IS THE MENOPAUSE TO BLAME?

If you’re eating healthily and exercising those core muscles, but your midriff is stubbornly staying put, it could be down to hormones. ‘They play a key role in influencing where we store fat tissue, and how much of it,’ explains dietician Lola Biggs. ‘As a woman approaches middle age, the drop in oestrogen production results in a different cocktail of hormones circulating the body. Even if you don’t actually gain weight, your waistline can grow, as an increase in visceral fat pushes against the abdominal wall.’ Exercises like those above can help to make a difference.