I asked a co-worker once how she could be satisfy with a small microwave dinner for lunch every day, approximately 250-300 calories.  She was 53 and I was fresh out of school.  Here I was, wolfing down 400-500 calories every day and still hungry by 3pm.  She said to me : ‘When you get older, your body just need less food.’

Eat less calories at middle age to maintain your weight.
Human metabolism naturally slows down with age.  It is most noticeable when you start getting that middle age spread from smelling a donut.  Typically it is due to less physical activities and loss of muscle mass.  Since our bodies require less calories to maintain stored fat and with the loss of muscle mass, we must adjust our eating habits accordingly in order to prevent weight gain.  My co-worker, who was able to adjust her eating habits throughout all the phases of her life (and with good genes), was still as trim as her 20 year old self at 53.

This adjustment is harder on men than women.  The calorie adjustment for middle age is just like weight loss.  The more weight you have to lose, the easier it is more you to drop 10 pounds.  The closer you are to your healthy weight, the harder it is for you to lose 10 pounds. 

For a woman at 140 pounds and 5′6″, she would only need to reduce her daily intake by 40 calories from the age of 18 to 45 (from 1,510 calories to 1,470 calories per day).*

For a man at 180 pounds and 6′, he would need to reduce his daily intake by 145 calories from the age of 18 to 45 (from 1,930 calories to 1,794 calories per day).*

(I know the weight and height seems really thin, but I am not the one doing this study).

Whereas, most women only need to reduce their calorie requirement by eating one less apple at middle age, men would have to stop eating a third of their lunch in order to be able to maintain their weight.

Spreading out the meals are more important at middle age than in your 20s.
Remember how I mentioned that women remove ingested fat from our blood stream faster than men? Younger women are more efficient than older women in removing ingested fat, therefore making the amount of fat and calories consumed at each meals more important for older women.

A Tufts University study compared the metabolic impact of eating in a group of women in their 20s and 50s.  Both groups burn fat, protein, and carbohydrate at the same rate after a meal of 300-500 calories.  But when these women eat a large restaurant of 1000 calories (and these days, it is hard to find a meal under 1000 calories when eating out), the older women are 30% less efficient at burning off the fat calories.  That is approximately 6 pounds of weight gain per year from eating one meal a day over 1000 calories with all the other meals adjusted for our daily caloric requirement! **

I require 1,600 calories to maintain my weight.  Say I eat about the same amount of calories when I reach my 40s (to simplified this example).  If I decide to eat a 300 calorie breakfast, a 1000 calorie lunch, and a 300 calorie dinner, I would still end up gaining 6 pounds each year.  Just from this eating pattern alone!

This is the time period that most women “let themselves” go as they balance work, raising a family, and helping their elderly parents.  If you forget all else, remember that the key here is to spread out your calories throughout the day as you age to prevent the middle age weight gain. 

Until next time and thanks for stopping by.

*Katch and McArdle, Introduction to Nutrition, Exercise, and Health

**KJ Melanson, E Saltzman, RR Russell, and SB Roberts
“Fat Oxidation in Response to Four Graded Energy Challenges in Younger and Older Women,” American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 66