Staying Fit After 40… It Can Be Done!
It’s a common question, one I get often from visitors to UltimateFatBurner.com…
I’m over 40, and I’m trying to lose some weight and get in shape. However, I just find it SO hard. What am I doing wrong? It used to be so easy to lose weight before, but now I find it almost impossible. What do I need to do?
Well, let me assure you about one thing… it usually is harder to lose weight when you are over 40. There are numerous reasons for this — for instance, your metabolism is a lot slower than it was 20 years ago. This isn’t necessarily because you are older, but because of the lifestyle you may have adopted over the years. For example, if you are a “typical North American” as you migrated from high school to college/university to work to marriage and family, it’s very likely you became less and less active. After all, the demands on your time did nothing but increase. Leisure activities, outdoor activities, ACTIVE activities were severely (if not completely) curtailed.
As a result, greater amounts of time were spent performing sedentary activities, which, without a corresponding reduction in caloric requirements, leads to weight gain. It also leads to a loss of muscle mass. This is important, since muscle is metabolically active tissue — i.e., it burns calories even at rest (fat requires almost no calories to sustain itself). For every ounce of muscle you lose, your body requires fewer and fewer calories to sustain itself (that’s why every successful “smart” weight loss program today includes some manner of resistance training).
Of course, there are other reasons as well — the demands on your time are still overwhelming — from kids, colleagues, spouse, aging parents, your job… the list goes on and on. Let’s face it… when you get home at night, you’re tired, and you do not want to exercise or deprive yourself of small joys — like a nice meal.
So yes, it is hard. There is good news though…
First, as you get started, you will feel better than you have in ages. Invigorated, life will acquire a new “shine.”
Two, there’s a great publication that addresses the issue of “getting fit after 40.” It’s by Jon Benson and Tom Venuto. It covers all the issues you can expect, and then some. And it does it well. Very well indeed.
Instead of going into great detail here, I’ll link to the review I wrote a little while ago. It’s a great publication, and I highly recommend it…
