Lower weight to look the same?

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overeater1
overeater1 Posts: 38 Member
in Motivation and Support
I’m wondering do you need to drop to a lower weight as you get older, to look the same as you did when a few years younger? I’m 5 foot 8.5, 39 year old female and my goal weight is 140lbs: right in the middle of my BMI. I’m 5 pounds off my goal at the moment but I don’t look like I normally do at this weight: I’ve a very protruding belly that’s like a ring around my middle. I’m just wondering if age has something to do with this: like do I need to go lower than my previous goal weight to look like I did before. It’s not loose skin, just a fat ring! I’ve never had kids if that makes a difference.

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  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,613 Member
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    You probably need to do some resistance training. We naturally lose muscle as we age if we don't work hard to keep it. What you're noticing is probably due to a change in body fat vs muscle %. Start a progressive lifting routine in order to reverse the process.
  • overeater1
    overeater1 Posts: 38 Member
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    That makes sense I guess: darn ageing! I’ll have to dust off the dumbbells, though I loath weights. Just to clarify, if I tried going to 135 I’d still have the ring around my middle?
  • DancingMoosie
    DancingMoosie Posts: 8,613 Member
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    If you build muscle and lose fat, you can reduce the ring without losing weight.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 32,066 Member
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    overeater1 wrote: »
    That makes sense I guess: darn ageing! I’ll have to dust off the dumbbells, though I loath weights. Just to clarify, if I tried going to 135 I’d still have the ring around my middle?

    How could any of us possibly know that answer to that? We've never even seen you.

    For sure, do something to maintain your muscle mass: That would be my advice. It will help your quality of life as you age, help keep your bones stronger (broken hips bring on earlier mortality in women; you don't want osteoporosis), and strength makes daily life easier. So many benefits! Oh, yeah, and you'll look better.

    39 is hardly over the hill. (I'm 65.) I don't like weights much either, but there are other ways to challenge your current strength if you "loath" them (bodyweight exercises, for one).

    Take a look at your posture, too: Many of us these days get a slump-y posture (kyphotic posture technically) from computer/screen use and such; that tends to make the abdominal area protrude. Women who try to look like they have a bigger booty by slightly arching lower back also emphasize the belly area (lordotic posture, technically, or anterior pelvic tilt). Good posture can help, reduces the protruding of any belly fat that may be there.

    There's no need to be thinner as you age, or fatter as you age (some people claim the latter). Age is a red herring. What's true is that if you do nothing (at any age) to retain and increase muscle mass, you'll lose some over time. As a result, you'll have a higher body fat percentage at any given weight than if you have relatively more muscle mass, and there's good odds that that will result in a less attractive - certainly less fit - appearance. It's a choice, that's all.
  • elisa123gal
    elisa123gal Posts: 4,287 Member
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    Well? The only thing I can say is: you may be aging and your body is changing. Or, you're over analyzing yourself.

    The bottom line is .. your body, skin, mind, ability .. changes drastically as you age. Welcome to life. It is how you manage it that matters; big time.

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