Adults of MFP: When did your metabolism catch up to you?

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  • ereck44
    ereck44 Posts: 1,170 Member
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    I also read somewhere HGH helps to slow muscle mass loss.
    HGH, Human Growth Hormone, Can have serious side effects/results. It actually increases muscle mass gains by a lot but just like steroids, it comes at a price.

    Some people turn to a substance called human growth hormone (HGH) in hopes that it will keep them feeling and looking youthful. But experts say that hope is unfounded. And worse, these products can be harmful.

    HGH, produced by the pituitary gland, spurs growth in children and adolescents. It also helps to regulate body composition, body fluids, muscle and bone growth, sugar and fat metabolism, and possibly heart function. Produced synthetically, HGH is the active ingredient in a number of prescription drugs and in other products available widely over the Internet.

    HGH Uses and Abuses

    Synthetic human growth hormone was developed in 1985 and approved by the FDA for specific uses in children and adults. In children, HGH injections are approved for treating short stature of unknown cause as well as poor growth due to a number of medical causes, including:

    Turner's syndrome, a genetic disorder that affects a girl's development.
    Prader-Willi syndrome, an uncommon genetic disorder causing poor muscle tone, low levels of sex hormones, and a constant feeling of hunger.
    Chronic kidney insufficiency.
    HGH deficiency or insufficiency.
    Children born small for gestational age.
    In adults, approved uses of HGH include:

    Short bowel syndrome, a condition in which nutrients are not properly absorbed due to severe intestinal disease or the surgical removal of a large portion of the small intestine.
    HGH deficiency due to rare pituitary tumors or their treatment.
    Muscle-wasting disease associated with HIV/AIDS.
    But the most common uses for HGH are not FDA-approved. Some people use the hormone, along with other performance-enhancing drugs such as anabolic steroids, to build muscle and improve athletic performance. Yet HGH's effect on athletic performance is unknown.

    Because the body's HGH levels naturally decrease with age, some so-called antiaging experts have speculated and claimed that HGH products could reverse age-related bodily deterioration. But these claims, too, are unproven. The use of HGH for antiaging is not FDA-approved.

    Nevertheless, some people obtain injectable HGH from doctors who prescribe it for off-label purposes (uses for which it was not approved by the FDA) and through Internet pharmacies, antiaging clinics, and web sites.

    Others purchase HGH products -- or products that claim to increase your body's own production of HGH -- in the form of pills and sprays. Companies that market these products on TV infomercials or online claim they turn back your body's biological clock, reducing fat, building muscle, restoring hair growth and color, strengthening the immune system, normalizing blood sugar, increasing energy and improving sex life, sleep quality, vision, and memory. However, the Federal Trade Commission has seen no reliable evidence to support the claim that these products have the same effects as prescription HGH, which is always given by injection. Taken orally, HGH is digested by the stomach before it can be absorbed into the body.

    HGH Side Effects and Other Hazards

    Possible side effects of HGH use include:

    nerve, muscle, or joint pain
    swelling due to fluid in the body's tissues (edema)
    carpal tunnel syndrome
    numbness and tingling of the skin
    high cholesterol levels
    HGH can also increase the risk of diabetes and contribute to the growth of cancerous tumors.

    Furthermore, if you get the drug illicitly, you may not know what you are really getting. Because of the high cost, HGH drugs have been counterfeited. If you are not getting HGH from your doctor, you may be getting an unapproved product.

    You also should speak with your doctor before considering any form of HGH.
    Thank you for the information!
  • suelegal
    suelegal Posts: 1,282 Member
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    It's a bit of a Myth your Metabolism slowing down as you get older. Yes it does but only around 100 calories every 10 years (so nothing significent in reality) what happens is people just get less active as they get older so less muscle so slower metabolism. So keep active is the key no matter your age

    as a 61 yo woman who has gone through menopause, I can tell you that it's not completely a myth. That said, more exercise and portion control makes a big difference!
  • EvgeniZyntx
    EvgeniZyntx Posts: 24,208 Member
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    It's a bit of a Myth your Metabolism slowing down as you get older. Yes it does but only around 100 calories every 10 years (so nothing significent in reality) what happens is people just get less active as they get older so less muscle so slower metabolism. So keep active is the key no matter your age

    as a 61 yo woman who has gone through menopause, I can tell you that it's not completely a myth. That said, more exercise and portion control makes a big difference!

    The reason people believe that metabolism slows down is due to LBM/muscle loss. However, several studies have clearly demonstrated that at equivalent levels of LBM there is very little difference in metabolism across ages.
  • BeachIron
    BeachIron Posts: 6,490 Member
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    When I started sitting at a desk for living
  • RoadsterGirlie
    RoadsterGirlie Posts: 1,195 Member
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    My age caught up with me when I moved out the house and started living on fast food and junk.

    Three years ago, I adapted a healthier lifestyle, and in the process lost 90 lbs. I now weigh less at 38 than I did in high school.

    Moral of the story is age not an excuse.

    My mother has two friends her age who eat healthy with a diet similar to mine - they both have BMI's of under 17. They are of the baby boomer generation, and are in their 60's. They do not starve, but they also do not keep junk in the house. Their lifestyle is what I hope to maintain at that age.

