An expanding waistline is sometimes considered the price of getting older. For women, this might be especially true after menopause, when body fat tends to shift from the arms, legs 
and hips to the abdomen. Yet an increase in belly fat can do more than make it hard to zip up your jeans. Research indicates that belly fat also increases the risk of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, certain cancers — even premature death. The good news’ The threats posed by belly fat can be cut down to size.
What’s behind belly fat
Your weight is largely determined by how you balance the calories you eat with the energy you burn. If you eat too much and exercise too little, you’re likely to pack on excess pounds — including belly fat. However, aging also plays a role. Muscle mass gradually diminishes with age, and fat accounts for a greater percentage of your weight. Less muscle mass also decreases the rate at which your body uses calories, which can make it more challenging to maintain a healthy weight or lose excess pounds.
In addition, many women notice an increase in belly fat as they get older — even if they aren’t gaining weight. This is likely due to a decreasing level of estrogen, which appears to influence where fat is distributed in the body. The tendency to gain or carry weight around the waist — have an “apple” rather than a “pear” shape — can have a genetic component as well.
Why belly fat is more than skin deep
Belly fat
The trouble with belly fat is that it’s not limited to the extra layer of padding located just below the skin (subcutaneous fat). It also includes visceral fat — which lies deep inside your abdomen, surrounding your internal organs.
Although subcutaneous fat poses cosmetic concerns, visceral fat is associated with far more dangerous health consequences. That’s because an excessive amount of visceral fat produces hormones and other substances that can raise blood pressure, negatively alter good and bad cholesterol levels and impair the body’s ability to use insulin (insulin resistance). An excessive amount of any fat, including visceral fat, also boosts estrogen levels. All of this can increase the risk of serious health problems, including:
• Cardiovascular disease
• Stroke
• Type 2 diabetes
• Breast cancer
• Colorectal cancer
Recent research also has associated belly fat with an increased risk of premature death — regardless of overall weight. In fact, some studies have found that even when women were considered a normal weight based on standard body mass index (BMI) measurements, a large waistline increased the risk of dying of cardiovascular disease, cancer and other causes.
Read more on the how to Sculpt Away Your Deadly Belly Fat
I hate my belly fat, I’m 12% bodyfat at the moment and I can’t seem to lose any from my belly. I guess I’ll just keep exercising away and hopefully eventually it’ll disappear
For us ladies — bellys are tough to lose as that’s were we as women tend store our fat. The other challenge that comes when what are you eating. If you are eating foods that cause inflammation it’s most likely to show up in your belly. The cause of belly’s is also stress. If you are stressed your hormones get out of whack your cortisol levels increase and send signals to protect your organs if you can imagine most of your organs are in your belly cavity.
Nice post Kim…….
Belly fats are tough to lose for all the people. You can loose your belly fats with exercise and simply eating like a bird. Always, You need to do total body exercises that will force you to burn a lot of calories. You learn more click on this link http://www.howloseweightfast.com/how-to-lose-belly-fat.html
I never advocate eating like a bird. I do advocate eating proper portion sizes and eating at least 4-5 times/day. When you fuel your body with the right nutrition and correct portions you will see results.
You just told me how I got my belly fat, what happened to how to get rid of it?
The first step is to look at your diet. Are you eating processed foods, are you drinking enough water, do you have enough protein in your diet? If you like something more specific shoot me an email with 3 days of your food intake and I will give feedback.