. Hormonal changes can also lead to weight gain.
Most women gain weight as they age, but excess pounds aren't inevitable. To minimize menopause weight gain, step up your activity level and enjoy a healthy diet. As you get older, you might notice that maintaining your usual weight becomes more difficult. In fact, many women gain weight around the menopause transition.
A combination of things happens as we age. We tend to lose muscle mass, so our abdominal muscles aren't as tight as they once were, and the loss of elastin and collagen in our skin allows gravity to have its way so skin starts to sag. Both can cause the waistline to expand.
As sex hormones increase, changes in the body's proportion of lean, fat, and skeletal mass occur. For females an increase in body fat begins at 7 years and continues through ages 16-18 years.
The ratio of body fat to muscle increases, as muscle mass decreases. Due to the aging factor, weight is being added to our thighs and buttocks.
The main culprit behind weight gain in your thighs is estrogen. This hormone drives the increase in fat cells in females, causing deposits to form most commonly around the buttocks and thighs.
Thick is used more exclusively to sexualize women, referring to full-figured breasts, bottoms, and thighs.
In girls, the body prepares for the important job of menstruation by laying down body fat in the area of the tummy. You may notice your daughter has a big belly, or is gaining weight in the belly area. It's considered a normal transformation for girls to gain weight, particularly in the stomach area.
As people gain weight, excess fat tends to be centered around the abdomen, generally starting at the lower abdominal area and working up. This results in a large belly or gut protruding out from the rest of your body.
Curves Ahead
In your late 20's you may also notice your body becoming curvier than it was in your early to mid 20's. Due to metabolic and hormonal changes, some women experience increased body fat, making them naturally curvier.
While it is often assumed that the widening of the hips is due to an increase in body fat, researchers led by Dr. Laurence Dahners say that it is a natural process not linked to weight gain and that the pelvic bones of a 40 year old are wider than when he or she was 20 years of age.
It may be the regular consumption of alcohol, stress, hormones, bad posture, recent pregnancy, bloating, or others. If you are determined to flatten your belly, you should exercise more and stick to a healthy diet.
While most women in their teens and early 20s define themselves as a neat hourglass shape, women in their 30s and 40s consider themselves as full hourglass and those in their 50s and 60s are most likely to be apple. 'Your body shape changes as you age, partly as women put on weight in different places,' said Jedinak.
The amount of body fat goes up steadily after age 30. Older people may have almost one third more fat compared to when they were younger. Fat tissue builds up toward the center of the body, including around the internal organs.
Weight gain is mediated by lack of knowledge and skills around food and nutrition, depression, anxiety, stress, satiety, neural responses, and possibly sleep patterns and premenstrual cravings.
Lean body mass in girls diminishes from approximately 80 percent to 75 percent by the end of puberty, while the amount of body fat increases. In comparison, the percentage of lean muscle mass in boys increases from about 80 percent to 90 percent by the time they reach adulthood.
As against areas such as legs, face and arms, our stomach and abdominal regions possess beta cells that makes it difficult to reduce the fats easily and lose weight in these areas. However, as per research, belly fat is the most difficult to lose as the fat there is so much harder to break down.
Mostly, losing weight is an internal process. You will first lose hard fat that surrounds your organs like liver, kidneys and then you will start to lose soft fat like waistline and thigh fat. The fat loss from around the organs makes you leaner and stronger.
Full-body workout routines are good for hourglass-shaped people, since you could gain fat in both your upper and lower body. You can also add more low-fat and high-fiber food to your diet to maintain a healthy weight.
Puberty – Increased hormones in a child's body during puberty (between the ages of 10 and 14 for girls and between the ages of 12 and 16 for boys) leads to growth and possible expansion of “baby fat” areas. This typically takes place in girls' belly, breast area and hips. Boys' shoulders will get broader.
Women especially tend to gain weight around their waistline and hips. Eating foods high in sugar and trans fats, drinking too much alcohol, and not eating enough protein can suppress your ability to burn fat and lead to excess abdominal fat accumulation. For many women, growing more abdominal fat may be in their genes.
Sometime around 12 months, baby fat begins to disappear and neck elongation begins. This usually corresponds with when babies are able to stand and walk (ie, 10 to 18 months). Growth rate usually starts to be less rapid between years 2 and 3.
Common reasons for someone to have belly fat even when they're skinny is: Being too sedentary (inactive), which builds visceral fat around the organs and abdominal fat. Eating too many processed foods, which stores at the belly.
A thick person is usually characterized by a slim waistline and thicker breasts and a lower portion of the body. A fat person is characterized by a large or fatty stomach, fat thighs and upper arms, also the loose skin of arms, legs, and sides of the body.