2024

The Culprit that’s Making You Gain Weight at Your Age

 

While growing up you didn’t really care what you ate. Life was good—you just enjoyed! Especially with food—it was not a problem since those years you had a fast metabolism. You could eat whatever you wanted—junk foods were the best! But eventually age started catching up to you. Your metabolism isn’t as speedy as it was before, and you have become more conscious, so you start to be smarter in what you take in so that you wouldn’t gain so much weight. But there are certain habits that are associated with different ages that can make you gain weight, which you should try to avoid. Check out the list below:

 

20s Culprit: Alcohol

Parties—lots of parties at this age. Booze must overflow or it wouldn’t be called a party at all. Not only that, sometimes even over a meal alcohol is the drink of choice among pals. Alcohol has more calories than sodas. A beer has about 150 calories, a shot of liquor about 100 calories, and a glass of wine about 120. Of course one drink isn’t enough. Drinking more than one is the norm. Another is the food. It’s just so much fun to eat without a care when there’s a party or some get together. You forget to watch what you eat. So imagine how much calories a night of food and drinks with friends can add up to.

If you want to avoid gaining weight because of booze, you need to lessen your intake. You can have water in between each glass of your choice beverage. Or you can try not to drink too fast. Don’t drink to get drunk or as if there’s no tomorrow. Just drink moderately and enjoy the company more than the drink. With lessened alcohol, you will be more aware of what you eat.

30s Culprit: Post-baby eating, Stress eating

When you’re pregnant you have the license to EAT! You can eat whatever your body is craving for. That’s a good nine months of just savoring each delicious bite without any guilt. However, when your nine months is up, it’s back to reality. You need to start eating healthy again, but it’s become a habit already. By this time you would have gained some baby weight. And if you want to lose that you need to start eating smart again. It’s going to be difficult because it’s hard to give up all that goodness. What you need to remember is that you need to be healthy for your baby as well. It’s a good thing that as your baby grows you’ll end up exercising too, running after your little one.

There’s also a lot of stress involved at this age, whether it’s from caring for a baby, family, work, or school—there’s just so many things that can cause stress. And a lot of the time, the best pick-me-up is food. Food is a go-to for fast comfort. What you need to do is put down that fork. A better way to relieve stress is to exercise. You’ll be able to release all that pent up angst, frustration, or depression. Remember that all problems work themselves out eventually. Don’t get sucked into the habit of turning to food for a little bit of relief. Exercise will not only give you relief, but will give you healthier results.

40s Culprit: Perimenopause, Kids foods

During perimenopause your estrogen hormones begin to decline. Because estrogen helps insulin in metabolizing sugar, at this stage your insulin resistance increases, which means your body will not burn the foods that you consume into energy as it used to. It will, instead, store it as fat. What you need to do is significantly cut down your carbohydrate intake, such as white bread, white rice, potatoes, and noodles. These causes insulin to go up, which in turn contributes to insulin resistance. You should switch to whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. You can get carbohydrates from these. Plus the body digests these slowly.

On the other hand, there are foods for the kids like mac and cheese. Who can resist mac and cheese?! Having these types of foods in the household is such a temptation. One little bite usually leads to a few more. Next thing you know you’ve eaten a big bowl of it. Try to be extra mindful of these goodies. You can’t exactly ban what your children love from your home, so that you won’t be tempted. You just need to be extra resistant when you see these yummy snacks. Also, find foods that you can enjoy that are still healthy. Over time these types of kids’ dishes won’t be as tempting.

50s Culprit: Menopause, Depression, and Stress

The dreaded stage—your body is just not the same anymore. With lowered estrogen levels, you burn lesser calories and just store them as fats. You will have an even slower metabolism at this point, and may even notice an increase in your abdominal area. Then there’s depression that comes with menopause. And depression has a way of making you want to eat. What you need to remember is that eating to feel better is only temporary. Avoid this by eating meals 5 hours apart. Also, make sure that you consume fibers, whole grain crackers, fruits, lean proteins, and the like.

If you’re stressed with work, you can stop cortisol with magnesium. Eat more almonds, spinach, black beans, and other foods that that give magnesium. You can also take up yoga because it will not only relieve your body of stress it will also keep it in good shape.

 

At any age, there’s always a reason that will cause you to gain weight. You just need to figure out what these are and either cut them out or find a way around them. Aging is not easy, but you can age healthy and gracefully if you just be extra disciplined with your body.