Slowing down at 40

harr · 11-05-2016 02:32PM #1

Ok,sorry if this has been discussed before but has anybody found that at around 40 your metabolism slows right down....I was always one to carry an extra few pounds but never had problems getting rid of my extra weight with a couple of hard months work in the gym... Recently I put up an unwanted stone and a half in weight just by being lazy...so I get back into working out hard but this time round I am struggling to loose even a pound a week..diet is good as I am determined to shift the weight..but it seems so much harder this time around... Anyone else find the same ?

Just to add I am helthy and my doctor has run bloods and nothing causing the slow down on that front..

Sam Kade · 11-05-2016 06:37PM

Are you a man or a woman?

harr · 11-05-2016 07:42PM

Hi ,
yes sorry probably a important bit of info alright, I am Male 41

PowerToWait · 11-05-2016 10:50PM

It's a fair bit. 21 pounds of lard isn't going to fall off that fast. Could take 6 months and likely more.

Alf Veedersane · 11-05-2016 10:59PM

There are two scenarios regarding your diet but they both ultimately arrive at you needing to get a handle on your calorie intake and then reducing it. You won't burn your way through the calories to get yourself in enough of a deficit to lose weight to any great degree.

harr · 11-05-2016 11:13PM

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

There are two scenarios regarding your diet but they both ultimately arrive at you needing to get a handle on your calorie intake and then reducing it. You won't burn your way through the calories to get yourself in enough of a deficit to lose weight to any great degree.

Diet is good always is when I get back into the swing of things, just frustrating I always could loose a stone in about 4 or 5 weeks that was a few years ago ...I know the number on the scales is not the be all of things...but with the effort I am putting in ...I taught I should be seeing better results both in weight loss and body appearance...I use my fitness pal app just to make sure I am keeping on top of my recommend protein,carb and fat intake...

Alf Veedersane · 12-05-2016 10:43AM

harr wrote: »

Diet is good always is when I get back into the swing of things, just frustrating I always could loose a stone in about 4 or 5 weeks that was a few years ago ...I know the number on the scales is not the be all of things...but with the effort I am putting in ...I taught I should be seeing better results both in weight loss and body appearance...I use my fitness pal app just to make sure I am keeping on top of my recommend protein,carb and fat intake...

Not your calorie intake?

harr · 12-05-2016 11:03AM

Goes without saying calorie intake as well...and I don't eat back my calories I burn off...I eat 1500 calories a day ..which some might say is to little but in that 1500 calories I do make sure I get my recommend fat,carbs and protein...I train five to six days a week and it's not a chore I enjoy my workouts ...my fitness level has improved greatly over the last while so that a good thing..

Alf Veedersane · 12-05-2016 11:10AM

harr wrote: »

Goes without saying calorie intake as well...and I don't eat back my calories I burn off...I eat 1500 calories a day ..which some might say is to little but in that 1500 calories I do make sure I get my recommend fat,carbs and protein...I train five to six days a week and it's not a chore I enjoy my workouts ...my fitness level has improved greatly over the last while so that a good thing..

I just meant in the context that people track some macros without really being conscious of their calorie intake.

harr · 12-05-2016 11:57AM

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

I just meant in the context that people track some macros without really being conscious of their calorie intake.

I know what you are saying I see loads of people eating healthy but consuming a huge amount of calories....my sister for example was eating great and jogging every day but could not loose the weight.....turns out someone gave her a recipe for helthy granola bars ...she was eating 3 or 4 of these a day but while the ingredients were on the helthy side each bar had 320 calories and she was snaking on these... 😳

Zillah · 13-05-2016 12:54PM

I find it very hard to believe you are eating 1500 calories per day as well as working out five or six days a week and not losing weight.

I don't think you're being dishonest but there has to be some serious miscalculations there. You say you enjoy your workouts...that's a red flag too. If you were really eating so little your workouts would be an exhausting chore. Are you weighing your food as part of putting it in to MyFitnessPal? Are there are other potential calorie sources you're not counting (snacks, drinks, booze)?

Something's not right there - a "slow metabolism" doesn't account for that. If you did have a metabolism running so slow that you could survive on 1500 per day without losing weight, you'd barely be able to get up in the morning, let alone workout most days of the week.

harr · 13-05-2016 01:48PM

Zillah wrote: »

I find it very hard to believe you are eating 1500 calories per day as well as working out five or six days a week and not losing weight.

