Let’s face it: the older we get, the wider we spread! It’s just a fact of life. Or is it?
Is exercise and diet enough to help you fight the middle-age spread? According to weight loss experts, it’s all metabolic for them.
Key points
Here are some tips on how you can help speed up your metabolism when you reach middle age.
Exercise
The main ingredient in increasing your metabolic rate is to increase muscle mass (which burns more calories) and, at the same time, reduce your body fat. This is not to say you should pump up your muscles to such an extent that you redefine your body image, but it is a well-known fact that without exercise, you lose muscle, not fat. Therefore, if you wish to avoid the middle-age spread, begin an exercise program that is appropriate for you. Start with 20 minutes of walking per day and work your way up to a mile or more.If you enjoy swimming, this is another very healthy exercise that can help shed those pounds. More importantly, these exercises speed up your metabolism, which yields a higher rate of return. In other words, more calories will be expended after your exercise routine is finished.
Diet
Perhaps the most important key to keeping your metabolism at a higher rate is to eat low-fat foods. Combined with strong doses of protein, such as fish, and leafy green vegetables, a healthy and balanced diet has proven to be the best method by which you can burn fat and gain additional energy. Lean meats, chicken, and low-fat dairy products can be very beneficial for burning calories. While it is true that not everyone’s metabolism is the same, it is also true that you can maintain the same metabolic rate in middle age as you did in your early adult years. A proper diet is the key.
Emotional Well-Being
Try to remain stress-free. Using yoga will not only improve your emotional state but also your physical being your emotional state but also your physical being. We all tend to eat when stressed or depressed. Maintaining a balance within will deter you from eating and snacking unnecessarily.
While fighting the middle-age spread may sound difficult to achieve, it doesn’t have to be. If you exercise and enhance your diet with nutritional fat-burning calories, the only spread you’ll have to worry about is the jam you place on your whole-wheat toast in the morning.
