Happy fat or middle-aged spread

Over the past few years, due to the pandemic, I've rarely attended large gatherings. Coincidentally, I recently went to a high school classmate's wedding and met many friends I hadn't kept in touch with. Everyone looked pretty much the same, but their husbands seemed to have ballooned up, having gained quite a bit of weight over the years. "Happy fat" instantly became synonymous with middle-aged weight gain. Middle-aged weight gain is a gradual process, not something that happens suddenly. Hormones in the body influence where fat accumulates. Estrogen promotes fat storage in the hips and thighs, while testosterone promotes fat accumulation around the waist. This explains why some people have belly fat while others only gain weight in their hips. Additionally, as we age, muscle mass naturally decreases, and the basal metabolic rate slightly drops, which can easily lead to an increase in fat tissue, especially visceral fat. Preventing middle-aged weight gain should start early. Besides paying attention to diet and exercising more, incorporating herbal tea can also help. I recommend using 2 slices of hawthorn, 1 piece of dried tangerine peel, and 5 grams of Poria cocos. Rinse the ingredients, add hot water, and steep for 10 minutes before drinking. This tea helps reduce fat, aid in weight loss, and eliminate dampness and excess water. Hawthorn, sour in taste and warm in nature, enters the spleen and stomach meridians. It invigorates the spleen, stimulates appetite, aids digestion, promotes blood circulation, dispels stagnation, and regulates blood lipids. Dried tangerine peel, pungent in taste and warm in nature, enters the lung and spleen meridians. It regulates qi, strengthens the spleen, dries dampness, and resolves phlegm. Poria cocos, sweet in taste and neutral in nature, enters the heart, spleen, and kidney meridians. It promotes urination and leaches out dampness, strengthens the spleen, calms the mind, and nourishes the spleen and heart.