I don't think you're being dishonest but there has to be some serious miscalculations there. You say you enjoy your workouts...that's a red flag too. If you were really eating so little your workouts would be an exhausting chore. Are you weighing your food as part of putting it in to MyFitnessPal? Are there are other potential calorie sources you're not counting (snacks, drinks, booze)?

Something's not right there - a "slow metabolism" doesn't account for that. If you did have a metabolism running so slow that you could survive on 1500 per day without losing weight, you'd barely be able to get up in the morning, let alone workout most days of the week.

No booze,no unhealthy snacks....only snacks I have are fruit or nuts/seeds and maybe a yoghurt all are portion controlled and weighed if needed...
I don't find 1500 calories restrictive at all and can easily live on that ....i do weights one day and a fitness class the other mostly spinning or hiit ..
The calories I am eating and the training I do has worked in the past for me that's why I can't understand what the issue is this time around...
It's a mystery to me how I am not shifting the weight ...even if I never went to gym my calories in and calories burned should be enough for me to shift the weight....the thing is, like you I never believed other people who would tell me they can't shift the weight...and like you I would be sceptical of what they were eating...

harr · 13-05-2016 02:02PM

Typical days food

Porridge or two slices of whole meal toast with a hard boiled egg or some avocado

Mid morning.... Piece of fruit (Banana)

Lunch.... Pre prepared chicken with sweet potato and veg and a coffee

Mid afternoon.... Small Greek yogurt with maybe some almonds

Dinner.... Chicken or tuna with salad or veg ... No sauce dressing would be lemon juice and cider vinegar and herbs

After gym would be a protein shake ...

Sheep in a field · 13-05-2016 09:38PM

harr wrote: »

Typical days food

Porridge or two slices of whole meal toast with a hard boiled egg or some avocado

Mid morning.... Piece of fruit (Banana)

Lunch.... Pre prepared chicken with sweet potato and veg and a coffee

Mid afternoon.... Small Greek yogurt with maybe some almonds

Dinner.... Chicken or tuna with salad or veg ... No sauce dressing would be lemon juice and cider vinegar and herbs

After gym would be a protein shake ...

Sounds pretty healthy. How many calories in that protein shake?

Can you fit in an hours walk or jog in the morning as well as your other workouts?

What about trying hiit sessions, bootcamp or crossfit, something along those lines

Dtp1979 · 13-05-2016 10:30PM

How much porridge too

Sheep in a field · 13-05-2016 10:38PM

Dtp1979 wrote: »

How much porridge too

True, massive huge incredible difference between what you can fit in the bigger bowls and the Smaller ones.

15cm bowls are nice and small so you have a sensible portion.

harr · 13-05-2016 11:03PM

Porridge is 40g made with water a teaspoon of honey....protein shake is 105 calories again made with water....I do hiit twice a week and spinning twice a week....on one day I do hiit early morning and spinning that evening...

13-05-2016 11:11PM

What ht & wt are you?

harr · 13-05-2016 11:23PM

Augeo wrote: »

What ht & wt are you?

I am 5'7 and 13 stone ...I have lost just over a pound in weight in the last 3 weeks .... That has been with the above diet and training plan ... That's why I paid a visit to my GP who said I was healthy apart from being a little over weight.
Just to add I don't do cheat days or meals at this stage ...if I were to loose weight at a normal pace ..I would be happy having a cheat meal once a week.

flowerific · 13-05-2016 11:48PM

I'm not an expert or anything but I find when I first start to train, the weight doesn't start to come off for weeks. Instead I tend to stay the same weight but tone up. You might be retaining water as your muscles are being worked on and swelling a bit. Also the body can get used to the calories you put in. I find the 5:2 diet works best for me.

harr · 14-05-2016 08:07AM

flowerific wrote: »

I'm not an expert or anything but I find when I first start to train, the weight doesn't start to come off for weeks. Instead I tend to stay the same weight but tone up. You might be retaining water as your muscles are being worked on and swelling a bit. Also the body can get used to the calories you put in. I find the 5:2 diet works best for me.

Thanks for that, it does sound like I need to tweak my diet or training I will look into the 5:2 diet see if it would suit me...

15-05-2016 02:46PM

harr wrote: »

I am 5'7 and 13 stone .........

