Everyone’s metabolism naturally slows down with age. After 40, you could be burning 100 to 300 fewer calories a day than you did 10 – 20 years ago. That can translate into a 10-25-pound weight gain in a year. But you can counteract that slowdown and boost your body’s fat-burning capabilities by making just a few tweaks to your daily routine.
As I am a professional personal trainer and a nutritionist as well and my clients are usually women in their fourties, I would like to give you some advices and strategies which will help you bust out of a weight-loss plateau and burn even more fat.
10 minutes each morning
Do ten minutes of exercise each morning. Everbody has got 10 minutes a day, right? We all have a metabolic thermostat, called the metastat, that can be turned up or down, and morning is the best time to activate it. Each day, your metastat is waiting for signals to rev up, so the more signals you can send it, the better. Your best bet is a light, full-body activity like walking or jogging.
Eat breakfast!
Numerous studies have found that regular breakfast eaters are often leaner than breakfast skippers. Your metabolism naturally slows at night, but you can jump-start it in the morning by eating breakfas. You body needs energy in the morning. Start your day with a nice breakfast!
Fill up on good grains
Whole grains such as brown rice, wheat germ, dark bread, whole-grain cereal, oatmeal and bran leave you feeling full because they take longer to digest than simple carbohydrates. In a study from The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School evaluated the dietary intake of more than 74,000 women for 12 years. Overall, women who regularly ate the most whole-grain foods — about 1.5 servings a day — gained less weight than women who ate the least.
Pump yourself up
Muscle burns more calories than fat does, and decreased muscle mass can be one of the main reasons metabolism slows. Disuse can cause women to drop as much as 10 pounds of muscle between the ages of 30 and 50. To build and maintain muscle mass, aim for two to three strength training workouts a week. You don’t have to go to the gym, try push-ups, squats, abdominal crunches at home.
Eat more protein
Add a little high-quality, lowfat protein, such as chicken, fish and egg whites, to your meals, and you’ll help your body burn fat faster. Protein requires more energy to digest, it speeds up your metabolism, and protein is necessary to ensure against loss of muscle tissue.
Eat more lowfat plan yogurt
In a recent study from the International Journal of Obesity, women who ate three daily servings of lowfat yogurt lost 60 percent more fat than women who didn’t. In another study, participants who ate three daily servings of dairy lost more than twice as much fat as those who ate less than that.
Move after eating
Your body’s metabolic rate increases 10 percent after eating, and just a few minutes of activity could double that boost for up to three hours. Within 15 to 30 minutes of eating a snack or meal, do five or 10 minutes of light activity. Take the dog for a walk, climb stairs in your house or do some basic strength exercises.
Marianna Szoke
