Is your waistband feeling a tad more snug than it did last year? Let’s not sugarcoat it, our busy lives make it easy to put our health on the backburner. And it’s also a fact that with each decade, from our 30s onwards, our bodies become more resistant to change, making it that bit harder to lose weight.
Carrying a couple of extra kilos isn’t a big deal. But, if you’re worried about a creeping increase in your weight, or you’re struggling to keep your weight within a range that’s normal for you, it helps to examine some of the lifestyle factors that may be holding you back.
Each decade in life has its own unique challenges with metabolism. From your 30s to your 60s and beyond, here’s your guide to keeping excess kilos from adding up.
In your 30s: the big slow down
From unexplainable aches to random grey hairs, your 30s can make you feel as if your body is turning into your mum’s. Add to that a certain puffiness that doesn’t seem to go away like it used to, even if you go easy on the cheddar cheese for a bit. The major reason weight gets stickier in your 30s? Your metabolism becomes less efficient every year.
“As you get older, your muscle mass decreases, which works to slow down your metabolism,” says general surgeon Dr Karen E. Gibbs. “If you have less muscle, you’re burning fewer kilojoules.”
New mums have it especially hard: beyond getting less sleep or having their sleep interrupted, they’re dealing with a metabolism that holds on to baby weight long after their babies have made their debut. During pregnancy, the body requires more kilojoules, and metabolism increases as a result, says physician Dr Nicholas Azinge.
It goes back to normal after delivery and breastfeeding, which can make it difficult for mums to shed the ‘baby weight’ (as if they don’t have enough to worry about). Getting back into the jeans you wore in your teens shouldn’t be your goal, but making an effort to live more healthfully can boost your overall wellbeing, and it can give you more energy and motivation to power through each day.
Your action plan
1. Balance your plate
Focus on eating a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables at each meal, including dairy (think milk for calcium and Greek yoghurt for gut health), and lean into wholegrains, such as oats (muesli or porridge for breakfast, wholegrain bread and brown rice at lunch or dinner).
As tempting as big-promise diets are, “excluding whole food groups makes it more difficult to have a balanced diet and get in all the nutrients vital for good health as you age,” says dietitian Sara Wing.
The only eating changes that can lead to sustainable weight loss are ones you can live with over time, she adds, so crash diets are useless for healthy long-term weight management.
2. Use your time wisely
Busy people juggling kids and a career need their whole family on board. Figure out healthy meals that work for everyone to eat together, says psychologist Elise Museles. That way, you won’t have to make separate child-friendly meals. And if you model healthy-eating behaviours, that can inspire your children to eat better. On really crazy workdays, plan time for eating nutritious meals just as you would schedule an important meeting, Museles says.
While you’re at it, set aside time to do some simple meal prep, so you can toss together healthy dishes quickly. Keep speedy options, like frozen veg, fish and chicken fillets, in the freezer, along with microwave rice in the pantry, for simple healthy meals when you’re in a hurry.
3. Consider support
If eating well is hard to pull off alone, that’s okay – some things require a little guidance. Check in with a dietitian (visit Dietitians Australia to find your nearest one) to figure out which healthy habits you’ve got down and which could use improvement. They can assess your relationship with food and pinpoint why you eat the way you do so you can address issues and kick any bad habits, Museles says.
Were sweets and big portions a part of your childhood that now remind you of happy times? Is bingeing the way you de-stress and cope with negative emotions? Or do you need to learn to cook healthy meals that taste good? The answers to these will help you get on the right track.
In your 40s: a hormonal roller coaster
Although you’re in midlife, you might have haywire hormones reminiscent of your teenage years. It’s normal for women at this age to experience fluctuations and a decrease in oestrogen, which, unfortunately, encourages extra kilos to be deposited around the belly.
This starts earlier than you might think: oestrogen levels begin to go up and down rapidly during perimenopause – the time before menopause, usually when a woman is in her 40s.
A recent study in Exercise and Sport Sciences Review found that low oestrogen was associated with weight gain and metabolic dysfunction, which can put you at risk of conditions like type 2 diabetes and heart disease.
Midlife women, on average, gain half a kilo a year and a total of 2.3 kilos during the menopausal transition, reports the Australasian Menopause Society.
Your thyroid might also throw a wrench into your weight-loss plans right about now. Underactive thyroid hormones tend to develop after 40, and affects about 6-10% of Australian women. When this butterfly-shaped gland becomes underactive, it slows metabolism and you burn less energy. Fortunately, medication can restore your thyroid function and metabolism to normal.
