Tidbit Tuesday - Weight Loss & Aging
Hello,
Welcome to another Tidbit Tuesday where we aim to teach you something new about health, nutrition, lifestyle, training, and so much more, every week!
Today we are talking about WEIGHT LOSS & AGING. Obesity, a prevalent statistic that has been steadily increasing across North America for decades. This is largely due to ease of access to fast food, poor economical situations, lack of nutritional education and discipline.
The consequences of widespread obesity throughout a population, an aging population no less, which, by 2050, the world's population aged 60 years and older is expected to total 2 billion, up from 900 million in 2015.
The cost - for healthcare, housing, transportation, etc. - it is insurmountable what that number could look like. Especially if a large percentage of that population can not live independently, require care on a regular basis, or take medications.
The intention should be to enter old age in relatively good health and physical condition, allowing for longevity and the freedom of independence.
However, too many people entering old age are being told by their doctors that if they don't make a change then they won’t make it far past retirement.
Those are supposed to be your golden years!
Time to kick back and relax from all the years of hard work you put in. But instead you're being told to put the mimosa down and get moving .. or else!
It’s important to maintain a healthy weight as you age. Excess weight combined with the strain of aging can make you more susceptible to illness and shorten your life. For middle age and older individuals, poor lifestyle habits and changes in metabolism can make weight loss difficult.
Which is why it is so important to maintain your health as you age and not try and play catch up.
You may have noticed that in your teens, 20s, and 30s, excess weight came off easily. For example, you may have only needed minor changes to your eating habits and activity levels to lose weight.
Losing weight requires more effort as you reach middle age, and only takes more effort the longer you wait.
You may experience many lifestyle changes, both good and bad, as you age. Retirement may dramatically reduce the amount of physical activity you get on a daily basis. After working throughout life, you may see this period as an extended vacation. Too much relaxation like this can lead to over-indulgence in unhealthy foods without the benefit of daily exercise.
Sometimes, older individuals may have health limitations that reduce or eliminate their ability to be active. Others may assume they are too old for exercise and avoid activity all together.
One of the factors that impacts our health as we age are our changing hormone levels, which is seen more prominently in women as they enter menopause.
Hormonal changes of menopause do not necessarily trigger weight gain in women. They can, however, change where fat is stored. As a result, excess weight accumulates in the abdomen, rather than the hips and thighs. Combined with the emotional effects of hormonal changes, this can lead to poor dietary and activity choices.
Also, hormonal changes in aging men and women may contribute to muscle loss. This muscle loss can decrease movement and slow metabolism.
This muscle loss as we age is called Sarcopenia, which is a syndrome characterized by progressive and generalized loss of skeletal muscle mass and strength and it is strictly correlated with physical disability, poor quality of life and death.
Risk factors for sarcopenia include age, gender, and level of physical activity. Sarcopenia is a condition characterized by loss of skeletal muscle mass and function. Although it is primarily a disease of the elderly, its development may be associated with conditions that are not exclusively seen in older persons.
There is an important correlation between inactivity and losses of muscle mass and strength, this suggests that physical activity should be a protective factor for the prevention but also the management of sarcopenia.
In conditions such as sarcopenia, malignancy, rheumatoid arthritis, as well as aging, lean body mass is lost while fat mass may be preserved or even increased. The loss in muscle mass may be associated with increased body fat so that despite normal weight there is marked weakness, this is a condition called sarcopenic obesity.
One of the first steps to be taken for a person with sarcopenia or clinical frailty is to ensure that the sarcopenic patient is receiving correct and sufficient nutrition.
Sarcopenia remains an important clinical problem that impacts millions of older adults. Causes of this condition include declines in hormones and numbers of neuromuscular junctions, increased inflammation, declines in activity, and inadequate nutrition. There are a lot of conditions correlated with sarcopenia like obesity, diabetes and chronically reduced or low vitamin D.
An outside factor to consider will include your environment, those you surround yourself with, and more importantly your parents. You are more likely to struggle with losing weight as you age if your parents were overweight later in life. Your weight problems may re-emerge, persist, or get worse with age if you have a history of being overweight or obese.
You may also face challenges as a growing number of friends fall ill or die as they age. This can lead to emotional eating and less focus on staying active.
Sure, staying healthy takes some effort. But, as someone very wise once told me, you pay now or you pay later.
In summary, spend the time and energy NOW to take care of your health and well-being, before you must pay for it LATER in medical bills, prescriptions, and lost years with loved ones.
Use what you have, wherever you are, and START NOW!
Happy Living!
Your friend in Health & Fitness,
Coach Sean
