When you hit 40 or 50 your metabolism doesn’t suddenly “slow down” and your hormones don’t suddenly flick a switch onto fat-storing mode. Yes, your testosterone levels will be slightly lower in your 50’s vs your 20’s, but too many guys cling onto this stat for the reason they are struggling to drop body fat.
The majority of people start to store more body fat as they age because activity starts to decline and they continue the same eating habits they did in their 20’s & 30’s. When you play sport every week, you can get away with and “offset” a few drinks and a meal out here and there. When you retire from the sport, don’t go to the gym and work behind a desk 9-5, your calorie expenditure is pretty low.
Therefore those few drinks you have every weekend along with the 3-course meal…. start to get stored as body-fat
This is just the law of thermodynamics and energy balance… not “hormones” suddenly changing. Anybody (no matter their age) will store body fat if they over-consume calories in relation to how much they move.
And the same is true the other way around: anybody (no matter their age) will start to lose body fat if they burn more calories than they consume over a prolonged period of time.
Top 3 tips I suggest to my 40+ clients:
- Purchase a smartwatch to make yourself accountable and make a conscious effort to increase your daily steps (offset declining activity as you age)
- Resistance train regularly (ideally 3-4 times per week) to help with the retention of lean muscle mass. (think “use it or lose it”)
- Eat a high protein diet that will help with point 2.
Age is just a number. Don’t let this limiting belief control your reality.
