Abdominal fat and heart disease risks

[takniteasy]

Just some thoughts and a question on other's experiences. My family has hypertension and heart disease on both sides, more predominantly on my mother's side. The women relatives who develop hypertension/heart disease also have higher percentage of abdominal fat. I am constantly fighting to keep my abdominal fat down because I am terrified of developing hypertension/heart disease. And currently having been unable to weight train or even train cardio, I have put on fat, esp. in my abdominal area. I tend to put it on quickly there.

Am I being overly paranoid about this? When I put on the least bit of fat weight, I become very worried. I even had blood work done, BMP, lipid panel and CBC, and it came back w/in normal limits but I still worry.

 

[macrophage69alpha]

androgenic fat storage... often an insulin sensitivity issue (at least with respect to fat storage)..

R-ala MAY help..

have you reached menopause?

this is normally when this occurs..

if so are you on HRT?
if so what kind?

 

[wilson6]

"And currently having been unable to weight train or even train cardio,"

Change that. Intense exercise is the best preventative therapy in addition to proper diet.

W6

 

[macrophage69alpha]

"And currently having been unable to weight train or even train cardio,"

Change that. Intense exercise is the best preventative therapy in addition to proper diet.

W6

agree..

must have skimmed over that

 

[makedah]

How much fat are we talking about? Even when I was a skinny teen and young adult I had a "belly." I'm built like my mother's people and they just put weight on there first. That won't give me heart disease!

On both sides of my family there is a history of hypertension (both of my parents take meds for HBP). If I die from a heart disease at an early age, it will more likely be if I failed to exercise and eat right than because I tend to get pot-bellied instead of hippy when I put on weight.

 

[takniteasy]

The reason I have not been weight training is a lumbar spine injury (some soft tissue damage which is undetermined at this time). I have just returned to light weight (maybe 50% of what I was at previously) on Friday nite. Cardio is at about 30 minutes at a time on treadmill at perhaps 4mph. I have not yet invested in an eliptical trainer which I believe may be more beneficial to me. And yes I believe also that I am in perimenopause, although FSH and LH tests in Jan. of this year did not show it. Am awaiting results of recent bloodwork. Consdering that the injury occurred on Labor Day w/end and I have gone up in weight approx. 15#, I am considerably worried. Now, I know this is more than likely from being sedentary for several weeks. I am still worried.

Am I being paranoid? I hope so. May be a good thing to be obsessive with eating healthy and remaining healthy considering the risks. I certainly hope so.

BTW, I really appreciate all feedback and responses.

 

[macrophage69alpha]

short term this is not an issue.. rest up.. relax.. and then get back to where you want to be

 

[takniteasy]

Macro, thanx for the reassurance. That is more needed now than anything else.

 

[wilson6]

Short-term is not an issue.

We all have our lapses in training due to a variety of factors. Because of the family history and abdominal fat distribution, however some level of paranoia is a good thing to keep you focused on limiting body fat accumulation.

W6

 

[MS]

I agree that you just have to do the best you can while recovering from an injury. However I think it's a good idea to tighten up your diet while you're recovering. For a variety of reasons it appears that once you've gained and maintained a certain amount of abdominal fat, it becomes very hard to lose it and keep it off long term. Best not to put it on in the first place. But long term a return to your previous (hopefully intense) exercise routine is your best defense against those diseases that run in your family.