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As you age, your metabolism slows down and you gain weight because you burn fewer calories and are less active.
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Basal metabolismdecreases by 4-5% every 10 years, but caloric intake often does not change, leading to fat accumulation.
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Adopting virtuous habits such as eating fiber-rich foods, drinking enough water, moving around and limiting sugar and processed foods will help keep weight under control.
You havesurely heard that as you get older, you inevitably gain weight by a certain amount per year. I used the verb “aging” intentionally. As long as you grow up, in fact, your metabolism is busy increasing your stature, developing bones and muscles, and fortifying your internal organs and immune system. When the growth is over he also changes, along with your life habits, related to work, family, and a different regimen than you had as a teenager. Your metabolism also adapts, and often the result is that you gain weight. But it is not all that simple (if only it were).
Why we get fat
Once growth is stabilized and special clinical events are excluded, you gain weight because you take in more calories than you need. You also burn less because you no longer have to develop and because you move less. To make matters worse, our physiques are programmed to maintain weight rather than lose it. That’s right: with your head you would like to have a different weight because you don’t feel comfortable or for a thousand reasons but the physique doesn’t want to know. He must always maintain a reserve of energy because “you never know.” And not only that: as our physique changes-for example, when the ratio of muscle mass to body fat changes-our metabolism changes. There is one decisive value that explains why we gain weight as we age: it is that of basal metabolic rate, which is how much our body consumes to stay functioning. That number-which indicates the consumption of internal organs, heart, respiration, etc. – decreases by 4-5% every 10 years. But not as much what we eat. That is why a lower caloric demand of our body is not matched by a lower intake of calories, which, if in excess, become fat mass. Moreover, the very period of our lives when our basal metabolic rate decreases we eat more and move less, because that is when work often forces us to sit still in a car or office chair.
Half a kilo
With each passing year you gain a certain amount of weight, you’ve heard it said. On average (and the figure is for the average American) this increase is quantified as half a kilogram per year. If that doesn’t sound like much think that over 20 years it is equivalent to a 10 kg increase in body weight. What is perhaps most alarming is that, if we translate this into caloric terms, it equates to an excess of 2666 kcal per year. So many? Few? This is 7 kcal per day. So few calories can therefore cause a result that is perhaps not very noticeable in the short run but very much so in the long run. Also because, I know you must be thinking now, what power do you have over so few calories? An apple has an average of 78 kcal, so by eating one in excess you have already burned off the bonus for 11 days in a row. There is going crazy, and the wrong thing to do is just to go crazy. You also have to be considered that not every day you eat more or too much. Some days you are hungrier, when you are more relaxed you eat more, when you travel maybe less or more irregularly. This is to say that one day of excess might be offset by 3 days when you eat less than you usually do.
Don’t go crazy
You cannot measure to the millimeter the calories you take in; that would be sheer folly. But you can adopt some virtuous habits that can help you curb metabolic changes and fat accumulation. 1. Satiate yourself Prefer foods rich in fiber and protein (protein is metabolized in more time and delays the onset of hunger). 2. Drink at least 2.5 l of fluids a day (beer doesn’t count!) to relieve hunger pangs and because it’s great for you. 3. Get moving Well, does it need to be repeated?
No, however, it is good to specify that it is not only sports but many other activities that involve movement, such as walking, doing somewhat strenuous manual labor, gardening, taking the stairs instead of taking the elevator, etc. Also because it is known that those who are better off and live longer are not those who play more sports but those who move more. 4. No processed foods Limit or eliminate your intake of processed and/or industrial foods as much as possible.
You know: they are more appetizing and satisfying but they are worse from any point of view. 5. Sugar Limit your sugar intake and know that you can find it in lots of foods, including bread. Where do you find a lot of it and you wouldn’t expect it? In certain carbonated drinks, for example, and then in alcohol. It is clear that tying oneself to the rope of those seven calories a day would be foolish and impractical. However, it is also true that small virtuous or simply reasonable habits can make a difference. Maybe they won’t save us from gaining 10 kg in 20 years, but they will limit it to a few kg. It will not be zero but it will be less than 10. (Via Mind Body Soul)