Curious to hear everyone's input - metabolism/weight maintenance + aging?
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modelktford wrote: »Hey all! So at work the other day, several coworkers were discussing how basically once you hit 30, no matter what you do, your metabolism essentially shuts down and you gain weight much more easily. A few of them were joking about how in their 20's they were insanely fit, but now they have only to look at some food and gain weight! I was curious, because I'm 23, and they all assured me I had only a couple "good years" (?) left! haha! So my question is this - I always kind of thought that stuff depended on genetics/your personal habits/your own body, but what do you guys think? I feel like I know lots of people who are more toned/better at cardio than me well into their 40's-50's? But am I missing something? Any input would be appreciated
Your metabolism does slow down as you grow older. It does not start at 30. It is an ongoing very slow process. So, no there is no magic age when it changes suddenly, and it does not mean you just start gaining weight one day. This is why age is a factor when calculating BMR.
Try here for example: http://iifym.com/tdee-calculator/ and see how it changes.
For my stats it shows a drop of 100 calories from 20 till 40.0 -
The biggest issue is that many people who hit 30 are more established in a professional job and greatly reduce the physical activity they did in their 20's. Remember clubbing? Anyway, we're talking about 200-400 calories difference between the ages of 20-60. It's NOT that hard to cut down 100 calories per every ten years. People just tend to eat more when they become parents or spend more time not being physically active. And not 100 calories, but 1000 or more. It's still CICO.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Haha, I remember the day I went to a club and felt old. Now I just play the club tracks while I am working out. Working great for me these days 0 -
Generally, you become more carb sensitive as you age. This means MOST folks need to gradually decrease carbs as they get older, or they will begin to accumulate fat.0
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drunknfreaky wrote: »The slow down is mostly caused by loss of muscle mass as you age. So, all you need to do to forestall this slowdown is work to keep the muscle you have and build more.
This. And eat for muscle and general health.The biggest issue is that many people who hit 30 are more established in a professional job and greatly reduce the physical activity they did in their 20's. Remember clubbing? Anyway, we're talking about 200-400 calories difference between the ages of 20-60. It's NOT that hard to cut down 100 calories per every ten years. People just tend to eat more when they become parents or spend more time not being physically active. And not 100 calories, but 1000 or more. It's still CICO.
A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
Also true. Office work in a role that involves long hours + commuting + marriage = butt spread.
The office work, commute and marriage often results in butt spread but it sure doesn't have to. I've had an office job 9-12 hr days, 90-120 minute total commute, marriage and raised 2 sons. At 6'2" I'm 205 lbs, 10 pounds more than where I was at HS graduation. How did this happen, eat sensibly, I would get up early before work and workout, play with my kids/hang out with my wife when I got home and very little screen time.
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I can only speak from my experience. I noticed a downward slope around 32 years old. I was heavier than I had ever been and I couldn't keep it off. But then I found MFP and lost 50lbs and I'm able to maintain it at now, almost 37.
I was more than likely just eating too much and had gotten lazy. I don't think my metabolism slowed down.0 -
I am 51.
In my experience it is harder to lose weight and over time I have had to make long term adjustments in my eating.
The good news is that with the change in metabolism I am just not as hungry and it was natural to adjust my eating. The other good news is there is no 28 day cycle of eating...this is huge. The other interesting thing is my body doesn't tolerate eating garbage or drinking...it is easier to eat healthy. The difference between eating an apple and a candy bar is noticeable..so making better choices is easier.
The idea that weight gain is inevitable with age is horse pucky. Metabolism is mostly determined by lean body mass.0 -
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what happens is that with each decade muscle mass deteriorates a bit so unless you build muscle then yes the metabolism is affected...however I'm in my 40s and in the best shape of my life - all it takes is taking care of ourselves, moving a bit more, lifting heavy things and eating within our alloted calories (no food group is cut out for me its about everything in moderation) .
Getting active have seen my TDEE going from 1600 to 2200, not bad for a 5ft 2", 40 something! and the bonus is the fitter we are the better we feel about ourselves
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disagree +1vivmom2014 wrote: »
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Rubbish. I eat a fairly high carb diet, as do my parents in their 70s. They're lean and have NOT put on fat with age. They're fairly active people and eat whole foods and that's the key for all ages.Generally, you become more carb sensitive as you age. This means MOST folks need to gradually decrease carbs as they get older, or they will begin to accumulate fat.0 -
The change over time is very small and probably mostly explained by loss of muscle mass rather than age, per se.
I lost 122 pounds at 50. By and large, the metabolism excuse is just a cop out.0 -
GaleHawkins wrote: »drunknfreaky wrote: »The slow down is mostly caused by loss of muscle mass as you age. So, all you need to do to forestall this slowdown is work to keep the muscle you have and build more.
