Despite your desire to be slim and trim somehow your body has not conveyed this to your mind as it is not happening the way you would like it too. Each week as you creep on the bathroom scales you expect to see some progress but when this situation just seems to be getting worse you become more frustrated and anxious. You look at yourself in the mirror and wonder how the fat just continues to sneak on despite your serious attempts at healthy eating and exercise.



If this situation sounds familiar to you don't despair, fat loss is a greater challenge for women than it is for men. But with a greater understanding of what happens to women as they get older fat loss can be successful. Many women believe that their metabolism (the body's engine) is slowing once they get past 30 years and they are right.

The reason for this is that unwelcome visitor that comes knocking at our door sooner rather than later - Father Time. Starting in our mid 20's women (and men too but to a lesser degree) lose approximately 7 pounds of lean muscle tissue and gain 15 pounds of body fat every decade. This causes enormous changes to the shape and tone of our body and the way we burn fuel (calories) every single day.

Muscle tissue is very metabolically active tissue and its loss means our engine (our metabolism) is not going to be burning as much fuel. It goes from a V-8 down to a V-4 if we do nothing to stop it. Most women would not be aware that this is happening as the increase in body fat hides the muscle loss. But you will notice your body is becoming larger and heavier, clothes don't fit as well and your energy levels drop as the increased body fat tends to make you sluggish.

So, by the mid 40's a women may have lost 15 pounds of muscle tissue and replaced it with 30 pounds (or more) of body fat. This means the body composition which is the muscle/body fat ratio has changed to an unhealthy balance along with other unfavorable changes being triggered including a weakening of the immune system.

While the scales may tell us that we have gained 15 pounds the situation is much worse underneath the surface with the muscle loss. Muscle tissue is precious as it drives the metabolism and downsizing the metabolism with its loss delivers a drain of vitality, vigor, energy and your get-up-and-go. Your youthfulness will slide away faster than you would believe.

Unfortunately it gets worse for women as after menopause the rate of muscle tissue loss doubles accelerating from 7 pounds per decade to 14 pounds per decade. By the time a woman is in her 60's she can have as little as 20-30 pounds of muscle tissue left.

Not only will she be very displeased with her figure she has now become much weaker not only in muscle strength but bone strength as well. She is at risk of falling and breaking bones as well as more prone to serious disease.

The very good news is these unhealthy changes are the result of not doing enough muscle building and maintaining activity. This can all be changed and reversed by simply putting in place a proper exercise program that contains strength training exercise.

Forget the old fashioned notion that walking, jogging or cycling or any other recreational long, slow, steady state activity is what you need to rebuild lost muscle tissue and rebuild your metabolism. These activities are just a part of an active lifestyle and can never, ever replace a proper exercise program.

Make sure you enlist the help of a fitness professional to set up your program and teach you correct exercise technique. You also need to be shown the correct level of intensity (degree of difficulty) to ensure you get the results you wish to achieve.

Get started as soon as possible, today would be good. Reverse this negative health situation and knock 10 or more years off your looks in the process. You will be so glad you did.