Weight gain after 40 can make life more difficult than it needs to be. For many, losing weight after the age of 40 tends to be more difficult than they remember. As you age, the body experiences changes that make it more difficult to drop the extra pounds, but easy to pack them on. Why you ask? It’s all in the hormones.

You wake up one day and realize you need to lose some inches around the waist. Furthermore, you’re trying to figure out where all of this extra weight suddenly came from. You try to diet and exercise as you used to in your younger years, but you can’t seem to find the energy or motivation to get started. What’s going on?

What The Body Does After 40

The body goes through a few changes when it crosses the 40-year-old thresh hold. Unfortunately, these changes creep up on many of us without us even knowing it. Warnings and indicators show themselves when you begin experiencing different feelings your body didn’t before. You may notice clothing fitting tighter around your waist. Fatigue and low stamina start to affect you. Your strength feels like it’s fading.

Weight gain, fatigue, and muscle loss all work together to make life more difficult. When you lose muscle, You cannot burn fat quickly. When you cannot burn fat, you gain more weight – usually around the stomach area. When you gain weight, you lose energy and stamina. It seems like a lost cause if it gets away from you. But the more we know about our bodies changes, the easier it is to fight back.

Weight Gain After 40: Why?

The changes that our bodies go through after age 40 can be different for everyone. Some experiences are due to family history. Some changes happen because of choices made in life. Some even experience changes due to trauma. Overall, there are four main reasons the majority of people over 40 experience weight gain.

A Family Thing: In recent years, studies have found genes that tell us how many fat cells we have and where they are stored the most on the body. Many of us who have a family history of obesity or weight gain will likely suffer from it just as our relatives do. You can usually spot where fat cells accumulate more on your family members. If not treated properly, it can lead to several health issues, including high blood pressure, stroke, and heart attack.

Hormones: Our hormones are not the first thing we think of when experiencing weight gain. In fact, many of us have o clue what our hormones really to for us. Estrogen for women, and testosterone for men, are the controllers of our mid-40s weight gain. The less we produce these hormones, the harder it is to fight back the accumulating belly fat. From your mid-30s into our 40s, estrogen and testosterone prevent fat from shifting to your mid-section from other parts of the body. Have you noticed your stomach and waist getting bigger while other parts of you seem to be smaller? That’s due to the shift in body fat.

Loss of Muscle Mass: The one thing that keeps the body from burning fat as we get older is the loss of muscle. That is our secret weapon against weight loss. The more muscle mass you have, the easier it is to burn body fat. The one thing that naturally helps us keep and restore muscle mass is a good work out. However, if you are losing muscle mass due to a low hormone count, you may have to restore your energy before tackling a workout. Otherwise, you may not have the fuel in the tank to get started. As each decade passes after the age of 40, muscle mass will continue to decline and weight will become more and more of an issue.

Low Metabolism: When you hit the 40-year mark, things like your metabolism begin to decline. In fact, your metabolism will decrease by at least 5% each decade after the age of 40. Our metabolism helps turn food into energy for the body. But as we age up, there are several reasons why exercise becomes less of a priority. Everyday work routine, family responsibilities, and restricted time are perfect examples. The less movement and physical activity you have, the less fat you will burn. Couple that with losing muscle mass, and you have the perfect recipe for weight gain over 40.

How Can I Prevent Weight Gain After 40?

To be honest, there is no magic pill that will whip you back into instant shape or remove that extra weight overnight. But there are steps you can take to win your weight loss battle. Exercise helps the body stay healthy and functional. Without it, break-downs and malfunctions in the body continue to arise.

Losing weight after 40 takes extra dedication. It may be hard, but it isn’t impossible. Exercise alone will not solve your weight gain issue. Understanding where the weight gain issue comes from is where you start. If your metabolism is low, you need to speed up your system. Choosing workouts that burn more calories and increase muscle mass helps get your metabolism firing at the right levels.

A good idea to help you before you even start your workout is hormone therapy. HCG is a hormone naturally produced by pregnant women. Taking the hormone has been known to help reduce calorie intake to about 500 calories a day. The fewer calories you take in, the less fat your body can store. Taking the hormone by pill or injection is the most common way.

Conclusion

Life after 40 does not have to be a stressful or unhealthy time in your life. Though body maintenance becomes more difficult as we age, it is not impossible to keep up with it. As the body ages, natural changes occur that we have no control over. Weight gain is something that comes with it. But with the right mindset and action were taken, weight gain after 40 does not have to be a life-altering dilemma. Giving your body the respect it deserves in this phase of your life is crucial. We may not have control over the changes the body goes through, but we can certainly influence them so we can live better lives after 40.

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