i'm over 40. is it impossible?

Thank you so much for such an informative post! I am 43 and STRUGGLING to lose weight. I will certainly take some of your advice!!

I cannot believe how hard weight loss has become since I hit my 40s. I remember people telling me when I was younger "wait till you're 40" They were right. I feel like in order to lose weight nowadays, I can't eat ANYTHING and I have to work out like a maniac. It's so depressing. I don't want to live like that for the rest of my life but I sure don't want to be a fatty either!

Anyone else out there experiencing this sucky realization? Any advice?

Hey, I'm 65 and I've lost over 50 pounds in the last three years. There's no doubt about the fact that it is harder past 45 or so, especially for women. One of the reasons is that because ovulation stops somewhere between 35 and 40, progesterone production more or less stops. That means that estrogen, which continues longer (and is also put out by fat cells) runs unopposed. Estrogen is a "fat hording" hormone because it makes thyroid hormone less effective at a cellular level. Progesterone provides the balance because it makes thyroid more effective at the cellular level. That is why many, many women experience weight gain (not all, for sure) while on the birth control pill (don't believe the pharmaceutical companies on this one--women know their own bodies). Because the birth control pill stops ovulation, it stops a woman's own natural progesterone supply that peaks at ovulation each month. Even though they use synthetic progestins in the pill, there is a lot of evidence that synthetic progestins do not supply the same benefits as natural progesterone.

Anyway, back to the "aging female and weight loss". There are ways to combat the problem but it requires a bit of knowledge. One mistake that older women make is that they do cardio-cardio-cardio, thinking that will make their bodies burn more fat. What actually happens in the older woman's body is that, since cardio is "catabolistic" (i.e. it breaks down tissue, and even though what we hope is that it will break down fat, under the influence of estrogen, what gets broken down is muscle :sad:) To counter this effect, weight training must be employed. Because, extra muscle actually supplies a bit of testosterone to a woman's system, this testosterone strongly opposes the estrogen in her body and the lean body mass that she builds, will burn way more calories in a 24-7 pattern than she could possibly burn in 6 hours of cardio a week. Some exercise physiologists feel that older women should limit their cardio to about two hours per week and up their weight training to at least an hour per week for much better results. Many women also feel that they have been helped a great deal by employing a small amount of bio-identical progesterone supplementation in a pattern that mimics a woman's natural progesterone pattern. A woman who is having sexual dysfunction as well, may be helped by the introduction of a tiny amount of testosterone in addition to the progesterone. Very few docs are up to speed on this but a number of endocrinologists know about it. They are also aware of the additional problem of xenoestrogens in the environment. There are a number of pollutants that we take in (in tiny amounts, mind you) from our water, food and air, which are strongly "estrogenic" in the body. It is thought to be the reason for declining sperm rates in men and early pubescence for girls, and may be responsible for a number of hormonal effects that affect fertility in women as well.

In my 40's and have lost a few pounds.....

In my 40's and have lost a few pounds.....