    I'm not saying everybody needs to have a BMI that low, but my point is age is not a valid excuse.
  • kristen6022
    kristen6022 Posts: 1,926 Member
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    30. I swear I woke up 10 pounds heavier on my 30th birthday. I could eat WHATEVER I wanted in my 20's and not see a difference. If I even look at a cupcake now I can barely get my jeans buttoned...
  • slkehl
    slkehl Posts: 3,801 Member
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    Age 21-I can pinpoint the year. So sad.
  • cstoney2013
    cstoney2013 Posts: 167 Member
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    I would say around 40.... but it might have been a few years earlier...
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
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    I was always warned it would happen, which is why I've reacted promptly to weight gain, thinking 'What if this gets harder with time?'.

    As yet, it hasn't happened. I last lost weight on around 2400kcal a day. I had no idea prior to mfp that I could eat that much, and it helps explain why I was so tired as an undereating teenager.
  • Oishii
    Oishii Posts: 2,675 Member
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    I was always warned it would happen, which is why I've reacted promptly to weight gain, thinking 'What if this gets harder with time?'.

    As yet, it hasn't happened. I last lost weight on around 2400kcal a day. I had no idea prior to mfp that I could eat that much, and it helps explain why I was so tired as an undereating teenager.

    Oh, and I'm 37 now.
  • climbing_trees
    climbing_trees Posts: 726 Member
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    When I was about 12! Pretty unlucky >___<
  • KalieHudson
    KalieHudson Posts: 307 Member
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    The day I was born unfortunately... :(
  • PinkNinjaLaura
    PinkNinjaLaura Posts: 3,202 Member
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    I yo-yo dieted through my 20's and 30's and did my metabolism no favors. In my 40's I finally started seriously working out (strength training, running, etc.) and eating right (and by that I mean just making healthy food choices & using portion control vs. trying every crash diet out there) and about 6 months later my metabolism kicked in. Had to bump up my calorie intake by 200-300 calories a day. Adding my vote to the people who say it's less about age and more about activity.
  • porkster
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    I am also one who believes that an active lifestyle combined with healthy food choices are more of a plus than age is a minus.

    At 16 I had the body to seriously consider a future as an elite sprinter but then I discovered Girls, Alcohol and an Unlimited Supply of KFC, Macca's and Pizza! Fast-Forward 10 years to age 26 and I was sitting on an excavator every day and about 30 or 40 pound overweight.

    A further ten years later, I was working on the high seas on Fishing Boats at maximum possible physical output and had lost that extra weight. Constant physical activity combined with ZERO Processed or Junk Food changed my body so much that a relieving Doctor at my local surgery edited my medical record, saying to me "There was a mistake on your record, they had you down here as 36 years old, but you're 26, right?"

    Since being at my physical peak at around age 40 I began to experience the effects of a lifetime's accumulation of small injuries, conspiring against any plan I had to somehow outdo all those other humans that had deteriorated with age.

    I find the impediment that comes with age is the limitation it imposes through injury or 'wear and tear' on one's ability to exercise.

    Now at 54 I am urgently trying to find somewhere to swim laps, as soft tissue wear and tear prevents me from most activities that I used to enjoy as a means of keeping fit.

    DON'T LET AGE BE THE EXCUSE IT IS FOR MANY, OUTSMART IT.
  • UpEarly
    UpEarly Posts: 2,555 Member
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    I'm 41 and I don't think my metabolism has slowed down yet - at least not significantly. I can still eat 2200-2400 calories a day and maintain my weight of 135 (I'm 5'9").
  • pkw58
    pkw58 Posts: 2,038 Member
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    When I started sitting at a desk for living

    Yep. Me, too. but I also had a fine southern upbringing where cake and fried food were God Given rights.
  • jenilla1
    jenilla1 Posts: 11,118 Member
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    Pretty sure it wasn't my metabolism. I got married and my husband and I took turns cooking every night. There were only two of us but he cooked for 12. :laugh: It's ok now, because once the slow creep up in weight began shortly after, we reevaluated our cooking methods. He now cooks for 2. :drinker:
  • TonyStark30
    TonyStark30 Posts: 497 Member
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    Whether its a myth, a tiny amount, down to lean body mass or activity, there is an age where you start to put on pounds while doing the same thing you were doing just previously, ie what you thought was balanced, wasn't. It doesn't matter why, the OP just wants to know when it happened to YOU.

    If you ran did weights calorie counted took supplements and slept in an oxygen tank they don't mean you as you did something about it to keep balanced.

    anyway 26.
  • lithezebra
    lithezebra Posts: 3,670 Member
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    I was at my highest body weight in my teens. If my metabolism has diminished, it has been more than offset by my better eating habits and better handling of stress.
  • mmapags
    mmapags Posts: 8,934 Member
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    It's a bit of a Myth your Metabolism slowing down as you get older. Yes it does but only around 100 calories every 10 years (so nothing significent in reality) what happens is people just get less active as they get older so less muscle so slower metabolism. So keep active is the key no matter your age

    as a 61 yo woman who has gone through menopause, I can tell you that it's not completely a myth. That said, more exercise and portion control makes a big difference!

    The reason people believe that metabolism slows down is due to LBM/muscle loss. However, several studies have clearly demonstrated that at equivalent levels of LBM there is very little difference in metabolism across ages.

    Agreed! My 54 year old wife, who has also gone through menopause, maintains her 120 goal weight at 5'5" while eating a healthy diet and does 2 strength training sessions per week. No issues with metabolism slowing down. I am a 62 year old man who also utilizes strength training as part of my fitness program and am as active and have as good a metabolism as ever. The impact of sarcopenia (loss of lean muscle mass) is a major factor is what is perceived as metabolism slowdown.