Q: Are there any eating or exercise tips on cutting the inches off below the waist? I did it before by walking every other day and cutting back, but I was in my 30s at the time. I’d always heard it was harder to lose after 40 – I wasn’t a believer then, but I am now.
It’s harder to lose after 40, because our metabolism decreases every year, by an average of .5% each year. So every year, you lose .5% of your ability to burn the calories you’re taking in. It’s not all about numbers, but the numbers are awfully important. So if you’re eating the same way you ate at age 30, and you’re 40 now… you’re going to start gaining weight. Period.
That means… yes. You have to start eating less. [insert echoes of loud groans]
The body collects fat in the hips because its supposed to – it’s supposed to protect your reproductive organs. It’s a survival premise… which is why men (who aren’t brainwashed by the “ultra thin is in” meme – no offense to thin women) tended to favor women with fuller hips… it meant that her good stuff was better protected, and she was more likely to be healthily fertile and capable to reproduce. Not until recently with the ultra thin fetish we have, did this become different.
You’re going to have to alter your eating habits to levels appropriate for your height/weight/age combination. You’re also going to have to go hard in the paint – or the treadmill – to get rid of those hips, and a little weight lifting/training/calisthenics wouldn’t hurt, either. You can build a shape for your skin to conform to, but you certainly have to work to get it there. Besides, for each pound of muscle you carry, your body burns 3 times more than it does for each pound of fat you carry… so as a woman enjoying her 30s and 40s, a good solution to a decreasing metabolism IS building and maintaining a little more muscle. (That is, if you don’t want to change your diet… [insert eyebrow raise])
There. That’s several answers to the same question, lol. In short, go hard, go long, eat clean, enjoy life, build muscle, get fit (not just thin). The end. 🙂