Is anyone else getting older?
Credit: RRRussian
There are a few times over the course of our lives that we tend to gain weight. Most kids get a little chubby before hitting puberty. Some people get the “freshman ten” (or fifteen or twenty) when they leave home for the first time. Many people gain weight when they get married. Women naturally gain weight when they have babies (and getting that weight off isn’t always so easy!) But it seems everyone gains weight in mid-life. Why? And what can you do about it?
Number one: Increased calorie intake and decreased calorie expenditure. Do you remember when I explained that 3,500 calories is about equal to a pound? Well I multiplied 5 pounds by 3,500 to see how many calories that is. (It’s 17,500.) Then I divided that by 365 (as in, days in the year) to see how many extra calories a person would have to eat to gain 5 pounds over the course of one year. And the answer? Forty-eight. Yup, an extra 48 calories per day will add up to 5 pounds over the course of one year. That’s half an egg, two ounces of wine, half an ounce of cheese, seven almonds. You get the picture, it’s not very much food.
And activity? Hmmm, what happens as we age? Kids move out so there’s a little less laundry and housework to do. We get a little bit more money so we can afford to pay other people to wash our cars, paint our walls and move our furniture. We get a car that has automatic windows and an automatic transmission. Heck, we even get promoted from being a laborer to being a foreman! Remember 48 calories? It’s easy to move 48 calories less per day.
What do you do? Eat a little less and move a little more. Start using smaller plates or bowls. Share an entree. Put a little less food on your plate. Don’t eat seconds. Order off the seniors’ menu (they’re more reasonable sized portions anyway.) Park farther away from the door at the mall/work/grocery store. Carry your own bags at the grocery store. Take your grandkids to the park. You get the idea.
Number 2: Sarcopenia. Say what? Sarcopenia is the loss of muscle mass that occurs with aging. So what’s the big deal? The big deal is that muscle is “metabolically active” and requires fuel to exist. Fat just sits around waiting for a famine so it doesn’t require much energy. If you weigh 140 pounds and you have 25% body fat, you are going to use more calories than someone who weighs 140 pounds and has 35% body fat. By having more muscle, your body uses more calories just watching NCIS (that is what old people watch, right?)
What do you do? You find some way to incorporate resistance exercises into your day. Build muscles lifting weights, using resistance bands, doing yoga or doing Pilates. The Centers for Disease Control has clear recommendations for making muscle building resistance exercises part of your activity. Aerobic activity (brisk walking, jogging, swimming, cycling) will make your heart stronger and burn calories while you’re doing it. Muscle building activity will burn calories while you’re doing it and long after you’ve finished. Having strong muscles will also keep you from falling and will help you look nice at your class reunion.
Number three: Hormones. Just the word conjures thoughts of acne riddled teens, pregnant women with ice cream and pickle cravings…and middle age weight gain. Huh?Perhaps that’s not the thought that comes to mind when you think of hormones. We all know that testosterone is what gives men “virility” and facial hair right? It’s also what allows men (and the 1968 East German women’s weight lifting team) to build up lots of muscle. But around the age of 40, men’s testosterone levels start to drop about 1% per year. There’s a little blue pill that can help with the “virility” issue, but dealing with the sarcopenia (remember from the last paragraph, muscle loss) requires action.
What do you do? Be sure to get a medical exam to check hormone levels. A doctor may prescribe hormone replacement if your testosterone is too low. The lost muscle of your youth is not going to rebuild itself so you’re going to have to do some muscle building exercise. Remember, you’ll be stronger, look better, be healthier and get to eat dessert without worrying about gaining a bunch of weight.
AND LADIES? “Menopause and the loss of estrogen trigger a deleterious cascade of metabolic and cardiovascular events.” Basically, the hormonal triggers of menopause cause an increase in the likelihood of heart problems as well as a loss of muscle mass which causes metabolisms to slow, but they don’t know why. Also, many women have spent a lot of their lives yo-yo dieting which has stripped away much of their lean muscle mass.
What do you do? Build muscle, build muscle, build muscle. Do heavy enough lifting/resistance bands/yoga that you feel it the next day. Remember, muscle building requires itty-bitty little tears in the muscle. It should be slightly painful the next day or two. You shouldn’t be sore to the touch, but your body should KNOW it did something different yesterday.
Don’t focus too much on what the scale says, focus on how your pants fit. Muscle weighs more than fat so as you start building it up, your weight may not change significantly but your fat will start to decrease and your lean will start to increase.
May you be happy and healthy,
Regan
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