Why We Gain Weight As We Get Older And What We Can Do To Lose Weight, Not Just Over 40
You have the feeling that you are gaining weight faster than before and you don’t know why?
Are you over 40 and can you see that on your body? Not only does your appearance change, it is also harder for you to lose extra pounds. Here we explain why this is the case and what you can do for weight loss.
Why am I gaining weight faster?
Do you feel like you’re gaining weight faster than you used to and don’t know why? There can be several reasons for this:
Less exercise
As you get older you move less than you used to, we just don’t like to admit it. In the past, in our 20s, we were more on the move, led a more active life, maybe got out of the house by bike instead of the car or lived in a house without a lift.
Of course there are small things, but “small cattle also make crap” and the sum makes it! In the example of stairs, you can calculate as an average value: 1 year of climbing stairs = 7000 to 9000 calories burned!
That corresponds exactly to one kilo of fat. 5 years rented apartment in a house with elevator = 5 kilos more fat! Cycling to work every day for a leisurely 10 minutes instead of driving is an annual average of 19,000 calories – 2 kilos less fat!
5 years to the job by car: 10 kilos more on your hips! These examples show how important such “trivialities” can be!
Changed lifestyle
You used to meet up with friends in the evening to dance, maybe have a drink or have a party. If you meet friends over 40, then it’s mostly about food.
A nice dinner in a nice restaurant, a self-cooked menu at home, barbecue orgies on the expensive gourmet grill on the terrace, with one or the other glass of good wine …
And then you just sit there and don’t go dancing through the nights, the evening menu doesn’t burn on the dance floor, but rather saves it on your hips.
We used to think of the “coffee wreath” as “granny”, today we stand in the kitchen and bake pastries and cakes because we invited our friends to a coffee party! You have already read using the example of movement: Small differences make a big difference in the end!
Changed everyday life
When we were in our 20s, our everyday life looked different: we had more time for activities with friends as well as more energy to do intensive sports in the evening, to go for a walk, to go out, to be active.
Today the job, the family, children and obligations … the time is running out for a physically active life.
Thermogenesis
Basically, the more pounds you have already fed on, the faster you gain weight. If a small pillow has accumulated over the years, it is a great isolator for the muscle mass.
Excess energy (= excess calories) is no longer lost through heat loss, but has to be stored. In thin people who are very poorly “insulated”, a lot of heat can be radiated through the muscle mass – calories that do not end up on the hips.
The better the muscle mass is isolated by bacon, the less energy can be “radiated” – and the faster we gain weight. You can think of it like a heating pipe. If the thick foam insulation is missing, heat (and thus heating oil = energy) is lost.
It is therefore always a good idea to keep your weight within the normal range. So you gain weight less quickly!
What can I do for weight loss?
Even if you’d like to blame it on your genes : genes only make up a small part of how many kilos you ultimately weigh! You get the genes in the cradle – but you put your food on your plate yourself!
We have explained to you the most important reasons for more body weight over 40, now you would like to know how to get rid of it:
Rejuvenate lifestyle
Reverse all of the above – rejuvenate your lifestyle! Ride your bike more often as you used to, use the stairwell in the apartment building despite the elevator, meet up with friends outside to be active together.
A walk, a bike ride, a hike, a stroll through town, a sports evening together – there are so many ways to lose weight !
Get enough sleep for weight loss
Don’t let your job, your family and your “adult” lifestyle steal your sleep! Those who get enough sleep are and stay slimmer than people who sleep too little.
During sleep, the sleep hormone melatonin burns fat. If the sleep is too short, then the fat burning phase is also too short.
Eliminate snacks for weight loss
Every minute of fat burning must be enjoyed, so you should not eat anything that has calories between the 3 meals.
And by that we mean: really nothing! The milk in the white coffee, the spoonful of sugar in the tea, the apple in between, the candy in the car: these are all snacks that firstly interrupt fat burning and secondly bring unnecessary calories to your hips.