Your action plan
1. Have your hormones checked out
Ask your GP to test your hormone levels to make sure imbalances aren’t sabotaging your weight-loss efforts. They may also suggest other tactics, like managing stress and limiting processed and high-sugar foods, to help rebalance hormones.
2. Avoid extremes
You likely didn’t gain the weight in a few weeks, so don’t make drastic changes in an attempt to lose it all that quickly. Consider committing to a form of exercise you like (even a walk at lunchtime) and do it three times a week.
Another often overlooked helper is to increase your intake of water every day. Water helps take up space in your stomach, and we can often confuse thirst with hunger signals. Even if you don’t see the number on the scale move right away, remind yourself that you’re doing this for better health in the long run. Once you hit a goal, you can set your sights higher.
3. Slow down at meals
Many of us eat too fast and barely taste our food. “A slower approach at mealtime allows you to listen to internal cues of feeling satisfied and may result in consuming fewer kilojoules,” says Wing. Research also shows that eating without distractions can help you ingest less.
Whether you’re having a wedding feast or a small snack, set your phone on ‘Do not disturb’, stow it out of view and sit, don’t stand. Wing also suggests putting your fork down and taking sips of water between bites. Pay attention to the smells, tastes and textures of every mouthful. Focusing your attention and building some natural pauses into your meal might even help combat anxiety.
“When you’re stressed, you’re not going to digest your food as well and absorb all the nutrients,” Museles says. “Your stress response takes your metabolism offline.” She adds that taking a few deep breaths before a meal can calm your nerves and relax your body, putting you in an ideal state to digest and take in nutrients from your food.
In your 50s: chronic conditions vs weight loss
This is when long-term physical issues pop up seemingly out of nowhere – indeed, 68% of women aged 55 and older have at least one, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Many chronic conditions, such as diabetes, can interfere with weight loss directly.
Others, such as high blood pressure, are often treated with medications that can lead to weight gain. Adopting healthier habits, including better eating and regular physical activity, can lower your risk of developing a chronic condition, help you manage an existing one and promote weight loss.
Your action plan
1. See your doctor
If you have a chronic condition, ask your doctor whether it might hinder your weight-loss efforts, directly or indirectly, and find out what you can do to counteract any potential problems. See if any of your current supplements or medications might be holding back your weight loss, and perhaps consider switching medications. Aso discuss modifying your lifestyle behaviours, such as a poor diet, and what you can do to ensure your health doesn’t go off the rails.
2. Find a new exercise you enjoy
When you become accustomed to an exercise routine, it’s time to mix things up. “There are many proven benefits to trying new routines,” says physiotherapist Dr Kevin Robinson. “Along with fighting exercise boredom, it can build new muscle, prevent overuse injuries and boost your chances of weight loss.”
Consider swimming, aquarobics, Zumba or hiking with friends. Doing any kind of activity with others encourages you to show up and is more likely to make it become a habit.
In your 60s and beyond: everything adds up
Lifelong bad habits can catch up with you now. For instance, decades of yo-yo dieting can culminate in metabolic damage that makes it hard to drop kilos. And exercise can become painful as arthritis (diagnosed in 58% of women 65 and older) kicks in. Plus, it takes longer to fall asleep as people reach 60, which can undermine weight-loss efforts, and being overweight can also affect sleep.
Your action plan
1. Do joint-friendly moves
“I recommend low-impact strength-training exercises to maintain and build muscle mass and improve joint stability,” Dr Robinson says.
Strength exercises also help with bone density so you can avoid osteoporosis, he says. “Water aerobics is ideal for those living with arthritis and other forms of joint pain,” adds fitness trainer DeBlair Tate.
2. Don’t shrug off sleep
Between night sweats and intermittent random awakenings, postmenopausal women are at a disadvantage. If you experience sleep disruptions, reach out to a specialist for suggestions. And try to keep to a regular sleep schedule in which you avoid large meals, alcohol and electronic screens for two to three hours before going to bed.
3. Thank your body
It doesn’t look and work the way it did in your 20s, but it’s not supposed to. Over the years, your body has let you do many things you love: perhaps it’s dancing, cycling or playing with the grandkids. Use that as motivation to stay active and nourish yourself with healthy foods. Even if you don’t see the number you used to see on the scale, you can be proud of what you’re doing for your body.
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