Problems Losing Weight Over 40

If you haven't said it yourself, you've probably heard someone else utter the remark: "Once I hit 40, my metabolism slowed down. I used to be able to eat anything I wanted to without gaining weight, but now everything I eat turns to fat."
Whether it's a matter of metabolism or lifestyle, many middle-aged people do gain weight, and they often have a great deal of trouble losing it.

Statistics

About 70 percent of adults in the United States are overweight and one-third are obese, "The Journal of the American Medical Association" states. Although the upward trend in obesity may be leveling off, more Americans are becoming overweight now than at any previous time in the country's history. Accompanying this trend are increases in diabetes, heart disease, arthritis, cancer and other conditions that stem directly from obesity.

Lifestyle Changes

Middle age is a period of peak professional and social performance. Your career is in full swing and your family is maturing and launching out in a dozen different directions. Although you know you should exercise for 20 to 30 minutes every day, you just can't seem to find the time. Your dietary habits have deteriorated, too. According to nutrition experts at the University of Pennsylvania, if you're an average American you're consuming too many calories and you're getting more than a third of your calories from fat. This imbalance between energy consumed and energy burned isn't good for your waistline.

Adding It Up

Given the metabolic and behavioral factors that conspire to make a middle-aged adult gain weight, you may find yourself struggling to maintain a lean profile. For better or worse, the principles that determine body mass in a rollicking child still apply to a desk-bound adult. If you eat more calories than you burn, you're going to gain weight. If you're trying to lose weight, you have to forfeit 3,500 calories, through exercise or abstinence, for every pound you hope to shed. Thus, if your usual daily menu supplies 2,000 calories and you want to lose 1 lb. each week, you either have to work off 500 calories every day -- a daunting exercise routine for most people -- or you must cut your daily intake to 1,500 calories. A more sustainable approach is to combine a 300-calorie workout with a 1,800-calorie diet plan. If you're an otherwise healthy adult, the arithmetic usually tells the tale.