Keeping Fit After 40 by Cathy Qazalbash

There are many stages of life when we find ourselves putting on more weight than we should. Middle age is one of those times when those ugly pounds seem to be creeping up on us. There are a number of reasons for this and in order to lose weight and get back in shape it is necessary to understand the causes of the middle aged spread. Here are 3 of the main ones.

• Negative thinking

• Slow metabolism

• Physical problems:

Negative thinking: you may be surprised at this factor and how it effects your weight but this is a common problem and cause of weight gain. Here is the reason why. If you feel depressed and sad about your life and the way it is going this can prompt you to indulge in compulsive eating. You may sometimes eat when you are not hungry because you find that food makes you feel better. There is no doubt that eating for most of us is a pleasurable experience but it is dangerous for your wellbeing to just eat to feel better.

My best advice about weight loss for someone who is middle aged and beyond, is to firstly have a positive attitude on life. When you think in a negative mode your whole life becomes covered by a dark cloud. As time goes on you will find it gets thicker and darker until you cannot see your way out let alone have a glimpse of the sunshine in your life. This leads to physical and mental deterioration and the very dangerous mental state of depression.

It is vital for your mental and physical well-being to pull yourself up and force yourself to think positively. When you do this you will feel more energetic, and mentally alert. Problems will not go away but you will be able to find solutions to them more easily.

Once you have got yourself into a positive way of thinking you can begin to resolve your weight problems.

Slow metabolism: can be combated by some changes to your eating habits.

• Instead of having 3 large meals a day eat less and more frequently. Try to eat 6 small meals per day. This will encourage your digestive system to work faster.

• Reduce oil and carbohydrates: try to eat carbohydrates for breakfast rather than your evening meal. This is because you will burn more energy in the daytime than at night.

• Increase fiber: this will fill you up and you will eat less. It will also help your digestive system to work better and speed up your metabolism. You can eat whole grain foods, fruits and vegetables to get more fiber.

Physical problems: as we age we do slow down physically and to a certain extent mentally. It is very important to keep active, even if you have some twinges of arthritis. You need to take daily passive exercise to keep your joints mobile and prevent further deterioration. Walking is a great way to do this. You can even take a pedometer with you to make sure that you are getting enough exercise. These pedometers not only count steps but will show how many calories you have burned. A static exercise bike is good as it will take the weight off your legs and still allow you to exercise your leg muscles.

Daily exercise will burn excess calories and prevent that weight from accumulating. It will also help you to lose weight.