There is no good excuse to gain weight after 40
My first step to getting fit in my 40’s is understanding why I am gaining weight in the first place. I always assumed that I was destined to be plagued by the “middle age spread,” just like my mother and her sisters. The good “go spread it on the mountain” news is that we do not have to settle into our mother’s bodies!
There are two major factors that play into why we struggle with weight after 40. First is your BMR (Basal metabolic rate) and second is your activity intensity level. Your BMR is scary. It is the calories you burn just by being alive. ( I get a mere 1,300 per day) Each day, your body will burn a certain amount of calories by; beating your heart, breathing, blinking, etc. If I live a sedetary life, then I get to add about 250 more calories to that daily total. I have approximately 1,550 calories in food that I can eat just to maintain my weight because that is all the calories that I burn during one day. Scary, very scary when you consider dinner and a glass of wine can easily add up to 800 or 900 calories. See how easy it is to gain weight?
The good news is, we can change this if we have the desire to lead a more healthier life. After 40 years of age, most people simply slow down. We move less and eat more.
Our lives are not as hectic as they once were and we are at a new stage in life where things start to get a little easier. Our calorie intake is going up (or staying the same) and we are burning less off. Now it is much easier for me to see why the after 40 weight gain is so easy for women.
We need to change our lifestyles from sedetary to active, reduce our caloric numbers and; we need to change them in a big way. Lets get started!