Well you and Dr. William Davis are in agreement on this point. Tonight I just finished his 2014 book Wheat Belly Total Health.
What hit me hard after 40 years of yo yo'ing weight was that he states up to a third of each of my losses over the years was from muscle loss and most of my regains were more from fat than from new muscle. The reason weight loss got harder and harder for me was because I was more fat and less muscle than on each prior loss cycle.
After over two decades of yo-yo dieting, this is surely me. And now I can't get away with putting my body through the ridiculous abuse I used to when I wanted to lose weight. Not really complaining much about that last part, it wasn't good for me, and my moods are good now, when before I was a raging, starving lunatic.
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As others have said, most of the slowdown in metabolism is just that older people on average have less muscle mass. If you look at the BMR calculators, those that estimate without knowing fat percentage will have a decline as people age. Those that use fat percentage don't take age into account. So you can prevent this effect by working to keep muscle mass.
I am someone who gained weight in my late 20s after never having to think about it before then, but it had nothing to do with metabolism. It had to do with sharply reducing my overall activity level and my response to a stressful job plus way more opportunities to eat at really nice restaurants (job-related).0 -
DeguelloTex wrote: »I lost 122 pounds at 50. By and large, the metabolism excuse is just a cop out.
+1
When I was about 35 and really fit, I was told that people's fitness started to drop off when they were 30. Really? I got fitter after 30.
Then more recently, I was told and read that when a women goes into perimenopause she probably won't be able to lose weight. And for a while I believed it. I was in perimenopause, therefore I was plump, and would probably remain plump the rest of my life. But then I started to think that was just silly, and a little part of the reason I signed on here at MFP was to challenge that notion. Could I actually lose weight despite being in my late 40s and in the middle of perimenopause?
Turns out ... I can. 46 lbs down and just a few more to go to reach the weight I was when I was really fit in my early 30s.
And ... my cycling speed has started to pick up again.
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Close to half of all people become more insulin resistant. I'm assuming that is what was meant by carb sensitive. For those people, reducing carbs does result in slightly more successful weight loss.0
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Your metabolism slows as you age, but the change between 25 and 35 isn't huge for healthy people.
They say it's all downhill once you pass forty. So many older people say that. So far, some things have gone downhill (most notably, the girls), but I lost a lot of weight and feel better now than I have in many, many years.
We are all going to age and go through what that brings, so IMO, there is no reason to borrow ahead on trouble. I do what I can to be as healthy as I can be. That's all I can do.
Aging sucks, but the alternatives are grim. 0 -
People talk the biggest load of **** about aging. (Note: Those are my asterisks, not MFP's - fill in your favorite bad word.) Yes, your metabolism may slow down a bit, as others have said above. Yes, some of that may be due to muscle loss (i.e., not inevitably on the rates published).
The biggest factor in creating this belief is (1) People over age X making excuses, and (2) people under age X believing nonsense proclaimed by excuse-makers because those excuse makers are living examples of being "unable to exercise" "not as strong as I was when I was your age" and "unable to lose weight".
The most important thing to do for yourself is to *not* be an excuse-maker, and not let others' excuses limit you. Change is always possible. You'll never know how much change is possible until you put in some work; you're likely to surprise yourself if you work hard.
That said, if you lose excess weight and get active while younger, and stick with it through life, you're setting yourself up for the best possible future.
I'm 59, almost 60. I've been overweight for essentially all of my adult life, except perhaps a few years during/after college. I've been pretty inactive for most of that. *Bad* for me (i.e., I behaved stupidly). A dozen years ago, after breast cancer treatment (and a hypothyroid diagnosis, BTW), I started getting more active, ultimately getting 300-500 calories of exercise most days (rowing on water and machine, weight training, yoga, aerobics, spin classes, biking, and more, in various combinations at various times). Did I lose weight? No, I could out-eat the activity. But I got lots stronger, developed a better cardiovascular system, became more flexible, etc. . . all after age 45.
This April, something snapped, and I decided I better get down to a healthier weight. I've lost 42 pounds since then, at about 2 pounds a week, until I recently started to slow to 0.5 pounds/week because goal is within 10-15 pounds. I suspect that better muscle mass from my activity level may've helped in that, but there's no way to know. In any case, with careful tracking and CICO, it was absolutely do-able.
TL;DR: Any talk about "not losing after 30" is excuse-making bunk. I, and lots of other people, are a clear counter examples. There are people competing athletically well into their 80s, and sometimes beyond (and they're not pathetic at it, either), let alone just working out and being healthy/active. But if you attain a healthy weight and activity while young, you can avoid a bunch of health problems and other bad consequences.0
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