Press ups, pull ups, chin ups, shoulder press, bench press, squats, dips etc largely body weight exercises (or using weights 60/70%+ of BW for BP and squatts) would be what I would do for your weight days.

Not saying that you do, but most people who do "weight training" just mess about with some dumb bells in a fairly pointless fashion.

If you can do 3 sets of 10 chin ups, pull ups,50/60 press ups, BP & squat over your own BW etc disregard my comment

Sheep in a field · 15-05-2016 10:07PM

I like to go for a long walk as well as training, doesn't burn huge calories but better than nothing and fresh air and also...its time spent away from the temptations of the kitchen :eek:

harr · 15-05-2016 10:37PM

Augeo wrote: »

Press ups, pull ups, chin ups, shoulder press, bench press, squats, dips etc largely body weight exercises (or using weights 60/70%+ of BW for BP and squatts) would be what I would do for your weight days.

Not saying that you do, but most people who do "weight training" just mess about with some dumb bells in a fairly pointless fashion.

If you can do 3 sets of 10 chin ups, pull ups,50/60 press ups, BP & squat over your own BW etc disregard my comment

Can do the chip ups, pull ups and squats but a bit off on doing the 50/60 press ups ...

16-05-2016 08:39PM

harr wrote: »

Can do the chip ups, pull ups and squats but a bit off on doing the 50/60 press ups ...

Keep at it so

Try weighted chin ups and dips etc and/or do reps to failure x2 rather than 3 sets of 10s or whatever it is you can do at the moment.

Chin ups, pull ups, dips and press ups to failure will yield results as you will be burning more as you'll be draining resources.

harr · 16-05-2016 08:58PM

Augeo wrote: »

Keep at it so
Try weighted chin ups and dips etc and/or do reps to failure x2 rather than 3 sets of 10s or whatever it is you can do at the moment.

Chin ups, pull ups, dips and press ups to failure will yield results as you will be burning more as you'll be draining resources.[/QUOTE
Appreciate the advice ...I will take it on board and will push the reps up a notch ....👍🏻

cmyk · 16-05-2016 09:25PM

harr wrote: »

Goes without saying calorie intake as well...and I don't eat back my calories I burn off...I eat 1500 calories a day ..which some might say is to little but in that 1500 calories I do make sure I get my recommend fat,carbs and protein...I train five to six days a week and it's not a chore I enjoy my workouts ...my fitness level has improved greatly over the last while so that a good thing..

How are you determining your recommended fat/carbs/protein?

Alf Veedersane · 16-05-2016 09:26PM

Augeo wrote: »

Keep at it so
Try weighted chin ups and dips etc and/or do reps to failure x2 rather than 3 sets of 10s or whatever it is you can do at the moment.

Chin ups, pull ups, dips and press ups to failure will yield results as you will be burning more as you'll be draining resources.

Draining resources isn't necessarily a positive. And keeping a rep in the tank means you're mote likely to get more out of your subsequent sets and get more overall volume in there.

Failure on the last set is fine but not every set.

16-05-2016 09:34PM

Alf Veedersane wrote: »

Draining resources isn't necessarily a positive. And keeping a rep in the tank means you're mote likely to get more out of your subsequent sets and get more overall volume in there.

Failure on the last set is fine but not every set.

Indeed, however in the spirit of shocking the body it's worth the OP trying imo.
He seems to be quite strong etc so I reckon he's after plateauing to an extent, 2 sets to failure with a rest inbetween or what you suggest is worth trying too. Alternate every week or whatever for a month.

Mix it up sort of approach.

harr · 16-05-2016 09:50PM

cmyk wrote: »

How are you determining your recommended fat/carbs/protein?

Staff at gym who seem to know what they are talking about ,plus recommendations on the my fitness pal app ....Currently it's 30 fat , 30 protein and 40 carbs or as close as I can get to that..

Alf Veedersane · 16-05-2016 09:58PM

Augeo wrote: »

Indeed, however in the spirit of shocking the body it's worth the OP trying imo.
He seems to be quite strong etc so I reckon he's after plateauing to an extent, 2 sets to failure with a rest inbetween or what you suggest is worth trying too. Alternate every week or whatever for a month.

Mix it up sort of approach.

You don't need to 'shock' the body though. You can change the workload without needing to go to failure every set. Upping volume smartly is never too bad an idea. Or keeping volume the same but cutting the rests.

Slowing down at 40

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