Weight Control - when the right things stop working

Warning: There are no quick fixes here - there are no quick fixes anywhere - prepare for some bitter reality.

A majority of people gain weight as they age. Men and Women, fit and unfit. People who have been engaging in unhealthy behaviors most of their lives will have a BETTER response to changing that behavior now than the fit person will have in addressing their sudden metamorphosis. Think about it this way. If you already moderate your calories and exercise most days of the week with vigorous activity on a good many of those days, AND you weight train - what is left? Your body is in fine shape - or it was -

What if you haven't changed a thing, but your body changes anyway?

You are the people I am talking to today. The rest of you, if you have struggled all your lives and continue to struggle with achieving and maintaining a healthy weight there are many blog posts to read in my archives and plenty of assistance through the Cooper Institute and others, for losing those pounds once and for all - you best get on that.

Instead I am writing to the people who don't know what has happened because nothing happened. Many of my friends and some coworkers have asked me about this middle aged weight gain and as I am in my forties, I expect it will happen to me as well.

No matter what "we" do it seems, biological changes will occur. This in NO WAY means that you have no options for avoiding the weight gain or weight redistribution, but you will have to make some sacrifices and approach this as if you are again the person who has weight to lose. In fact, some weight or obesity control experts suggest that we get ahead of the changes, especially women confronting menopause. (Men are not immune. A study published in 1997 saw the same thing happen in middle aged men who were and continued to be runners!)

There are some theories and some science behind why this occurs for both sexes. These include fluctuating hormone levels, but also the very nature of shifting priorities and demands as we get into this busy period of adulthood. Some people ease out of their routines without conscious thought. They become less physically active, less likely to strength train and more likely to let the pressures and stresses of life derail them from a routine. (jobs, children, parents, etc)

So that is the first thing to ask yourself. When you tell me that you are doing the same things you always did but your clothes are getting tighter - the first thing to explore is if that is really true. It may be, but if not, well that is an easy fix isn't it!

Second - there may be a subtle shift in metabolism and there are two things that must be done to address that - maybe three things - and they are all difficult. I will list them in order of importance; eat less calories, build more muscle, burn more calories, exercise more and/or more vigorously. You need less calories and I know that no one wants to hear it, especially if you are already eating 1500 or 1600 hundred a day, but the science says you may need 100 less. And that is if you continue to do your weight training and do it in new ways (muscles MUST be challenged in order to build (strengthen) and thus, burn more calories). Physical Activity has to be dynamic as well. Either increase the days that you do cardio - walk, jog, cycle, swim or increase the intensity with which you do them and/or do a totally new activity (but be careful with that). If you do not do all parts, then you will need to decrease your calories even more. But do see that I said eat less calories and did not say eat less food. (don't forget that Volumetrics is your friend!)

Sometimes that 100-200 calorie deficit is easy. If you drink a sugared soda each day - stop. If you have two glasses of wine, drink one. Wasn't that easy! If you cook with olive oil, stop. Instead add a teaspoon to your simmer fried food.

Of course there is more. The suggestions for weight loss and maintenance that have been supported by the National Weight Loss Registry have become salient to me, but maybe everyone doesn't know them. In addition to what I have already said, people who maintain healthy weights for a life time DO know the general amount of calories they consume a day(most people significantly underestimate their consumption and just as significantly overestimate their expenditure or burn). Successful persons also keep food and exercise diaries or journals. I do not do anything so elaborate but am notorious for not eating any food that I do not know the approximate caloric value. Success also includes eating out rarely, or ordering your food in a healthy fashion.

If you want to keep a lean, fit , toned figure and in so doing reduce your chances of heart disease, diabetes, cancer and arthritis these are the things that you would need to do. It is absolutely possible, it is absolutely challenging, it is absolutely rewarding.

You do have another option though. Acceptance.

If you want change you can have it - through work. If you want change and you think you can find it in a bottle, box , or pill - you will have a smaller bank account but not smaller hips.