Mid 50s here. One of the biggest factors for me has been how long it takes to recover from the wear and tear of being active. In my 20s I could be sore in the afternoon from exercise in the morning but be fine by evening. Now 48 hrs is typical. At my age I’m only focusing on maintenance and injury prevention.
For anyone in the US, you can ask your primary care doctor for a referral to a Registered Dietician if you are having issues with excess body weight, limited muscle gain, or other diet related health concerns.
Body weight really is all about calories in vs calories out regardless of age. Eating bulky vegetables is often recommended because they are filling without being calorie dense (as well as the vitamins). Low intensity activity (standing, walking, gardening) is associated with the largest decreases in body weight because it does use some calories but doesn’t increase appetite as much as high intensity exercise. Although some exercise is still good to keep up muscle mass and heart health. Yes, as you age it can be more difficult to create/maintain muscle mass as your biology changes, but there are always health benefits to eating healthy and staying active.
I really like the Nutrition Source for science-based nutrition information in case anyone is interested!
Contrary to popular belief, your metabolism does not really slow down as you age.. From the time that you are 20ish to around 65ish, there is no inate change in how your body uses energy.
People use “metabolism” as some magic word, but it’s literally just how many calories you burn by moving around a doing stuff and keeping your body temperature constant. Your metabolism slowing down would just mean that you are doing less stuff.
Some people don’t like that information because they like to think that getting out of shape is due to factors outside of their control (and it definitely is for some people due to all sorts of life circumstances), and the fact that it is in your control makes them see it as a moral failing.
I see it more optimistically: when you age, you aren’t fighting the tide. You do have control over your body composition. It gets inherently a little harder once you get up to your mid sixties, but even then, the difference is not as large as you’d expect.
Metabolism may not change on average, but that doesn’t mean it can’t change or differ wildly between people.
Look, I know some people who obsess over their calories, eat perfectly, and exercise constantly, and they still barely hit their “goal” weight/fitness. And I know other same-age people who do no exercise and eat fast food for almost every meal who are still skinny.
Maybe age isn’t necessarily the reason, but we can’t pretend it isn’t easier for some people to lose/maintain weight than others. There ARE differences in metabolism.
Calories in vs calories out is true at any age.
In the 30s, life is starting to stack up. Career, kids, etc. These things easily dominate your schedule and can keep you from eating well, or hitting the gym or sleeping as much as is needed.
Also, years of beer can catch up to you and there’s so many calories in that.
Also get your blood work checked. If your hormones aren’t where they need to be, it may be harder to build and maintain muscle. Muscle burns more calories at rest than anything else so slipping muscle quantity can result in a snowball effect of weight gain and unhealthiness.
Beer.
Oh theres so many reasons. The highlights?
Theres a strong probability that you are time poor, this kicks your ass in two ways. You get a lot less incidental movement. You drive more and walk less, order things to be delivered instead of going and getting them. Secondly sacrificing sleep which leads to…
Testosterone dropping, not only does your testosterone start to fall in your 30s, low sleep has a terrible impact on T production. Which means a whole bunch of lovely side effects including lower lean muscle mass, depression and fatigue. Oh also being overweight also fucks your T levels…
Lets throw in the fact that most of us have indoor jobs that are very sedentary, which ruins your vitamin D levels. Which leads to fatigue, depression, poor sleep (theres that sleep again) and a bunch of other shit.
The thing is its actually not that hard to stay in shape. Its about a sustained conscious effort and finding things you like that work FOR YOU. Theres no secret diet or workout plan. Calculate your Macros and eat accordingly, find an exercise you LIKE doing and do it often. Dont have a vision board or a body goal, learn to love the process and its the easiest thing you can ever do.
