If you feel like your midsection changed overnight -- even though you’re making as many of the "right choices" as you can -- you’re not imagining it.

In this episode, I break down why midlife belly fat is so common (and so distressing), and why the usual advice stops working in your 40s and 50s.

You’ll hear what’s not happening (your metabolism didn’t “slow down”), what is happening (hello hormone dysregulation + stress + muscle loss + a fat-storage pattern shift), and why “menopause belly” as a special category is just marketing nonsense.

Then I give you three simple, real-world actions to start this week:

1. find a modern menopause-informed doctor,

2. eat a protein-dominant breakfast daily, and

3. start tracking how the new you actually feels—with curiosity instead of doom.

Bottom line: belly fat isn’t a mystery, a moral failure, or a supplement opportunity. It’s solvable.

⏱️ Timestamps

00:00 Belly fat while “eating healthy” — why this is happening

00:46 “I’m uncomfortable in my skin” (and why that matters)

02:35 What’s not happening: metabolism “slowing down,” genetics “catching up,” menopause “making you fat”

06:20 The estrogen shift: what it changes (and what it doesn’t)

09:05 The real driver: insulin resistance (and why it’s fixable)

12:40 Stress, cortisol, and why blaming cortisol is a trap

16:40 The sneaky midlife shift: you’re probably more sedentary than you think

18:55 Muscle loss + body composition: why your shape changes

22:10 “Do the opposite now”: less cardio, more weights, more protein, real nourishment

25:10 Belly fat = fat (not a special kind of fat with a special protocol)

28:35 GLP-1s + menopause support: what to know (and what not to expect)

31:40 The 3 actions: doctor + protein breakfast + get to know the new you