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The flab factor: Losing weight in your 40s and beyond

Posted By: Stacy Rhea on 11/16/2010

Revving up your body’s metabolism is a major factor in the flab fighting years, 40 and above. Sadly, age works against you. Not only does your metabolism slow down with age, but life itself tends to conspire against you. Not all is lost or gained, depending on how you look at it. Losing weight is possible if you know how to boost you body’s calorie-burning power.

Before you can rev up your body’s engine, there are a few things to understand about your metabolism.

Your body is in a perpetual state of burning calories. Just sitting and reading this article, your body is burning calories. The rate at which the body burns calories at rest is called your resting metabolic rate. As you age, your RMR decreases. What that means, is your body’s ability to burn the same amount of calories at age 50 is less than at age 40.

Example:
If your RMR is 1,200 calories per day at age 40, it will decrease to 1,140 calories per day by age 50. That may not seem significant, but over time, it is. 

One month equals a difference of 1,680 calories.
One year equals a difference of more than 20,000 calories, which could equate to 5.8 pounds gained in a single year.

Another factor affecting metabolism: muscle mass. Muscle plays a role in burning calories. Beginning at age 30, muscle mass may decrease as much as one percent each year. This adds up, and quickly. And, muscle loss equates to a loss in strength, balance and coordination.  

Resistance training is the best way to maintain and build lean body mass.

Look at it this way: For every pound of muscle added, the body will burn an additional 35 to 50 calories per day, a pound of fat will only burn five to 10 calories per day.

What are you waiting for? Get in the gym and start moving.

Stacy Rhea is Fitness Together’s Director of Public Relations; she also trains clients at several FT studios in Cleveland.  She has more than 18 years of experience in the health and fitness industry, having spent 14 years as a personal trainer and four years as the editor of Ohio Sports & Fitness magazine.  She is also the founder and president of Grunt Girl Racing, an all-women’s multi-disciplinary team that provides knowledge, inspiration and motivation to athletes in Cleveland.  Have a question or comment about this post? Ask Stacy: stacyrhea@ftohio.com