Avoid the Thirties Fat Traps
It's amazing how excess weight creeps up on you in your thirtieswithout you becoming aware of it. Suddenly you catch sight ofyourself in a shop window or you see a picture taken at yourfriends wedding and you can't believe how much larger y...
...ou'vebecome. How did that happen? It feels like pounds of fatappeared overnight.The bad news is that your metabolism (the rate at which you burncalories) does drop quite naturally from your thirties onwards.So you will start to put on weight more easily. But before youget too depressed be aware that the effect is so marginal thatpiling on the pounds does not have to be inevitable. It's morelikely that you have been getting into bad habits and eatingmore or moving less than you were before. If you want to avoid the extra 10lb that the average woman gainsin weight between thirty and forty take care not to fall intothe following lifestyle traps. Lifestyle Trap 1 : Too much going onWith partner, kids and/or career all taking your attention, lifein your thirties suddenly becomes much more complex than it wasbefore and the time you have for yourself seems to disappearsomewhere between school runs, getting the report finished andkeeping the house one step above chaos. Almost inevitably youend up taking less exercise and eating out more or usingtake-aways to cope with getting meals on the table. Try and giveyourself and your health a higher priority by asking for help,reducing your commitments and letting less important thingsslide. Lifestyle Trap 2 : Matching portionsThere's a time of danger when you move in with a partner, whichoften takes place in your thirties. You start cooking for himand eating the same meals and often the same portion sizes.Whereas you might have made do with something on toast or soupsome evenings it's now full dinners with dessert. While your mancan probably take the calories - all that excess lands justwhere you don't want it - on your tummy and thighs. Take care toeat only what YOU need and don't try and match your partner mealfor meal.Lifestyle Trap 3 : Eating for twoFor many thirty-year-olds weight problems coincide with havingchildren. Although you need just 300 calories more a day afterthe first 3 months of pregnancy, it's easy to use having a babyas an excuse to eat and eat. And that excess weight can be hardto lose afterwards. Often the problem is compounded by a secondpregnancy before you've lost the weight from the first. To avoidexcess weight gain keep exercising as long as it's safe to do sothroughout your pregnancy and continue to walk the weight offafterwards - something you can do with kids in tow! And keepeating sensibly and healthily throughout. Pregnancy is a greattime to get in the habit of eating well.Lifestyle Trap 4 : Losing Muscle If we don't do anything about it, we start losing some strengthand muscle each year from our thirties onwards. As each pound ofmuscle burns about 50 calories a day even when you are at rest,it's important to gain that strength back through resistance orweight training. You should also avoid any diet which adviseslosing more than a pound or two of weight a week. More than thatand you are likely to lose muscle as well as fat. And if you endup putting weight back on, as many people do, it's all fat. Thisis a major reason for avoiding the yo-yo diet syndrome - you endup fatter (literally) than ever.Lifestyle Trap 5 : ComplacencyIn your thirties you're unlikely to see the symptoms of the poorhealth choices you're making. It's probable that heart disease,diabetes and other nasties have yet to show their face but thesesilent killers are loitering in the background. Don't take yourhealth for granted. You'll regret it very quickly in the yearsto come which will be here soon enough. Give your health a toppriority and do something about your health and your weightwhile you still have plenty of time. Of course you can still look great in your thirties, forties andbeyond. There's no real danger in hitting the big-30 (or anyother birthday for that matter). The danger always comes with achange in lifestyle. And that's something that you choose - soit's all up to you whether you want to be fat or fabulous by thetime you reach 40.Copyright 2005, Janice Elizabeth Small
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