40’s Workout

by Marylin Salgado

Are you concerned about workouts and stamina in your 40’s? If you have already applied for your AARP card, then this blog IS NOT for you. At that point, you should be more concerned about how many times a week you can shag on the wife, or the girlfriend, or both, if you have the sugar daddy complex. Your wife may not know, BUT, you know who you are. Well, I will agree, you will save money on wining and dining Barbie and the tab on the hotel room. Once it’s time to bow chiqui wow wow, if you can’t raise the dead, then this is when my advice on working out in your 40’s would have come in handy. And you still have hope, so let’s go!

If you were one of the few dozens that were insulted by my opening paragraph, then don’t read on. If you care to know how to improve your health in your 40’s so that you can live healthy into your 50’s and beyond, then read on and learn a few things you might not already know. PC shit is ridiculous. We are all human beings and are defined by who we are as people and our anatomical and biological makeup, not our emotions. Brining emotion into this blog would render it useless, so I am going to write with factual information and studied medical data. If the information does not fit into where you are currently, then make some adjustments. Every human being has the potential to change their mindset, make adjustments and improve their health. It’s up to you. You can choose to sit on your ass and complain while doing nothing about it, or you can choose to get off your ass and start improving yourself. 

1. Dieting

Let’s start with the most obvious and probably most difficult topic; proper dieting. Fun to eat; ice cream, cake, pies, chocolate, chips, burgers, fries…you get the idea. And, if you live in New England, Fluff. For those of you who don’t know, it’s melted marshmallow in a jar. Genius! Healthy eating; veggies, whole wheat, rice cakes, or as my boyfriend likes to call them, cardboard, granola, fresh fruit, nuts, brown rice, lean cuts of meat…again, you get the idea. 

Believing you will lose weight easily or you can eat whatever you want because you graduated high school weighing 95 pounds, is as good as believing a politician won’t raise taxes or be dishonest. Somehow and somewhere along the line, you will get screwed. Just like the bullshit, the weight will pile on. 

Metabolism is just a small portion of the things that will slow down at a rate “of about 5% for every decade of life past age.” – Neil Osterweil, WebMD. According to his research, you will have to eat 100 calories less a day during your 40’s just to maintain your current weight.  Metabolism only becomes a small part of why we have difficulty losing weight. Genetics, lifestyle, and mindless eating all play a part. 

Dieting is a balancing act. I myself love cheeseburgers and fries, pizza and ice cream, but I also workout 5 days a week. I do 30 to 40 minutes of cardio and then weight lifting exercises. I burn as much as I eat and eat as much as I burn. Sometimes I burn more and sometimes I eat more. I don’t live on the scale and I maintain a healthy mindset of what I consume. If I feel sluggish after a meal, then it was obviously too heavy and dense to digest. If I feel, full but satisfied after a meal, then I tend to stick to those types of food groups and portion sizes. If you are increasing or thinking about increasing your cardio or weight training workouts, remember that your body will demand more calories. Add a protein shake to your daily meals or have one every other day, at least. If you have read my previous blogs, you will notice I am a huge protein shake advocate. It is not only good for muscle structure and mass development, but very good for your overall health. If you are not a protein fan, then try to drink 8 oz of water or a fruit shake before a cheating meal of cheeseburgers and fries. You will feel full and consume less calories. 

2. Exercise

Some people absolutely hate walking into a gym, so working out is a totally dismissed   idea. Some of those same people hate walking outside, too. The biggest issue here is movement. Movement is essential for a healthy weight, healthy digestion, and a healthy cardiac and respiratory system. The first attempt at exercising is usually the toughest, but once you get started, your body will actually crave it. Why? Because your body releases endorphins. Endorphins are feel good hormones that are secreted from the brain and nervous system. They reduce stress and increase pleasure, resulting in a sense of well-being. After 40, it is generally easier to gain weight, since you might have changes in your activity levels and eating habits, but will certainly experience changes in hormonal levels and how your body stores fat. 

Here’s some motivation for you; exercising releases endorphins just like when you eat chocolate, get a massage, meditate, drink wine, laugh, or have sex. Sex is a good form of exercise since it involves movement, hence increasing your cardiac output. But if you have some extra soft muscle, you are laying on your back playing dead fish, or if you are a dude, well you are still probably laying on your back playing dead fish, hoping your buoy stays afloat, without using the blue pill.

Let’s discuss the other components; healthy weight, healthy digestion, and a healthy cardiac and respiratory system. Healthy weight is important for many reasons, but let’s discuss some of the most obvious ones. Overweight people have a difficult time breathing because the extra weight causes their lungs and heart to work more. Some have an increase in their resting heart rate because even while sitting down, the heart is working overtime. For air and blood to pass through the extra fatty tissue, it takes extra respiratory and cardiac work and output. When this output is strenuous, overweight people can suffer from respiratory and heart attacks. 

Another issue with being overweight is the amount of stress the weight places on your bones and joints. If you research on your own, most overweight individuals will end up needing some sort of joint replacement surgery sometime in their lives, especially their knees and hips. 

Healthy digestion is essential for two very important reasons; you need to be able to eat food and pass it in order to live. Digestive problems are more serious then people think. Undereating is just as dangerous as overeating. How so? Well, we certainly don’t see much undereating in U.S. Commercials that are mostly directed at the overweight population. Weight Watchers, South Beach Diet, and other popular shows, such as the Biggest Loser, have focused much of the attention on overweight people. 

Studies show the following: 1 percent of adolescent females have anorexia, where 4 percent of college aged females have bulimia and a whopping 60 percent of Americans, both male and female, are overweight. 

If you see a thin person, it doesn’t necessarily mean they are anorexic or bulimic. I knew a girl, who no matter how much she ate, she would not gain weight; and she ate a lot. Her metabolism was insane fast and she burned food just as fast as she ate it. Regardless of this issue, her labs were fine and she did not lack the necessary nutrients or minerals to be or stay healthy. Generally, thin people, if they suffer from an eating disorder, tend to isolate. We don’t see much of them out on the streets.

Here’s my issue with the overweight percentage. A 5’0 tall female who weighs 140 pounds and does not exercise is considered overweight. A 5’0 tall female who weighs 140 pounds, exercises and weight trains, is still considered overweight. Many electronic medical charts in doctor’s offices do not have programs that are able to isolate such factors, so a person is considered overweight because they either carry fat weight or muscle weight. I still don’t understand why that is. If such studies are based on strictly numerical date entered by medical staff during physicals or medical visits, then those studies are flawed. 

Further research suggests muscle weighs 2.3 pounds for every 1.98 pound of fat. If researchers are strictly collecting numerical data from medical practices, without considering diet and lifestyle, then most people who workout and have lean muscle are considered more overweight then the average overweight individual. We also live in a generation that is more health conscious, more organic and more active. 60 percent is a huge number and I believe it is way off the real numerical data if software and research were more refined. 

Follow me on part 2 of this blog where I will continue the discussion with cardiac and respiratory output as well as include what exercises research states should be avoided after 40. 

This platform is meant to educate Tokkyo Nutrition consumers with the information needed to help you stay mentally and physically healthy. As with any workout or dieting program, always consult your physician first before starting or changing your diet or workout regime. 

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Sources:

https://www.webmd.com/diet/ss/slideshow-lose-weight-after-40

https://www.banisternutrition.com/fat-vs-muscle

https://www.edreferral.com/statistics