Why does losing weight become harder when we get older? — A Health Coach Answers

Hey, so welcome to A Health Coach Answers. I'm Coach Lindsay and today I'm going to break down Mighty Health member's top five questions of the week.

Okay, so our first question is, why does weight loss seem to get harder as we age?

And really, it boils down to just our changing bodies. So our bodies as we get older typically don't need as much energy and it doesn't also expend as much energy as we used to. So this and kind of relates to food. So we, you know, as you notice, as you get older, you can't really eat the same way you did when you were younger. And that's just because your metabolism and your body changes as we get older. And then, of course, you take into consideration the physical changes. So the joint pain, the increased risk of injuries, longer recovery periods, especially as you need, like more procedures, whether it's like joint replacement for seat procedures. So in general, our body just isn't as resilient as it used to be. And then just some also smaller factors, as far as you know, change in muscle, hormones metabolism. And then of course, this isn't really a smaller factor more of a bigger factor of just stressors in life. As we get older, there's other more like bigger life changes, like loss of family and friends, retirement becoming empty nesters. And so it's really not so much, you know, the fact that just age in itself makes it harder to lose weight as you get older. It's just all these different factors that play into this stage of life.

And I want to talk a little bit more specifically about muscle and why the why muscle is so important in weight loss. So the more lean muscle you have in your body, the more efficient your body is at burning calories in a resting state and an exercise state. And so as we get older, typically starting at age 40, our body loses, starts to lose muscle mass. And so that old saying of if you don't use it, you lose it, that couldn't be more true in this situation of, you know, if you're not maintaining your muscle mass as you age, you're going to keep losing it, and then it's that much harder to then put it back on. And so really just making sure you're maintaining your your muscle throughout the aging process, not only for weight loss benefits, but of course, also for joint benefits. And it doesn't take much two to three days a week. It doesn't have to be like crazy amounts of weight, you can use bodyweight or just small weights, but every little bit helps. And you know, this is to say that as you get older, weight loss becomes harder, but it doesn't become impossible. So keep that in mind.

So our second question is, how does stress affect weight loss?

So we talked a little bit about stress in that most previous question. But some stress shows up in all different areas of our life. So physical, psychological, social, spiritual. And our response to these stressors is going to be different for everybody, it's going to be different for each type of stress. And so not everybody's stress and weight loss journey is gonna look the same. But I want to talk a little bit about how stress affects the body internally. So there's two hormones specifically that are increased with stress. The first one is cortisol. So cortisol, I'm sure you all have heard of it, it's just the primary stress hormone so increases blood sugar, it alters your immune system, digestive system, reproductive growth, even so elevated cortisol is not the best for the body. And that happens with stress. And then the second hormone is ghrelin. So this is actually a gut hormone that increases appetite, and increases fat storage. So I'm sure everybody here has had that need to stress eat or that feeling of wanting to eat when feeling stressed. And it's kind of a combination of two things. It's a little bit of mindset to like, we know that food is comfort, we know that it's comfortable. And we feel better when we eat typically. But it's also just that internal process of your hunger hormone increasing. And so just some things to keep in mind as you're starting to navigate stress is those hormones are elevated. And it's not so much the stress that affects it us. It's how we react to the stress. So trying to lean more towards positive self talk, building up a bank of positive stress coping techniques so that you're not turning to food. And then this one can be a little bit harder. But trying your best to change your environment, remove stressors from your life, if you're able to, this isn't as easy, a lot of our stressors are a little bit harder to avoid. But if you have the opportunity to that's going to be in your best benefit.

Our third question is are there any common areas of weight gain and men and women's bodies as they age?

So I just want to talk a little bit about a couple of different types of fat. So we have two main types visceral and subcutaneous. So visceral fat, surrounds and protects our organs, it's mostly kind of hidden in our abdominal cavity, and it's called hidden fat. And then we have our subcutaneous fat which is right underneath the skin, you can typically feel it if you pinch your skin and you can see it. So the visceral fat is what is a little bit more on the dangerous side. So this type of fat, the more you have it, it actually releases toxins into your body. Of course, there's importance of it because it does protect your organs, but we don't need an abundance of it. And as we age, our bodies start to store more fat in this region, our body is also less able to burn fat tissues. And so you know, with the ability of decreased a decreased ability to burn fat, and then your body also changes where it stores fat, which is going to be in that visceral fat area. That is typically where you're going to see your weight gain as you age. And then with men more specifically, this is very prominent in with alcohol intake. So something to be mindful of is men have a higher risk of, of gaining more visceral fat with alcohol intake. And typically, alcohol intake can kind of increase as we age, because, you know, retirement comes free time comes more vacations, and just certain things that come with alcohol. So that is a risk factor for men. And then for women, of course, it's post menopause and you know, beginning or beginning and middle and end of menopause is where that visceral fat risk factor comes in.

