Why does it get so hard to lose weight when you get past 40?

rustypust

I have always trained hard, high impact Cardio, Spinning, Body combat , Pilates, Yoga, Body pump I generally have tried most things and if I wanted to lose a few KG I would stop the wine or reduce the carbs and the weight would just fall off me. As soon as I turned 40 now I am 46 it is so much harder. Circumstances and lack of exercise caused me to gain 10kg of which I have lost half since February, but the last 5kg is a killer, I am in the gym 5 days a week doing a combination of weights and cardio, I do intermediate yoga, and Pilates when I get a chance and I am generally eating between 1200 and 1400 calories a day which based on my MBR for my age is apparently correct however I am guilty of maybe not drinking my water. Anybody out there have any suggestions on how I can speed it up a little? or do I have to accept that due to my age ,my metabolism is a lot slower and I have to be patient?

Jennloella

I've heard people warn me of how my metabolism will slow, heck I already notice a difference in it! I'm 32 and I have to watch what I eat, stay very active - when I was 20 I ate Jack in the Box every day on the way home from work, drank beer all night, and was a size 5!!! go figure!!

apsmith51

I hear ya...I just turned 60 and it isn't exactly melting off.... Even at 1200 calories a day, I am only supposed to lose .7 lb per week and that is just about what I am losing. I'll go down a couple pounds and then back up a couple...definitely a zig-zag pattern but the overall trend is down. Since June 30, I have only gone above my calories two days and that was only about 200 calories over and it has taken me that long to lose 12 pounds. I am 5' 5.5" tall and now weight 148. I only have 4 more pounds I want to lose and figure it will take me at least 8 weeks of being totally 'good'....argghhh... My only motivation is that it is a marathon and not a sprint so that I have to be patient. Also, I can't really eat over my calories ever, because if I am only supposed to lose .7 pounds a week, I could lose that weight loss with one bad meal. When I was younger, I could easily lose 2 pounds a week, but had to be 'good' then to get that accomplished. Hang in there...as it isn't going to get easier, that is for sure, but still worth the effort.

bcattoes

Your metabolism naturally slows as you get older. For women, the closer you get to menopause the more it slows and since different women hit menopause at different times this happens at different ages. I'm 50 and have notice over the past couple of years a distinct decline in my metabolism. Keeping the weight off take much more effort than it used to. I have not yet hit menopause so I guess it will get worse. My doc says I'm in "perimenopause" which is medical speak for "this is just the beginning, the real fun is yet to come".

The biggest difference I've noticed is muscle tone. I have to do a lot more strength training now, and I really HATE strength training. :frown:

joycemhall

I've struggled also. I make a point to drink at least 128 oz of water a day but on days I have more sodium, I can almost be guaranteed the scales will show a gain. I had quite a rough time in July & August losing much weight even with sticking to 1200 cal a day but for me, increasing my protein seemed to help get me over the hump and start losing again.

latepaul

Well I didn't even start trying to lose weight until I was 41 so I can't tell you!

I do know that it took me years to get this big and will take a couple of years to get to my ideal weight.

_Ben

Slower metabolism. It sucks, but with proper diet and contiunal exercise, its totally possible to get in shape, but probably not as easy as it was when you were 20

bluebird321

It happened to me when I hit 40 (i'm now 49). I was very physically active, but then I noticed that my weight started creeping up -- no matter how much I was working out. In my case, I believe my body wasn't able to metabolize certain foods (carbs, processed food etc) as well as it used to. I lowered carbs/sugars, increased protein and good fats, especially in the morning and that seems to have made a quite a difference.

upsydaisy2011

I am having a similar hard time, I'm 37 but have noticed that losing weight is getting harder, in my 20's I just needed to cut out junk food and I'd lose 2-3lbs in a week. Now, I'm eating 1200 cals a day (or less), I've gone from doing zero exercise to doing 3 classes a week, circuit training, body pump/body combo and the weight isn't shifting, in fact I've lost a little and now gained. I know I have to keep going but feeling very demotivated at the moment

SueInAz

My doc says I'm in "perimenopause" which is medical speak for "this is just the beginning, the real fun is yet to come".

That's funny!

I'm 45 and I've definitely noticed that's it's become more difficult to lose weight and lot easier to put it on. I'm also not nearly as flexible as I once was (I was a gymnast in my teen years and was heavily into karate in my 20s, both sports which require a lot of flexibility) and I have to stretch out more often to keep myself at what I consider a minimum level of flexibility from day to day. I guess it's just a part of growing older that we have to work much harder to do the things which came so easily when we were younger. I can't wait until I'm in my 60s to see just how much more difficult it can get. :noway:

rustypust

It's nice to hear that I am not alone , thanks for all your comments. I suppose I don't like to accept that I am getting older mind you when it comes to fitness I checked my fat level and it's 24% and I can do 40 minutes on a step machine at level 12 before I do a session with the weights so I am pleased with my fitness level I just need to come to terms with the fact my body is changing.

4cookiesmom

The day I turned 40, my metabolism headed for the hills. I haven't seen it since

Cooriander

Well I am 47 and I almost gave up, then I joined here (and another board) and changed things around a bit and it seems like it has helped, e.g., I got wii/xbox games to make things more fun, and I am doing Zumba to change things up. I am planning to do the new rules of lifting for women next, so I try to do new things to kick my metabolism. I also eat more vitamins (good quality vitamins) and so far I have lost 23 lbs since April (19 here on MFP), I am almost at my goal! (: anyway I am just saying it is possible to lose weight even if your metabolism is slowing down - it goes slower to get it off - but it can come off (now I will just need to keep it off). And I am not in peri-menopause anymore - i am on the other side, sniff, sniff.

stefchica

a few years ago when I dropped about 50 pounds in 6 months, i go tto that point too. what i did *then i was on a low carb diet* since high fat foods wouldnt work too well then, i used to eat EVERYTHING i wasnt supposed too. and i would do that for about a few days a week then diet then do it again. i found that my body, having to work processing those ridiculous amount of carbs and calories i wasnt used to eating helped to metabolize them faster. so when i was off of the crap eating and i was back on my regular routine i would drop weight again. exercise for me wasnt gonna cut it. i have asthma and working to the point of exauhstion just wasnt gonna do it. so the same thing that worked for me, and i did it from time to time when i was maintaining my weight worked, so i'm going to start that again when i'm in this diet mode more. your body gets so used to doing the same thing all the time whether it be through exercise or diet that it just kind of goes througha slump, so you can either give it a kick in the *kitten* by doing more vigorous exercises or you can change your diet to make it work harder. just a suggestion