Why do women, especially around mid-life, have so much trouble losing belly fat and managing their weight?

THE GALVESTON DIET
by Mary Claire Haver
Rodale, February 2023
(via Kaplan/Defiore Rights)

Dieting methods vary, but most fail to consider the impact a woman’s metabolism and hormones has on weight control. Our bodies, for example, are designed to store energy for activities like pregnancy and breastfeeding, which means we naturally store fat easily and have a tougher time converting calories to muscle. Also, we need fewer calories than men do, but we have higher vitamin and mineral requirements at various life stages. So our food choices matter and are vitally important.
Once Dr. Haver began her own study of the nutrition and weight-loss literature, she discovered that with certain unique dietary shifts, a woman’s body begins to burn fat more easily, and it stops laying down fat in undesirable places like the waist, butt, and thighs. Using these shifts, she created a female-focused protocol that allows women to not only lose unwanted fat, but also gain health benefits that last a lifetime.

Phase One—intermittent fasting, a strategy that has enormous benefits for women in terms of hormone balance, metabolism, and weight loss.
Phase Two—anti-inflammatory nutrition. Chronic inflammation underlies many diseases, as well as being overweight, and gets worse in women as they age and experience natural hormone fluctuations.
Phase Three—Fuel Refocus. For consistent, lasting weight loss in women, the body must shift its energy usage to rely more on fat as fuel, rather than on glucose.

Here’s the real secret behind why The Galveston Diet is so effective: All three phases work together synergistically. You can’t just fast, but eat the standard American diet of inflammatory foods, then expect to burn fat and keep it off. You have to refocus your fuel, and you have to nourish your body with a great variety of anti-inflammatory foods.
This is an important book. Dr. Haver is uniquely qualified to address overweight and obesity in women, particularly as they approach midlife and live well far beyond it. Research in the journal Menopause points out that obesity and metabolic syndrome (a precursor to type 2 diabetes) are found in women three times more often in menopause than before menopause.
Weight is far more than a cosmetic issue; it can be a life-or-death problem. Around menopause, weight gain and inflammation greatly increases the risk of diabetes, heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, and certain cancers. The Galveston Diet works. Period. No caveats, no exceptions. And it will work for you when other diets have not.

Dr. Mary Claire Haver is a wife, mother, physician, and entrepreneur who has devoted her adult life to women’s health. As a Board Certified ob/gyn in the Houston, Texas area, Dr. Haver has delivered thousands of babies, completed thousands of well-woman exams, counseled patients, taught residents, and did everything an academic professor and ob/gyn can do. She is also a Certified Medical Specialist, focusing on medical nutrition.