Why we put on weight in our 40’s
Mid-life weight gain is incredibly frustrating. We coast along doing the same thing for years, then bam, we notice we’re carrying more weight than we used to, despite the fact we haven’t changed our diet. So what’s going on?
Here are some common and not-so-common reasons why we gain weight as we hit our late 40s.
Age-Related Muscle Loss & BEcOMING LESS ACTIVE
From around the age of 30, we lose 5% of our muscle mass each decade, which means by the time we hit our late 40s we have 10% less muscle mass than we did in our late 20s. Muscle is active tissue which means that it burns calories. Therefore if the amount of calories we eat stays the same, but the amount of calories that we use each day reduces due to muscle loss, we will gradually put on weight. It might take decades for us to notice the change in weight, as we’re losing muscle weight we’re slowly gaining body fat. This is why our body shape changes and becomes less toned.
It’s also common for people to become less active as they age. We might have found it easy to stick to gym routines when we were younger, but as our family lives and careers become more demanding, we struggle to find the time to exercise. We end up leading more sedentary lives and don’t burn as many calories each day.
Menopause
Menopause can affect our weight in several ways. Firstly, as our natural oestrogen supplies dwindle, our body looks for other ways to make this essential hormone, and one way it can do this is by laying down extra body fat, which can produce a weak source of oestrogen.
It’s also becoming more widely accepted that post-menopausal women may become more insulin resistant. This means they become less efficient at processing carbohydrates (which includes bread, pasta, rice, cereal, fruit, and processed foods high in sugar). When the body is overloaded with more carbohydrates than it can deal with, they get stored as fat. This offers another possible explanation for why women gain weight even though their diet hasn’t changed.
Menopause symptoms can also cause changes in eating habits. Suffering from even a single night of either disturbed sleep or too few hours is known to lead to overeating and making poorer food choices. If this is a regular occurrence, then this could significantly impact your weight.
Another symptom is low mood and depression. This can trigger cravings and emotional eating, especially for sugary and fatty foods which are known to give us a pleasure hit, which can temporarily give us a boost when we are feeling down.
STRESS
Stress levels can increase around this age too, and menopause can make it harder to cope with stress. Being chronically stressed (constant low-level stress) is known to cause increased abdominal fat, which is the curse of many middle-aged women.
Many women I have spoken to have recognised that their weight gain occurred during a stressful period of their lives. In prolonged stressful situations, it’s likely to be a combination of our eating habits getting worse and our hormones playing a role in fat storage.
HEALTH CONDITIONS
Several health conditions are known to cause weight gain. These include hypothyroidism and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Some women who start taking HRT report sudden weight gain, although this is not officially recognised as a side effect.
WHAT CAN YOU DO?
Sudden weight gain can be incredibly upsetting. It feels like we are losing control of our bodies and many women feel like they don’t recognise themselves. It’s often harder to lose weight at this age, but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. When we were younger, it was usually enough to cut calories with a weight-loss diet, but later in life, it requires a more holistic approach, taking into account the many factors that influence weight gain and fat distribution.
In essence, this means:
Prioritising sleep. Do whatever you can to create a good sleep routine and give your body the rest it needs.
Balancing stress. It’s hard to reduce stress, but you can try and balance it by finding time for relaxation and doing things that calm your mind and allow you to switch off.
Reducing carbs. Reducing carbs is different to eliminating them. Instead, eat more protein and vegetables. Make your meals filling and try and stick to eating three times a day and cut down on snacking in between meals as snacks are usually carb-heavy. Too much processed food can also cause us to overeat calories and consume too many carbs. Going back to basics and eating as much home-made food as possible makes a big difference. Eating well-balanced, nutritious meals can reduce cravings and hunger and stabilise your energy, as well as naturally reducing the amount of calories you eat overall.
Take up strength training. Strength training (exercising with weights) is proven to be the most effective form of exercise to increase muscle mass and protect against age-related muscle loss, and it’s effective at any age.
Speak to your GP. If you feel that your weight may be caused by an underlying health problem then speak to your GP to get proper medical support.
Sticking to a healthy diet
Despite knowing the benefits of eating a healthy diet, sticking with one is not easy. To begin with it takes more time to prepare home-made meals, and to find a repertoire of meals that work for you and anyone else you cook for.
A bigger issue is that giving up our favourite foods becomes a challenge after a few weeks of going without them, because many of us have complicated relationships with food. We eat for comfort, to alleviate boredom, because we feel trapped by our chores, or because we feel we deserve treats because we work so bloody hard!
If this sounds familiar, then learning to stick to a healthy diet long-term will take some extra work.
People who have these habits are often ashamed of the way they use food as a coping mechanism. It’s easy to imagine you are the only person who struggles like this, but believe me, it’s much more common than you think. In fact, this is something that I have struggled with most of my life, especially as I reached menopause.
There’s no need to be ashamed. If you want to change those habits then you can do it. The best way is to buy a journal and start reflecting on your relationship with food, to identify your cravings triggers and how you respond to them.
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