Fitness experts share 10-minute exercises to reduce belly fat

Menopause is the end of a woman's menstrual cycle, and the average age of onset in the United States is approximately 51 years. When she misses her period for 12 consecutive months, she officially becomes menopausal.

Menopausal women often suffer from hot flashes, night sweats, vaginal dryness, depression, weight gain, and other frustrating symptoms.

Menopausal abdominal syndrome, in which women gain weight around their abdomen rather than their buttocks and thighs, is thought to be caused by hormonal changes, loss of muscle mass, slow metabolism, and genetics.

A registered dietitian who has experienced menopause shared her experience last year. She recommends eating a Mediterranean-style diet, cutting back on alcohol, managing stress, and improving the quality of your sleep to combat your menopausal belly.

“The lifestyle changes I made to wear black pants took more time and effort than when I was younger. I'm slowly seeing results, but the health benefits are well worth it. Yes,” Kristin Kirkpatrick, founder and president of KAK Consulting, wrote for Today.com in August.

Meanwhile, nutrition experts share which foods to avoid to prevent belly fat and the best meal timings to trim your waistline.

Obesity researchers, on the other hand, argued that using exercise, diet, pills and supplements to target specific parts of the body to lose weight was a waste of time.

“Spot loss is a myth; we have no control over where our bodies lose fat,” Dr. Nick Fuller of the University of Sydney in Australia wrote in The Conversation last fall. “But by targeting overall fat loss, you can achieve the results you are looking for in specific areas.”