|
|
| |
|
|
| |
Fighting Mid-Life Weight Gain
An interview with Pamela Peeke, MD
By Kathleen Doheny
WebMD Feature
First, you notice shopping for clothes isn't as fun
or simple as it used to be. Next comes the "muffin
top" spilling over the jeans. Then the scale
delivers dire news: You're 10, 15, maybe 20 pounds
beyond your "normal" weight.
Midlife weight gain is common. Many people gain a
pound or so every year as they make their way
through young adulthood, ending up fat and flabby at
age 40 and beyond.
But
it is not inevitable, says Pamela Peeke, MD, MPH,
the author of the best-seller Fight FatAfter Forty.
Peeke also serves as the chief medical correspondent
for Discovery Health TV and often appears as a
medical commentator on television news and talk
shows.
Why do so many people gain weight in
midlife?
Blame it on hormones in convergence with poor
lifestyle choices, overeating, not exercising
enough, and stress.
But
hormones only account for about 2 to 5 pounds. The
rest is the result of overeating, poor lifestyle
choices -- such as not exercising enough -- and
stress.
How can I not be one of those people
who gains?
The
keys are three: mind, mouth, muscle.
Use
your mind to control stress. If you walk around and
everything is stressful, you have a problem. You may
respond to stress by making poorer lifestyle
choices, such as not eating healthfully and not
exercising enough.
Look
at your nutrition -- in terms of quality, quantity,
and frequency of eating. You should eat often.
Quality is all about eating whole foods, fruits, and
vegetables, whole grains, lean protein.
Processed foods are bad. Anything that comes in a
family-size bag, turn in the opposite direction and
run.
Quantity is where a lot of people fall. The majority
are baffled by what a serving size should look like.
When eating out, and in doubt, eat half of it or
less.
Be
accountable for calories. You need a general idea of
how many calories you need. An average woman, not an
athlete, in her 40s or 50s, needs about 1,500 to
1,600 calories a day, on average, if she is
exercising. A middle-aged man, average height and
not an athlete but exercising, needs about 1,800 to
2,000.
Muscle, of course, refers to the need to exercise
and, of course, to weight train.
Should my goal weight increase when I
hit midlife?
A
better goal than focusing on scale weight is to keep
track of body fat. The goals should be to decrease
body fat and optimize bone strength.
For
a man, a body fat percentage of 18% to 25% is not
bad for 40-plus. For women 40-plus, 22% to 27% is
not bad.
To
get that body fat percentage, you need to have
excellent fitness to maintain a good muscle base.
Also, a man should have a waist circumference below
40 inches and a woman below 35 inches.
I'm
40-plus, eating right, and exercising but not losing
weight. Why do I have midlife weight gain?
If
you have tailored your portion sizes to ones that
are appropriate, look at the frequency of your
eating. Eat every three or four hours. But not too
late at night. The later you eat, the lighter you
eat is a good rule.
Eat a balance of lean protein, fats,
and carbs.
Make
the fat good fat, not palm oil or hydrogenated oil,
but high-quality good fats [such as those in nuts].
The protein should be lean -- a turkey burger or a
veggie burger.
Most
people have been doing the same exercise routine for
years, and your body acclimates. Fat cells at 40 are
reticent to give it up. Mix up the exercise routine.
Exercise at least five times a week, and I mean
cardio.
Add
intensity. Add some level of weight training, and
challenge yourself with the weights. [Getting
professional instruction is advised if you're a
novice.] Weight train two or three times a week.
Building muscle gives you that metabolic edge, since
muscle mass burns more calories than fat.
Does
HRT cause midlife weight gain, is that the culprit?
You
can't blame the low doses of HRT in use today for
midlife weight gain, at least not for any more than
a few pounds. You do get a little more bloated on
it, but it does not cause body fat accumulation.
Overeating, not exercising, and stress do.
What's up with this belly? I never
ever had one before.
I
call it the menopot. On a man, it's the manopot.
Excess body fat occurring in the lower abdomen is
associated with aging, after 40. This excess body
fat in the normal range is usually only 2 to 5
pounds. And you do get a little pooch.
How
can I lose this belly?
You
minimize it by following the mind-mouth-muscle
concepts.
But
it's probably unrealistic to expect a stomach as
flat as your 20-something stomach.
Can I boost my metabolism?
Absolutely. You can optimize your metabolism
throughout life relative to your age by maintaining
the highest level of training you can, within the
limits and constraints of your life.
If
you lose muscle mass [by not exercising], obviously
your metabolism is going to drop.
Of
course strength or weight training is crucial.
What
workout or workouts are best for midlife people?
Creative cardio. Burn 400 to 500 calories a day in
cardio. On the elliptical, for instance, you can
burn about 400 calories in about 35 minutes. Cross
train as much as you can. Burn the 400 to 500
calories all at once or accrue it.
And
don't forget the weight training.
What's your weakness? What's the hardest part, for
you, of staying on track and fighting flab after 40?
Because of long days and all my commitments, getting
enough sleep. I remind myself: the poorer your
sleep, the wider your girth.
Eating dinner not too late. Sometimes I am on a
plane or a train, I don't have the control I want
over how late I eat. In general, do not eat dinner
past 8:30. I like to eat right about 7.
©
WebMD. All rights reserved.
|
|
 |
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Midlife weight gain is common.
Many people gain a pound or so every year as
they make their way through young adulthood,
ending up fat and flabby at age 40 and beyond. |
|
|
|
| |
|
|
It's
easy to stay up to date on the things that interest
you. Just 
