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Fighting the fitness battle as you age

By Alison Hashimoto
CNN

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(CNN) -- Turning 40 is a milestone in most people's lives. Among the rewards: Your kids are more independent; your career is more stable and you have more free time to pursue the things you love to do.

Unfortunately, you may have to spend more of that free time in the gym, because one of the downsides of being middle-aged is that it becomes harder to lose weight. In fact, as most of us over 40 can attest, it even becomes harder to maintain your current weight.

"There are several metabolic factors working against us," says Sai Krupa Das, Ph.D., an assistant professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition at Tufts University in Boston, Massachusetts. (Watch tips for more effective workout for every decade. )

First, basal metabolic rate goes down beginning at the age of 40. "Research has shown that the caloric requirement to maintain our body in the basal state (i.e. for breathing, brain function, etc.) decreases with every decade," says Das.

Second, our bodies start to change. The amount of fat increases and the amount of lean mass or muscle decreases. Since lean mass uses more energy in the body than fat, we burn fewer calories.

Third, for most people, physical activity slows down with age.

Add it all up and it means it is easy to add pounds as we age, and losing weight becomes more difficult with every decade.

"Usually there is more to lose," agrees Susan Roberts, Ph.D., director of the Energy Metabolism Lab at the USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts. "Because we have been accumulating weight, the amount to lose is greater, so it is much harder... and BMR is down and physical activity is down also, meaning that we have to eat less just to maintain weight."

Of course eating less, otherwise known as dieting, is one option. But it is a short-term solution, especially when you consider most of us facing this problem expect to live another 40 years or so.

Before you decide to throw in the towel and devour a pint of ice cream in despair, take heart. With a few small lifestyle changes, you can begin to fight the battle of the bulge.

• Get moving and make it a habit. Plan to do some kind of exercise for at least 30 minutes a day, every day.

• Do a combination of aerobic and strength training exercise. The aerobic work burns calories, as well as improves cardiovascular health, and Das advises that weightlifting has been shown to preserve lean mass and decrease some age-related decline.

•Eat balanced, nutritious meals that control hunger and maintain blood glucose.

Being armed with the knowledge of how aging changes your body may give you the willpower to transform that New Year's resolution into a "new you" resolution. As Roberts says, "Weight control isn't rocket science. It is a question of balancing calories in and out."

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