When it comes to losing weight, let’s just say each decade brings its own set of roadblocks. Knowing what they are is half the battle in overcoming them.
IN YOUR 20s:
Young, wild and free, you basically have the liberty to do whatever and eat whatever you want. Frequent group hangouts are often the result of your calorie buildup because you’d rather eat at that Italian restaurant than cook a healthy meal. Now and then, movie nights and sad relationship breakups are the reason you are popping that beer can or drowning your sadness with the help of food.
Then there is the wicked technology! Do you recall munching your breakfast while going through your emails, having lunch in front of your screen, or savoring dinner while you scroll through your phone? All this leads to overeating since we don’t concentrate on what we are consuming and hence feel unsatisfied. College, university, work and internships, all leave us panting for breath so most don’t even bother to go the gym, or are too tired to follow a strict diet plan, because YOLO!
But then this is also the time for young love, new chances and experiments, and so most people want to look pretty and be fit. Furthermore, the media portraying beautiful young girls and their incredibly high beauty standards have shown a sharp increase in the demand for weight loss products and that industry has flourished greatly. Suffice to say, many of the young adults do care about that size zero, and will go out of their tight schedules to look good.
IN YOUR 30s:
This can be a rather sad or exciting period. A family to care for, and a demanding schedule will mean no time to break a sweat. If you have children, finding a child-friendly gym can be hard. Go for gyms with facilities like childcare, or online workout programs you can follow during your child’s nap time and you will see a significant difference. Eating healthy and shopping for the right grocery products with a child in tow can become quite infrequent and harder. So, instead of making frequent trips, stock your kitchen with healthy canned foods that will last longer.
IN YOUR 40s and Beyond:
This is the part of your life when you will probably start gaining weight, or have a hard time losing weight. Loss of sleep due to a demanding job, family issues, household chores and kids would surely cost you your energy Other bad news is a slowed metabolism as a result of your age and changed body composition. This means more time is taken by your body to turn the food you consumed into energy, making calorie-burning harder.
After 40, our estrogen levels start falling, resulting in changed blood sugar and thyroid; hence, the increase in appetite. So, the consequent hunger pangs are not your imagination, but you actually feel hungrier often, and can swear you gained a pound just by looking at a croissant. Moreover, physical activity is replaced with sedentary work and so it gets even harder for your body to break fats down.
Another problem you may face in your 40s is loss of muscles as a result of under-use and falling testosterone levels. While it is commonly believed that muscles are heavier than fat, they burn more calories than fat; in reality, about three times more.
This is how your body reacts to losing weight at different stages of your life. Now that you know what the struggles are at each stage, you can put plans into place to make your weight a life-long priority.
