Now that you are over 40, you may have noticed it is not as easy to take off those 10 pounds before beach season. In fact, you seem to gain weight easily, even though you've improved your diet. As we age, our metabolism slows down. Muscle is very active tissue, and demands eight times the number of calories that body fat does, even at rest.
Less muscle means a lower metabolic rate.
Even if you don't change the way you eat, you will gain weight as you age because your calorie intake will eventually exceed the number of calories your body uses. And those extra calories get stored as unsightly fat around your middle and upper body. Weight gain in these areas is related to an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes and hypertension. When you lose a lot of weight over a short period of time, you lose muscle as well as fat. This is the price of yo-yo dieting.