A really good way to kind of determine if visceral fat is a risk factor for you, is taking your waist circumference. So it's a pretty reliable indicator, it's not the most accurate. There's other things like underwater weighing and some other things like that. But if you have a tape measure at home, o'clock point, if you take a measurement of the narrowest part of your waist, anything over 35 inches for men, for women, I'm sorry, 35 inches for women and 40 inches for men, anything over that you're considered at high risk for visceral fat. So if you're curious, do you want to take your waist circumference measurement, it's kind of a good way to just see if just kind of see where you're at with that area of weight gain.

Our fourth question is how do you overcome a weight loss plateau?

So I'm sure we've all been there. And I just want to say that weight loss plateaus are completely normal, they're gonna happen once, twice, probably multiple times in here, and your journey. And so it's a good thing to reflect on that you have not failed, if you hit a weight loss plateau, it's just a good opportunity for you to reflect and kind of see what if anything needs to change. The other thing about weight loss plateaus is oftentimes we think that if we haven't lost weight for a week or a couple of weeks, we're hitting a plateau. And that's not necessarily the case, a plateau is really defined by a period, a stagnant period of six to eight weeks. So kind of reflect and say, like, am I going through a period of just like a week or two? Or am I really staying stagnant for you know, six to eight weeks? The, you know, the reason why we hit plateaus can be so different for everybody, because we know that there are so many factors that play into weight loss. So the best thing to do is just take a deeper look at your habits. Going back to the basics of tracking, so tracking your food, tracking your portions, even tracking your emotions as you eat. So every time you eat breakfast, are you feeling hungry? Are you feeling emotional? Every time you have a snack? What are you feeling, and really getting into the reason of why you're eating? And then also reflecting on your exercise habits the same? So going with that to simply reflecting on your barriers is not enough. So the next step is taking that that next step and setting a goal. So making sure that you're then planning to what what can you do, what can you change to overcome that plateau. And then, of course, like I mentioned, there's other areas that affect weight loss. So taking time to assess your sleep habits, your stress and your stress coping techniques, talking to your doctor about hormones. And so all of those things can really play a big factor in plateaus. And in summary, you know, your rate of loss is going to look completely different from somebody else, your journey is never linear. And so just try not to talk negatively, negatively to yourself. Just reflect and then also focus on your non scale victories because we know that that weight loss is just a really small portion of your journey, and focusing on how you feel how you look. You know, all those things, how your clothes fit, those are all really great measures of progress and great ways to also overcome that motto.

And then our fifth and final question is what are the differences between keto and low carb?

And then how do these affect weight loss or what is better for weight loss? So I know we've heard a lot about The keto trend and basically to break down keto as a diet. So it's keto is gonna put you in a state of ketosis, which is a metabolic process of your body burning fat for fuel versus glucose or carbs. So traditionally, your body's main fuel source is your glucose storage or your carbs. But when you deplete that, you take that away, your body is forced to use fat for energy. So that's how ketosis works. In order to achieve that you do have to be below 50 grams of carbs. So it can be a little bit restricting. And then, you know, you have to kind of factor in like, what is sustainable, can I sustain 50 grams of carbs a day, and it typically takes about three to four days to get into ketosis. So if you you know, reflect on your habits, and you're, you're really, really good for three to four days, and then you fall off, then you're really just taking yourself and not a ketosis, and you're not seeing the benefits of it. So to kind of compare that to low carb, low carb is more traditionally, just like a lifestyle change. So you're focusing on healthier behaviors, finding alternatives for your higher carb, refined foods, and finding a little bit more of a balance with fat and protein. So, you know, in in short, keto is more restrictive, it's going to get you faster results. But you have to ask yourself, is it going to be sustainable for me long term, you know, you're not doing yourself any favors, if you're losing that weight really quickly, but then you resort to your original eating habits and you gain it all back. So weigh the pros and cons of what's sustainable. I know it kind of sounds counterintuitive, but I always say the way that you lose weight should be the way that you maintain it. So it should be kind of the same style of eating, even if it takes you a little bit longer. So it's always good to talk to your doctor as well, just to see because keto is not usually a good fit for people with diabetes, or certain conditions like kidney disease, eating disorder, stuff like that. So if you're curious, Always talk to your doctor to see if it's safe for you. And then weigh the pros and cons of what you feel like you could sustain and what you feel like in which which way you're gonna feel less guilty and be able to still enjoy foods that that you love. So so those are all of our questions for this week. And we do this every week. So we hope to see you guys back here next week.