Whilst lying on the ground (having slipped on the ice during my walk the other day), I was once again pondering this whole idea of the "new middle age." I was lying there thinking "if I was in my 30's, would I really be thinking about calling my husband and asking him to pick me up, because my back hurt? Or would I simply get my 30+ year old body up and keep walking?"

What I finally did was pick up my 50+ year old body and kept walking, but it was at a much slower pace.

This whole idea of my 50's being more like being in my 30's intrigues me. In a number of ways, many of us 50-ish folks are healthier that than our parents were at our age. Our access to health care, for many of us, is much better, so medically we can take better care of ourselves. The concept of ?personal trainer? was unheard of twenty-five years ago, as was the idea of belonging to a gym. Making time for a daily walk wasn't even on the agenda for many people.

We are lucky, though, because so many of us are able to include these benefits into our lives, allowing us to be a much healthier generation.

However, some things haven't changed. As we age, our metabolism still slows down, which is why we tend to gain weight as we age. Metabolism refers to the rate at which the body burns calories. There are many factors affecting what is called our ?metabolic rate,? including height (tall people burn more calories than short folks), fasting (that's why skipping meals is not a good way to lose weight-your metabolism slows down) and temperature. When it is colder outside, we require more calories to stay warm, to keep our internal body temperature at 98.6 degrees. I suppose one way to lose weight would be to run around naked in the cold. However, I'm not sure how long this ?diet? would last before your neighbors call the police.

The point is that we cannot control many of the factors affecting our metabolic rate, including age (young, middle or old). 

Activity, however, is one factor we can control. When you are active, you're body can build muscle. Muscle tissue is considered to be more metabolically active because more calories are needed to maintain muscle than fat. Fat is a lazy tissue, and can get along without any help on our part. But muscle? There's a different story. Because muscles need more calories to get their job done, the more muscles you have, the more calories your body requires. And that's why, as we age, we need to stay active. To keep fat from accumulating, we need to build our muscles, and maintain their tone. Walking is one important activity I rely on to keep my metabolism up. Others enjoy lifting weights. As long as you have worked with an experienced trainer making sure you don't injure yourself, increased muscle mass is definitely a benefit of this activity. Being active raises your metabolic rate, increasing the number of calories you burn while preventing fat tissue from growing.

So whether you are lying on the ice wondering how to get up, or stuck in a couch wondering how to get out, think about staying active. It's the activity that will make moving around (and preventing weight gain) a lot easier-at any age.

Copyright (c) 2008 At Peace With Food