Mastering your metabolism by the decade
As you get older there is a steady, gradual drop in your basal metabolic rate (BMR). This drops by two per cent for every decade of your life. Therefore, over the years you may need to change what you do to stay fit slim and toned.
In your early twenties you naturally have more lean muscle and less fat, so your metabolic rate will be high. Staying in shape is also likely to be easier as the chances are you have more time to get active and to spend on yourself. Bear in mind though that by your mid-twenties, if you’re not exercising regularly – concentrated exercise, such as power walking, cycling or aerobics, say three times a week – muscle mass gradually starts to decline, slowing your metabolic rate and increasing your fat stores. It’s also crucial to make sure you eat breakfast because if you don’t, you slow down your metabolism and send the body into “hoard mode,” thinking it’s starving because you’re going a long period of time frequently 8 to 10 hours or more, without food.
The thirties, like the forties, can be a busy decade for most women jugging career and family life but extra weight tends to head for the hips on women and most of us try to work it off with running or aerobic exercise but what we really need is to do more toning – not only because toning helps you to control your shape, but crucially because toning also helps to protect against osteoporosis.
Dinner should be your lightest meal, and some experts recommend you don’t anything after 8 p.m., or any later than 3 to 4 hours before bedtime. This helps your body process and burn the food when you’re awake and moving around and burning more calories per hour. It’s also not a good idea to drop your calorie intake below 1,000 calories a day during this decade (or any decade) because this will signal to your body that you are in starvation mode, and will slow down your metabolism.
During your forties your BMR starts to slow down as hormone fluctuations occur and weight starts to settle around the stomach and waist. It is absolutely crucial during these years to do toning weight resistance exercises two to three times a week to build up your metabolism boosting muscle and to help prevent osteoporosis. Also instead of three to five aerobic sessions every week you need to do at least 30- 40 minutes of aerobic exercise a day to keep your metabolism boosted.
Smaller, more frequent meals and snacks keeps your blood sugar stable and provides a steady source of energy to fuel metabolism so don’t go for more than three hours without eating. You’ve heard it before, but drink those 8 glasses of water every day. The energy burning process of metabolism needs water to work effectively.
The average age for the onset of the menopause is 51. During the menopause the body produces less oestrogen, which can cause the rapid loss of bone density. For some women, the hormonal changes can trigger weight gain. Given that the metabolic rate continues to slow with age unless it’s speeded up by regular exercise and weight training exercises to build metabolism boosting muscle, menopause weight gain can be difficult to lose. Make sure you get some good quality muscle building protein with every meal you eat, such as eggs, fish, pulses, nuts, seeds and especially hormone balancing soya.
During the sixties and beyond, weight generally stabilises but this is the time when you need to keep a very close eye on your cholesterol levels to protect the health of your heart. Once again aerobic exercise is vital because it helps to lower high cholesterol and eating a diet naturally high in fibre, not adding bran, is also sound advice.